Classified Cycling and Belgian Cycling Factory have launched the first professional gravel Factory Team, with Ridley as its main sponsor. Classified entered the gravel circuit last year, with Dutchman Piotr Havik racing as a one-man team. So he's no stranger to Classified Powershift Technology and he delivered consistent results across the globe last year.
The newly announced Classified x Ridley Factory Team will now have some of the best gravel bike talents at its disposal for the 2024 season, with Havik welcoming his new teammates – Belgian prospect Daan Grosemans, along with UK riders Toby Perry, Annabel Fisher, and Freya Rawlins added to the roster.
They will race an busy international schedule, including the World Series, Unbound Gravel, and the Gravel Earth Series. The team has set the bar high with Toby Perry having won a UCI World Series race in 2023, while Annabel Fisher won the final classification of the Gravel Earth Series last year. The 2024 UCI Gravel World Championships lands in Leuven, home soil for the team, so will be a major target for the year.
In a team packed with top riding talent, they also benefit from some of the best gravel bike technology, and will race on Ridley Frames and new Powershift equipped wheelsets.
Classified’s Powershift hub has done the business on the road and picked up World Tour race wins along with some famous roadie investors like Tom Boonen and Philipe Gilbert. It’s recently appeared in a MTB format (which we not quite as convinced about in our review), but Classified Cycling says its Powershift technology really comes into its own when tackling the challenges of gravel racing, where its super wide range combined with all the advantages of a single chainring setup works best.
The Powershift hub allows cyclists to fit a single chainring, but still gives the full range of gears of a 2x system thanks to its ingenious, super-fast and patented shifting system. The wireless system is fully sealed which adds to its performance credentials for tackling some of the best gravel events around the world. Classified Cycling adds the system will set a new standard in the world of gravel racing and they claim it immediately puts the Classified x Ridley Factory Team a bike length ahead of the competition.
Classified G42 gravel wheelset
For the new team, Classified has also launched a completely new range of wheels for both gravel and road bikes. The best gravel wheels available are always of interest to us, and the G42s certainly look like they tick all the boxes for some serious gravel racing. They weigh in at claimed 410 grams per rim, and the wheelset weighs in at just 1,350 grams in total (excluding the Powershift rear hub). Classified says the G42 wheel is also one of the most aerodynamic options in the gravel wheel category.
The G42 gravel wheels use a clincher, tubeless ready, asymmetric rim profile which is 42mm deep, with a 25mm internal rim width, and accommodates tires from 30 to 55mm wide. There are various purchase options with a complete Classified G42 wheelset listed at €2,599, as a kit for a build into a partner wheelset at €1,299 or to build into a custom wheelset listed at €1,399 with US and UK pricing still to be confirmed.
For more information on Powershift and Classified wheelsets you can visit Classified-Cycling.cc.
