The 32"/32er Discussion Thread

Justin Fox

Justin Fox

pedal porn peddler
Elephant in the room at this point.

As a short (169cm) rider I mostly ignored all 32" developments over the past few months but I've gone from "fucks sake bike industry looking to sell you something you didn't ask for", to "oh look there's a 32" frame and 32" wheelsets on AliExpress!".
 
Justin Fox said:
Elephant in the room at this point.

As a short (169cm) rider I mostly ignored all 32" developments over the past few months but I've gone from "fucks sake bike industry looking to sell you something you didn't ask for", to "oh look there's a 32" frame and 32" wheelsets on AliExpress!".
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Yeah, it's coming whether you want it or not.
There's already been one at a XC world cup and at Unbound gravel this year.
It will take over gravel for sure as you haven't got suspension to worry about and it will be interesting to see if the UCI don't ban it for giving taller riders an unfair advantage in XC.
 
Will be interesting to see how long the development cycle takes, with a lot of hard lessons learned during the implementation of 29ers.

No doubt there is a big marketing push to find something 'new' to sell but as Stredda said, gravel will gain the most from this wheel size.
Eating km's on mostly smooth surfaces and less acceleration/decelerations, bigger wheels will always win out.

I expect a fair few FKT guys to jump on early
 
caad9 said:
I expect a fair few FKT guys to jump on early
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What does FKT stand for please?

I think we're past the "Pick a wheel size and be a dick about it" phase. Most of my miles are commuting each week so I'd certainly go for a bigger wheel when the time comes. Do I need it though? Yeah you bet! :D
 
Agree that 32" gravel makes a lot more sense than 32" MTB.

On the topic of shorter riders; I could be wrong, but I think it was Salsa that had a female designer that was 5ft something, and quite determined to make 32" bikes work for short riders.

It makes sense that a lot of the early 32" bikes are hardtails as there's less to figure out, but hardtails are... hardtails. I assume the issues some riders have with riding 29" hardtails will still be there with 32" hardtails. IE: If you choose to ride a dual suspension bike over a hardtail then chances are a 32" hardtail isn't going to be it.

I think the Chinese have an opportunity here to beat the big brands to market and make cheap/er 32" frames for people who are 32" curious. There's an even bigger hole in the market for 32" suspension forks right now (I think Intend are one of the only 32" forks on the market and it's far from cheap).
 
Dozer said:
What does FKT stand for please?
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Fastest Known Time (generally on a endurance route).
Dozer said:
I think we're past the "Pick a wheel size and be a dick about it" phase. Most of my miles are commuting each week so I'd certainly go for a bigger wheel when the time comes. Do I need it though? Yeah you bet! :D
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Of course we're past being dicks about wheel size, we fight about eBikes now!
 
@Dozer Fastest Known Time

Long endurance rides/runs of a set route, typically self supported and covering vast distances.

Tasman Nankervis did a good one in Vic last year;
flowmountainbike.com

Tasman Nankervis sets new Great Forest National Park Fastest Known Time

Tasman Nankervis set his sights on a big adventure, making an attempt to beat the 270km Great Forest National Park Fastest Known Time.
flowmountainbike.com flowmountainbike.com

Lachlan Morton was chasing a heap after exiting the pro peloton

@Justin Fox the thread on MTBR is quite good, lots of info and plenty of people happy to be early adopters.
User 'LMN' has valuable insight from inside the pro ranks, he's an elite level coach and husband of Catherine Pendrel (Multi WC & Olympic medallist XC Racer).
The point you make regarding FS vs HT is valid, he has suggested during testing that pros are quicker on their 29" duallies, so it won't be until the brands dial in these bikes in 32" that there will there be real movement
 
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caad9 said:
The point you make regarding FS vs HT is valid, he has suggested during testing that pros are quicker on their 29" duallies, so it won't be until the brands dial in these bikes in 32" that there will there be real movement
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Agreed, and yup it looks like it might be quite some time then before dual suspension 32" frames hit the market.

I just did a bit of digging in regards to Chinese/AliExpress dual suspension frames (a lot of Epic inspired frames out there) and man... pages and pages of people with savage issues with linkage tolerances and BB shells falling out. I do think there's probably more chance of these Chinese manufacturers releasing a semi-decent 32" hardtail frame, but I'd expect quality control issues on a 32" dual suspension frame for sure.
 
36er anyone?
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32er XC frame specs.jpg


A guy on the Chinertown forums spent $1K AUD for this custom Marino (Peru) Reynolds 725 frame with sliding drop-outs. He copied the Neuhaus Nova 32 geometry in size large.
 
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