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32" wheel XC bikes coming in 2025?

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#42 ·
island trader said:
I can only assume Trek is one of the two big brands developing a bike.
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I don’t know much about the business side of things… why would Trek (or Specialized) work with Maxxis on this when they have their own tire brands?
 
Discussion starter · #43 · (Edited)
asollie said:
I don’t know much about the business side of things… why would Trek (or Specialized) work with Maxxis on this when they have their own tire brands?
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That is a great point. It has to be from a company that doesn't have their own in house tire brand. If Trek were working on a bike with bigger wheels, they would for sure have Bontrager tires on them.
 
#44 ·
island trader said:
So it seems Maxxis has sent out samples of their Aspen tire in a 32x2.40 to a couple of big name manufactures who are currently developing XC bikes around them. It's going to be really interesting to see what, if any race teams run them in 2025. For taller riders, there are so many advantages to running a larger tire. Longer/larger contact patch, greater ability to roll over obstacles without losing momentum, lowered fulcrum point and an increased level of comfort. I'm quite excited to one day have a 32" wheeled bike. And that day seems like it will be here sooner than expected.
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From where are you getting this information?
 
#45 ·
asollie said:
I don’t know much about the business side of things… why would Trek (or Specialized) work with Maxxis on this when they have their own tire brands?
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Maxxis is owned by CST, they manufacture tires for other brands. Being a big player and wanting increased business for OE spec they are probably doing joint R&D with these two claimed manufacturers.
 
#48 ·
titaniumsprucemoose said:
I would guess the riders that are taller (say 6 ft +) would be more eager to swing a leg over a larger wheel size.

If 32er happens, maybe we'll see an uptick in superboost adoption.
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Highlighter HenchLady is currently 5'3". Loves 29s.
Image

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Has since 4'5".
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The 36er is admittedly a bit much for her. But she rode it up the hill and down just fine.
 
#50 ·
alexdi said:
View attachment 2126234

I had a quick try at creating the world's ugliest Epic to see how the geometry would work for this. Top is (of course) original (size large), bottom tries to preserve the same bottom bracket height and seating position. Rim diameter is 622mm for 29" and 686mm for 32". The tires would be a bit smaller IRL, the 32" tires are equivalent to 2.6".

Original:
R: 465
S: 614
CS: 420
WB: 1181
HTA: 66.5

New:
R: 488
S: 679
CS: 469
WB: 1270
HTA: 65.5

The biggest challenge is keeping the stack height in check. Racers already use negative-rise stems to get low enough to put power down. Wheel size, suspension travel, and HTA are essentially fixed and HT length is about as short as it can be, so unless there's a significant redesign to how the fork integrates with the head tube, ~680 is about the floor.

I'd expect to see a negative-rise bar introduced with any 32" bike. I'd also expect not see this wheel under size L. Toe overlap, water bottle space, and utterly truckish handling would make it pretty unpalatable in smaller sizes.
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why is hta slacker again?
 
#57 ·
When I go on marketplace and look for used bikes, I see bikes from 30+ years ago along with last years bikes. Bikes are durable and that’s a problem.

Honestly, ten year old bikes work just as well as todays bikes for all of us (any professional riders excluded), the problem is that if the bike consumer world all started buying bikes every 10 years, manufacturers and more specifically stockholders/private equity owners would all stop seeing quarterly gains. So we the buyers need to be convinced every few years to buy a new bike. Larger wheels, electric suspension, lighter ebikes, better battery technology that is magically impossible to retrofit to older bikes, radial tires, carbon fiber that has a “lifespan”, different hub widths, ceramic bearings, etc.
Bike makers need bikes to be disposable to maintain profits.
 
#58 ·
dompedro3 said:
When I go on marketplace and look for used bikes, I see bikes from 30+ years ago along with last years bikes. Bikes are durable and that’s a problem.

Honestly, ten year old bikes work just as well as todays bikes for all of us (any professional riders excluded), the problem is that if the bike consumer world all started buying bikes every 10 years, manufacturers and more specifically stockholders/private equity owners would all stop seeing quarterly gains. So we the buyers need to be convinced every few years to buy a new bike. Larger wheels, electric suspension, lighter ebikes, better battery technology that is magically impossible to retrofit to older bikes, radial tires, carbon fiber that has a “lifespan”, different hub widths, ceramic bearings, etc.
Bike makers need bikes to be disposable to maintain profits.
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Correct.

BUT.

The drive for 29, 650b (27.5), then 36 have all been grass roots movements. This 32 is less so (a bunch of companies make bikes for tall peeps by using unicycle rims & tyres). So, as much as I complain about the bike industry, no wheel size change in the past 20+ years STARTED with the big industry players.
 
#59 ·
island trader said:
As someone who rides alone quite often, I see this as a way to ride safer. Every single advantage I listed of a larger wheel would increase your chances of staying on the bike. Everyone rides for different reasons.
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Wouldn't investing in developing better skills be a less expensive way to stay on the bike?
 
Discussion starter · #60 ·
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