Let’s talk about that NEW elephant in the room

[nathrix]

Perhaps best suited for the XL riders. There are so many questions to be answered.

[NotSoBigBen]

Who knows perhaps the UCI UeberFuehrers make it 'moot' 🤷‍♂️

https://escapecollective.com/uci-considering-a-ban-on-32-inch-wheel-size/

Edited August 10, 2025 by NotSoBigBen

[CARANXCycleMobile]

Looks like something out of a Boswell Wilkie

[nathrix]

3 hours ago, CARANXCycleMobile said:

Looks like something out of a Boswell Wilkie

That’s what we said when 29ers came out 

[MORNE]

They should use it on XL/XXL bikes and stop shafting us tall guys with compromised bike geometry.  Maybe then my bikes will finally look and ride similar to size mediums.  No way in hell a bike with 450 chain stays and 470 reach rides the same way as the same bike with 450 chain stays and 520 reach. Maybe we can finally have XL sized stack numbers too. If it helps address those things, i’m all in.

Edited August 10, 2025 by MORNE

[JoeMerida]

Good Idea I'm IN 

[DieselnDust]

I rebuilt my 27,5er for my daughter and took it for a spin. A full kg lighter than my 29er and a hell of a lot of fun. Was thinking of claiming it but she wheels it into her room while giving me the side eye and “I’m watching you” hand signals…..

 

[BikeisLife]

On 8/9/2025 at 8:59 PM, NotSoBigBen said:

Who knows perhaps the UCI UeberFuehrers make it 'moot' 🤷‍♂️

https://escapecollective.com/uci-considering-a-ban-on-32-inch-wheel-size/

I sure hope this happens. 

[David Marshall]

I built a 36" wheel once and I am not likely to repeat the experience.  32" falls into the same category. 

With around R100 000 in wheel building equipment that 'won't fit' I will stick to 29"and under. Should be enough wheels in this category to keep me busy until I retire.

[Bro Derek]

13 hours ago, BikeisLife said:

I sure hope this happens. 

Why do you hope they ban them?

I was an early adopter of the 29er wheel, I think I got my 1st one in 2007. At the time they were being nay sayed, mocked, ridiculed and nobody carried tires or tubes, never mind forks because 'these ridiculous wagon wheels will never catch on'

There were calls to ban them at competition level as well.

None of the same happened when 650b suddenly became the new thing.

It seems people are only afraid of wheels getting bigger but have less issue when they get smaller.

I'm always so interested why the general public are so quick to poo poo on new things, especially the development of cycling.

Why ban it? Why WANT to ban it?

[BikeisLife]

5 minutes ago, Bro Derek said:

Why do you hope they ban them?

I was an early adopter of the 29er wheel, I think I got my 1st one in 2007. At the time they were being nay sayed, mocked, ridiculed and nobody carried tires or tubes, never mind forks because 'these ridiculous wagon wheels will never catch on'

There were calls to ban them at competition level as well.

None of the same happened when 650b suddenly became the new thing.

It seems people are only afraid of wheels getting bigger but have less issue when they get smaller.

I'm always so interested why the general public are so quick to poo poo on new things, especially the development of cycling.

Why ban it? Why WANT to ban it?

It will be almost impossible to build a S/M bike around the platform, there simply isn't enough space. Which means it will be for L/XL/XXL. 

The amount of consumers that actually ride bicycles is small, your economies of scale are small, which is why items are so expensive. So we are going to throw a new 'standard' in here to make it even more complex. Longer spokes. probably a new hub standard to make up for the spoke lengths, new forks etc etc. 

If the UCI bans this, it simply puts it on ice and the bike industry can carry on as normal. 

Davids post above is exactly how anyone in the industry feels about it. 

Edited August 12, 2025 by BikeisLife

[Iwan Kemp]

Just now, Bro Derek said:

Why do you hope they ban them?

I was an early adopter of the 29er wheel, I think I got my 1st one in 2007. At the time they were being nay sayed, mocked, ridiculed and nobody carried tires or tubes, never mind forks because 'these ridiculous wagon wheels will never catch on'

There were calls to ban them at competition level as well.

None of the same happened when 650b suddenly became the new thing.

It seems people are only afraid of wheels getting bigger but have less issue when they get smaller.

I'm always so interested why the general public are so quick to poo poo on new things, especially the development of cycling.

Why ban it? Why WANT to ban it?

There are MANY other factors as well, but the move to 29er wheels did the wider industry no good. The added confusion between 29er and 27.5 made things even worse and changed how people shop, what bike shops stock and started a slow race to the cycling economics bottom. 

• The first 29er was launched in 2002 by Gary Fischer. 
• Giant launched their first 29er in 2010 (then moved to 27.5 in 2014 before admitting the error of their ways and making their way back to 29ers in 2017)
• Specialized launched its first 29er in 2011
• Trek launched its first 29er in 2013

It took 8 - 10 years for the wider industry to catch on and for 29ers to go mass market. IT HAS TAKEN SINCE THEN for bike designers to TRULY get on top of bike design and geometry around 29" wheels. The rate of change since 2010 has been phenomenal. Other factors have, of course, contributed (droppers, 1x drivetrains, shorter stems with wider bars, the importance of reach, etc), yet some manufacturers are still battling to get on top of things. 

So, 32ers/32" will be faster over a small percentage of typical riding at launch. It will get better over a wider range of riding as time goes on. Design-wise, the first couple of years of 32ers will be rough going. Brands will have to build, stock and sell both wheel sizes until things pivot. Brands that are already battling to keep their doors open. Most likely, 32ers will kill off recreational gravel riding as a 32er will be MUCH faster than a gravel bike. UCI gravel racing will stick to gravel bikes as we know it, but if the market shifts, there will be little to no reason to keep gravel racing going if most consumers are buying 32ers.

Stock will be a nightmare. Yes, it was a nightmare in 2010-2015 as well, but that was pre-COVID dramas. One can argue that the move to 29ers helped the bike market recover from the 2008/9 economic crash, but generally speaking, things weren't too bad back then. I'm sure most manufacturers would prefer not to develop a whole new range of bikes, while keeping their hardly floating current line-up going, hoping to ride out the wave till 32ers become mainstream enough to pay the bills.

And guess what. 36ers will be even faster than 32ers...

[Bro Derek]

17 minutes ago, BikeisLife said:

It will be almost impossible to build a S/M bike around the platform, there simply isn't enough space. Which means it will be for L/XL/XXL. 

The amount of consumers that actually ride bicycles is small, your economies of scale are small, which is why items are so expensive. So we are going to throw a new 'standard' in here to make it even more complex. Longer spokes. probably a new hub standard to make up for the spoke lengths, new forks etc etc. 

If the UCI bans this, it simply puts it on ice and the bike industry can carry on as normal. 

Davids post above is exactly how anyone in the industry feels about it. 

No in is suggesting it will replace other wheel sizes.

David is a very specific part of the industry and I'm sure they will make some wheel extender add ons for industry trueing stands. I certainly got some for my park tool when 29ers replaces 26ers

Options are the spice of life. 

I know a few 2m plus guys who would love to ride an xxl bike with bigger wheels that doesn't look ridiculous 

Embrace change, don't put your feet in concrete and your head in the sand

[Bro Derek]

4 minutes ago, Iwan Kemp said:

There are MANY other factors as well, but the move to 29er wheels did the wider industry no good. The added confusion between 29er and 27.5 made things even worse and changed how people shop, what bike shops stock and started a slow race to the cycling economics bottom. 

• The first 29er was launched in 2002 by Gary Fischer. 
• Giant launched their first 29er in 2010 (then moved to 27.5 in 2014 before admitting the error of their ways and making their way back to 29ers in 2017)
• Specialized launched its first 29er in 2011
• Trek launched its first 29er in 2013

It took 8 - 10 years for the wider industry to catch on and for 29ers to go mass market. IT HAS TAKEN SINCE THEN for bike designers to TRULY get on top of bike design and geometry around 29" wheels. The rate of change since 2010 has been phenomenal. Other factors have, of course, contributed (droppers, 1x drivetrains, shorter stems with wider bars, the importance of reach, etc), yet some manufacturers are still battling to get on top of things. 

So, 32ers/32" will be faster over a small percentage of typical riding at launch. It will get better over a wider range of riding as time goes on. Design-wise, the first couple of years of 32ers will be rough going. Brands will have to build, stock and sell both wheel sizes until things pivot. Brands that are already battling to keep their doors open. Most likely, 32ers will kill off recreational gravel riding as a 32er will be MUCH faster than a gravel bike. UCI gravel racing will stick to gravel bikes as we know it, but if the market shifts, there will be little to no reason to keep gravel racing going if most consumers are buying 32ers.

Stock will be a nightmare. Yes, it was a nightmare in 2010-2015 as well, but that was pre-COVID dramas. One can argue that the move to 29ers helped the bike market recover from the 2008/9 economic crash, but generally speaking, things weren't too bad back then. I'm sure most manufacturers would prefer not to develop a whole new range of bikes, while keeping their hardly floating current line-up going, hoping to ride out the wave till 32ers become mainstream enough to pay the bills.

And guess what. 36ers will be even faster than 32ers...

Lets not throw the baby out with the bath water

No one will be forcing anyone to make them. Bike brands can choose.

If they ban them then they cannot choose to make them, which is ridiculous.

Niche brands can fill that gap until other big companies feel it is a market worth exploring. But by banning it you are protecting the current shape of the bike market and cutting out an avenue for others to fill.

Change isn't bad, companies don't have to embrace the change, but by banning stuff because 'some' big players feel it isn't profitable?

Come on.... banning wheel size change over mass economics is ridiculous. Let Moot and WTB have some fun for a while and see if it even has a place before throwing a blanket over it

[ChrisF]

15 minutes ago, Bro Derek said:

....

Options are the spice of life. 

I know a few 2m plus guys who would love to ride an xxl bike with bigger wheels that doesn't look ridiculous 

....

 

As a shorty myself I am equally happy on a 27,5 and a 29" bike. 

 

With a couple of taller riding buddies I appreciated the need for larger bikes.

 

Look at a 2,05m man on a XL 29" bike .... these riders will benefit from this progress in this industry.

 

 

SURE .... it is will create (rather add to) significant logistical issues for shops and mechanics.

[Pieterlab1]

A 32er E-Bike should make you a lot of new friends I think...