MTB Tech Rumors and Innovation

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MrDuck
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2/2/2021
Location
CA
11/26/2025 4:52pm Edited Date/Time 11/26/2025 4:53pm

Keep riding good bieks, or be the first to ride new bad bike? Decisions decisions

One of the most interesting thoughts about biek innovation I've heard in a hot minute tbh

6
11/26/2025 8:52pm

Keep riding good bieks, or be the first to ride new bad bike? Decisions decisions

MrDuck wrote:

One of the most interesting thoughts about biek innovation I've heard in a hot minute tbh

old but good > new but bad.

6
Glory831Guy
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Location
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
11/26/2025 10:04pm Edited Date/Time 11/26/2025 10:17pm

Keep riding good bieks, or be the first to ride new bad bike? Decisions decisions

MrDuck wrote:

One of the most interesting thoughts about biek innovation I've heard in a hot minute tbh

old but good > new but bad.

1000001405

32" front and back is only gonna be unequivocally better for people of a certain height or better, and peeps gotta keep it real in that regard. With the technicality of modern XC courses, a 32" wheel for someone too short is gonna be a liability I.M.O.

 

We need a new term for 32" front 29" rear. How about Mega-mullet?!

14
mickey
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Location
Roanoke, VA, USA
11/27/2025 6:59am
32" front and back is only gonna be unequivocally better for people of a certain height or better, and peeps gotta keep it real in that...
1000001405

32" front and back is only gonna be unequivocally better for people of a certain height or better, and peeps gotta keep it real in that regard. With the technicality of modern XC courses, a 32" wheel for someone too short is gonna be a liability I.M.O.

 

We need a new term for 32" front 29" rear. How about Mega-mullet?!

Mega Mullet is what I have heard Pon employees describe their test-mule frames as…

6
11/27/2025 7:22am
mickey wrote:

Mega Mullet is what I have heard Pon employees describe their test-mule frames as…

So, the question is which Pon company drops a 32 first? Does GT get revived meaning Giant Tires? Maybe Cannondale.. They have a history of quirky bikes..

10
Javigutz
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Beverly Hills, CA, USA
11/27/2025 7:36am
mickey wrote:

Mega Mullet is what I have heard Pon employees describe their test-mule frames as…

So, the question is which Pon company drops a 32 first? Does GT get revived meaning Giant Tires? Maybe Cannondale.. They have a history of quirky...

So, the question is which Pon company drops a 32 first? Does GT get revived meaning Giant Tires? Maybe Cannondale.. They have a history of quirky bikes..

I bet C´dale

4
dolface
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Location
USA
11/27/2025 7:42am
mickey wrote:

Mega Mullet is what I have heard Pon employees describe their test-mule frames as…

So, the question is which Pon company drops a 32 first? Does GT get revived meaning Giant Tires? Maybe Cannondale.. They have a history of quirky...

So, the question is which Pon company drops a 32 first? Does GT get revived meaning Giant Tires? Maybe Cannondale.. They have a history of quirky bikes..

Javigutz wrote:

I bet C´dale

Makes sense to me; they won't need a new casting (maybe? Is the Lefty upper cast?) which should speed up development...

4
owl-x
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958
Joined
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Location
Shell Beach, CA, USA
11/27/2025 8:23am
32" front and back is only gonna be unequivocally better for people of a certain height or better, and peeps gotta keep it real in that...
1000001405

32" front and back is only gonna be unequivocally better for people of a certain height or better, and peeps gotta keep it real in that regard. With the technicality of modern XC courses, a 32" wheel for someone too short is gonna be a liability I.M.O.

 

We need a new term for 32" front 29" rear. How about Mega-mullet?!

I think the bigger wheels will be faster for everyone, just like 29ers were. XC courses seem to be getting more jump / descend skilly and less slow techy, a perfect match for an even bigger wheel. 

7
11/27/2025 8:59am
dolface wrote:

Makes sense to me; they won't need a new casting (maybe? Is the Lefty upper cast?) which should speed up development...

They might be able to limit the travel on the lefty.. Might just need a longer stanchion tube.. But, I'm not totally familiar with the Lefty internals..

2
dolface
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Location
USA
11/27/2025 9:18am
dolface wrote:

Makes sense to me; they won't need a new casting (maybe? Is the Lefty upper cast?) which should speed up development...

They might be able to limit the travel on the lefty.. Might just need a longer stanchion tube.. But, I'm not totally familiar with the Lefty...

They might be able to limit the travel on the lefty.. Might just need a longer stanchion tube.. But, I'm not totally familiar with the Lefty internals..

Darren Baum already did this so I'd be shocked if Cannondale isn't all over it...


"Less easy was the fork, and rather than going the rigid route, Baum customised a Cannondale Lefty Ocho mountain bike fork (if you can call it that). “There’s no arch to get in the way of the tyre, but it had too much travel. The front wheel would have ended up hitting the down tube during compression, too, so we did some work in house to reduce the travel to 80 mm, which is what we were after for a gravel bike,” shared Baum of the customised air spring within."

https://escapecollective.com/spoken-2025-baums-been-busy/

image 499

9
monarchmason
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Location
Nevada City, CA, USA
11/27/2025 10:17am

I wonder if the SuperMaxx lefty competes with the more current USD forks? It certainly does in weight… 

2
11/27/2025 10:26am Edited Date/Time 11/27/2025 11:23am
32" front and back is only gonna be unequivocally better for people of a certain height or better, and peeps gotta keep it real in that...
1000001405

32" front and back is only gonna be unequivocally better for people of a certain height or better, and peeps gotta keep it real in that regard. With the technicality of modern XC courses, a 32" wheel for someone too short is gonna be a liability I.M.O.

 

We need a new term for 32" front 29" rear. How about Mega-mullet?!

owl-x wrote:
I think the bigger wheels will be faster for everyone, just like 29ers were. XC courses seem to be getting more jump / descend skilly and...

I think the bigger wheels will be faster for everyone, just like 29ers were. XC courses seem to be getting more jump / descend skilly and less slow techy, a perfect match for an even bigger wheel. 

Unsure.. in downhill we went from 26 to 27.5 to 29, and then back to 29/27.5 - it kind of seems like we found the ceiling. 
 

16
11/27/2025 11:08am
32" front and back is only gonna be unequivocally better for people of a certain height or better, and peeps gotta keep it real in that...
1000001405

32" front and back is only gonna be unequivocally better for people of a certain height or better, and peeps gotta keep it real in that regard. With the technicality of modern XC courses, a 32" wheel for someone too short is gonna be a liability I.M.O.

 

We need a new term for 32" front 29" rear. How about Mega-mullet?!

owl-x wrote:
I think the bigger wheels will be faster for everyone, just like 29ers were. XC courses seem to be getting more jump / descend skilly and...

I think the bigger wheels will be faster for everyone, just like 29ers were. XC courses seem to be getting more jump / descend skilly and less slow techy, a perfect match for an even bigger wheel. 

Unsure.. in downhill we went from 26 to 27.5 to 29, and then back to 29/27.5 - it kind of seems like we found the ceiling. 
 

Lots of dh guys say full 29 is faster.  Just mullet is so much easier for them to make adjustments and limit mistakes that they choose to run the mullet.


Xc is an hr long plus race.  I’m sure we’ll see some people throw away a result in the first seasons of 32 wheels.  But I’d imagine most the field will be on them once they can.  The same way everyone ended up on 29.


Think it’s likely 32 will also lead to mullet setups being allowed in xc which was pointed out to me as not currently being legal.  But I think you might see shorter riders on 32 rear and 29 front to solve the stack issues before people are worried about eating a tire in their buttcrack.  It’s just not usually a problem on short travel bikes with long seatposts with generally short or no dropper.

2
11/27/2025 11:20am
owl-x wrote:
I think the bigger wheels will be faster for everyone, just like 29ers were. XC courses seem to be getting more jump / descend skilly and...

I think the bigger wheels will be faster for everyone, just like 29ers were. XC courses seem to be getting more jump / descend skilly and less slow techy, a perfect match for an even bigger wheel. 

Unsure.. in downhill we went from 26 to 27.5 to 29, and then back to 29/27.5 - it kind of seems like we found the ceiling. 
 

Lots of dh guys say full 29 is faster.  Just mullet is so much easier for them to make adjustments and limit mistakes that they choose...

Lots of dh guys say full 29 is faster.  Just mullet is so much easier for them to make adjustments and limit mistakes that they choose to run the mullet.


Xc is an hr long plus race.  I’m sure we’ll see some people throw away a result in the first seasons of 32 wheels.  But I’d imagine most the field will be on them once they can.  The same way everyone ended up on 29.


Think it’s likely 32 will also lead to mullet setups being allowed in xc which was pointed out to me as not currently being legal.  But I think you might see shorter riders on 32 rear and 29 front to solve the stack issues before people are worried about eating a tire in their buttcrack.  It’s just not usually a problem on short travel bikes with long seatposts with generally short or no dropper.

Only time will tell, it’ll be interesting to see where it does end up. 
Personally I hope it dies a quick relatively pain free death and it doesn’t lead to bike companies sinking a heap of money into sub par bikes as has been implied previously in the forum. 
 

6
faxxe
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40
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Location
Graz, AT
11/27/2025 12:01pm Edited Date/Time 11/29/2025 11:01pm

Unsure.. in downhill we went from 26 to 27.5 to 29, and then back to 29/27.5 - it kind of seems like we found the ceiling. 
 

Lots of dh guys say full 29 is faster.  Just mullet is so much easier for them to make adjustments and limit mistakes that they choose...

Lots of dh guys say full 29 is faster.  Just mullet is so much easier for them to make adjustments and limit mistakes that they choose to run the mullet.


Xc is an hr long plus race.  I’m sure we’ll see some people throw away a result in the first seasons of 32 wheels.  But I’d imagine most the field will be on them once they can.  The same way everyone ended up on 29.


Think it’s likely 32 will also lead to mullet setups being allowed in xc which was pointed out to me as not currently being legal.  But I think you might see shorter riders on 32 rear and 29 front to solve the stack issues before people are worried about eating a tire in their buttcrack.  It’s just not usually a problem on short travel bikes with long seatposts with generally short or no dropper.

Only time will tell, it’ll be interesting to see where it does end up. Personally I hope it dies a quick relatively pain free death and it...

Only time will tell, it’ll be interesting to see where it does end up. 
Personally I hope it dies a quick relatively pain free death and it doesn’t lead to bike companies sinking a heap of money into sub par bikes as has been implied previously in the forum. 
 

Once we get a new axle standard to stiffen up the huge wheels, we surely know that the history repeats itself 

8
11/27/2025 12:27pm

What's the issue with reducing the letfys travel? Just put a spacer in the positive air chamber 

1
11/27/2025 1:26pm
32" front and back is only gonna be unequivocally better for people of a certain height or better, and peeps gotta keep it real in that...
1000001405

32" front and back is only gonna be unequivocally better for people of a certain height or better, and peeps gotta keep it real in that regard. With the technicality of modern XC courses, a 32" wheel for someone too short is gonna be a liability I.M.O.

 

We need a new term for 32" front 29" rear. How about Mega-mullet?!

mickey wrote:

Mega Mullet is what I have heard Pon employees describe their test-mule frames as…

I’m with MXecutioner !!

3
11/27/2025 6:17pm

Probably missed this discussion, but is there a reason we went from 29 to 32? What about 30 or 31? Or 30.5 (just like 27.5 is between 26 and 29). Curious: Was 32 just an arbitrary choice, or is there some reasoning?

4
slimshady
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156
Joined
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Location
AR
11/27/2025 7:21pm
Probably missed this discussion, but is there a reason we went from 29 to 32? What about 30 or 31? Or 30.5 (just like 27.5 is...

Probably missed this discussion, but is there a reason we went from 29 to 32? What about 30 or 31? Or 30.5 (just like 27.5 is between 26 and 29). Curious: Was 32 just an arbitrary choice, or is there some reasoning?

You can only have so many incremental steps before The Industry™ goes full penny farthing.

4
11/27/2025 8:36pm
Probably missed this discussion, but is there a reason we went from 29 to 32? What about 30 or 31? Or 30.5 (just like 27.5 is...

Probably missed this discussion, but is there a reason we went from 29 to 32? What about 30 or 31? Or 30.5 (just like 27.5 is between 26 and 29). Curious: Was 32 just an arbitrary choice, or is there some reasoning?

Something to do with unicycles

9
metadave
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Revelstoke, BC, CA
Fantasy
11/27/2025 8:41pm
Probably missed this discussion, but is there a reason we went from 29 to 32? What about 30 or 31? Or 30.5 (just like 27.5 is...

Probably missed this discussion, but is there a reason we went from 29 to 32? What about 30 or 31? Or 30.5 (just like 27.5 is between 26 and 29). Curious: Was 32 just an arbitrary choice, or is there some reasoning?

Likely just an easy number to move towards. It's not too big (36) but enough of a jump in size to make people think its better. Pure marketing. 29" kind of made sense, it was already the same rim and tire diameter as road bikes, so making that jump for manufactures of wheels and tires, well all they really needed to do was make there 26" wheels and tires on machines they kind of already had. Remember, this was when MTB rims were huge if they were 25mm wide. And when that kind of stalled, they introduced 27.5 as an in-between size and worked out the geo issues until most people finally moved up to 29, or at least mullet after 2019. Now that bikes have kind of hit a slow spot for development, they're literally just moving on to the next most likely thing, even if its not better for most people. Tech-dudes will run for it thinking it will make them suck less and not have to cut roots out, sales numbers will jump for 3-4 years as people try it out and in 2032, trying to find a 32" tire will be like trying to find 27.5+ tires now.
 

Don't get me wrong, 32", will have the same magic carpet effect 29 had compared to 26 but honestly, 32 is going to make people under 6'3" feel like someone on 29's under 5'5". I'm 5'8", a very solid size medium and on a full 29 enduro bike, my rear tire was getting very up-close and personal when wheel travel got scarce or really steep stuff. While I don't see 32" moving beyond trail bike territory, I think over half of people who ride would end up being made to feel awful uncomfortable when riding on much more than easy rolling terrain. And looking at the bikes, that things not making it around a tight switch back designed 10 years ago for 26" wheels any day of the week. 

11
11/27/2025 9:06pm

650b, 700cc, so that means 750ddd right?

12
storm.racing
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364
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Location
Silverton, CO, USA
11/29/2025 12:13pm

Funny screen grab… oops…

But more production ready frames… more brembos, and different Ohlins stanchions..

I think frame and brakes are soon! Let’s hope. I want the brakes.

Not sure on Ohlins but will be interesting to see that direction IMG 4285.png?VersionId=ATAOBxWtvyLWrkdmIOMZKPMsIMG 4286

16
lickmycrinkle
Posts
228
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1/27/2021
Location
Beverly Hills, CA, USA
11/29/2025 1:37pm
Funny screen grab… oops…But more production ready frames… more brembos, and different Ohlins stanchions..I think frame and brakes are soon! Let’s hope. I want the brakes.Not...

Funny screen grab… oops…

But more production ready frames… more brembos, and different Ohlins stanchions..

I think frame and brakes are soon! Let’s hope. I want the brakes.

Not sure on Ohlins but will be interesting to see that direction IMG 4285.png?VersionId=ATAOBxWtvyLWrkdmIOMZKPMsIMG 4286

Odd that they would brand a new/proto fork with the old (superior, seriously, I didn't see a single positive comment on the whole internet) branding...

10
11/29/2025 4:47pm

Old branding to try and hide the prototype? Use the new branding when they release the new fork? Wild guess on my part..

7
owl-x
Posts
958
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3/23/2016
Location
Shell Beach, CA, USA
11/29/2025 5:55pm

It’s wild to have your cranks disappear into the frame at a spot different from your chainring. Kinda really totally have to ride one of these…

8
11/29/2025 7:10pm
owl-x wrote:

It’s wild to have your cranks disappear into the frame at a spot different from your chainring. Kinda really totally have to ride one of these…

I never noticed that until you just pointed it out, even though I've seen this bike so many times. It's at the top of the list of bikes I actually want to ride, alongside the Rallon (in both DH and enduro capacity). 

1
dom
Posts
29
Joined
9/29/2016
Location
suze la rousse, FR
11/29/2025 11:55pm

la chaine doit être super longue 

3
5
11/30/2025 8:37am
Funny screen grab… oops…But more production ready frames… more brembos, and different Ohlins stanchions..I think frame and brakes are soon! Let’s hope. I want the brakes.Not...

Funny screen grab… oops…

But more production ready frames… more brembos, and different Ohlins stanchions..

I think frame and brakes are soon! Let’s hope. I want the brakes.

Not sure on Ohlins but will be interesting to see that direction IMG 4285.png?VersionId=ATAOBxWtvyLWrkdmIOMZKPMsIMG 4286

I think its the same coating Loic had earlier but just in the full sun looks a little different. Screenshot 2025-11-30 at 9.37.01%E2%80%AFAM

8
storm.racing
Posts
364
Joined
2/15/2022
Location
Silverton, CO, USA
11/30/2025 9:16am
Funny screen grab… oops…But more production ready frames… more brembos, and different Ohlins stanchions..I think frame and brakes are soon! Let’s hope. I want the brakes.Not...

Funny screen grab… oops…

But more production ready frames… more brembos, and different Ohlins stanchions..

I think frame and brakes are soon! Let’s hope. I want the brakes.

Not sure on Ohlins but will be interesting to see that direction IMG 4285.png?VersionId=ATAOBxWtvyLWrkdmIOMZKPMsIMG 4286

thegromit wrote:
I think its the same coating Loic had earlier but just in the full sun looks a little different.

I think its the same coating Loic had earlier but just in the full sun looks a little different. Screenshot 2025-11-30 at 9.37.01%E2%80%AFAM

Definitely! I think it is a way they can further distinguish themselves and get away from black stanchions like the others have. Will be curious their marketing take on performance improvements. 

2
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