30.5 VS 32s- People actually on board… Duke it out

I'm 6'2" and voted too short I don't want either of these. 

These segmentation activities are just what the bike industry needed after emerging from post-covid inventory challenges and begin to enter supply chain pressures caused by the gulf war.

Still yet to se a 32inch bike that doesn't look like complete garbage. Designers are shoehorning them into bikes and still using current wheelbases and dimensions so the proportions are all wrong. 

I could see a 27.5/29/30.5 scheme working with choice based on frame size. XS bikes get 27.5. S, M and L get 29 or 29/27.5 mullets. XL and L get 30.5 or 30.5/29 mullets. 32s go in the bin. 

Ideally fork manufactures would offer specific lowers for each wheel size. 

We are never going to get the adecuate thread, compound, casing and diameter tire ever again. It is hard already to find some trail rear 27.5 tires "you ride mullet, you are rad as hell, you need 1500gr tires" - the industry thinks. Multiply that by 4. Rest of the bike - components will be fine, but tires... Not a chance.

Where's the "I'm here for the cheap literally unrideable 29er while the industry figures out what sizes it really wants" option?

Those drop stems seem awkward. Shouldn’t larger wheels and higher axles predicate longer frames and higher bottom brackets? One manufacturer recently started raising BB for longer/larger frame sizes. What is the ideal BB drop and height for 32” wheel bike frames? 

I'm going to have to quote Charlie on this one "Kill yourself"...

All this will cause more harm than good

I was an early adopter of 29. Will not be adopting 32, except maybe a gravel bike. 

Took about 15 years for geometry to get properly sorted on 29. It’ll go a bit faster this time, so the real question, if these take off, is what’s going to happen in 2035-2040? Will 26 return or are we staring down 36?

Geometry is the most important part of bike fit. Wheel diameter is the geometry of wheels. Idk how I feel about more half-sizes like 30.5, but I'm buying a short travel 32" XC bike as soon as they come out.

I remember going through this same rigmarole years ago on Pinkbike when the hivemind was up in arms about 29ers. IMO the "jump" to 29" was simply not big enough for taller riders doing XC/trail riding.

Bingo!

Right now there are very very few 32ers out in the wild, so the collective outcry feels more tribal than based on any experience. 

It'll be interesting to see how perceptions change over the next year as more 32" bikes get ridden. 

There's a lot of ideas being bandied about regarding 32" wheels that are given credibility as "science" that sound right as long as no counterpoint is presented. But I'll resist banging that drum anymore. One last drum hit though for those interested; the german website bike-test.com did a great study on 29 vs. 32 https://bike-test.com/testbericht/32-zoll-mtb-laufraeder-systemvergleich/

Regarding the 30.5 wheel size I'm broadly apathetic but not opposed.

The whole 32" and 30.5" wheel situation and my own rabid excitement for 32" wheels has made me reflect on what I'm trying to get out of mtb. and, by extension, what direction I'd like to see the sport go.

It's really easy to get obsessed with the equipment side of the sport. It's easy to get caught up in trying to build the fastest, most reliable, most capable bike, (& possibly color coordinated too!) without asking if it improves any part of my life. I'm excited about the 32" wheels because I believe the reduced rolling resistance and smaller rollover angle will make me significantly more efficient on the long rough backcountry rides and races I enjoy. But my sons won't care whether I get 1st or 101st place, whether I finish in 4 hours or 6 hours or even 10 hours. Does it even change my own experience if I'm x% more efficient? x% faster? No it does not. Will my wife care if I get a new KOM with my new carbon-ultra-boost-big-mullet-wundercykle? No she will not. 

I'm fortunate enough to have a few bikes, some new fancy ones and some old fancy ones. I have a 2006 Cannondale Rush that was nice in it's day, but a terrible bike by modern standards. I ride it sometimes when I feel myself coming unmoored from reality. Riding it reminds me the bike mostly doesn't matter, I still have a good time. I go slower in some situations, normally pedestrian moves become a lot spicier, I stop and adjust my saddle height with a lever instead of hitting a button.

I realize it's more than a bit ironic that I'm spending 30 minutes writing a post about how ultimately it doesn't matter to me when clearly it does and has for >20years. If a 32/30.5 mullet trail bike comes out, I'd still be stoked about it, I'll read the reviews, I may even buy one, but it won't render my older bikes garbage. 

FWIW I do think a 305./32 mullet would allay some fears regarding but clearance, which may be a sales pitch barrier for many. Or (tinfoil hat on) the 30.5 rumor is here to take some of the heat off the 32" reality coming down the pike. 

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/testing-a-32-mega-mullet-downhill-bike-against-the-clock.html
They made a prototype and tested it. Did not see this coming at all this quick! 

This was a great read. Glad someone did it so we could hear from the horse's mouth. It's been such a crapshoot even guessing what the bikes are going to ride like. I talked to A LOT of industry people at Sea Otter, and I only talked with one person who'd actually ridden a 32" wheel.

So far what I’m seeing are

1. salty dudes on forums loudly insisting they’d sooner suck a dog’s nose dry than countenance such an obvious industry-destroying gimmick as bigger wheels
2. people who have ridden 32” bikes talking about how much grip and rollover the bikes have and wondering how to solve the packaging and geometry issues

Another video of someone running a 32” front wheel and their butt not falling off:

may be somebody tests at fort william IXS EDC