Two Things

32" wheeled bike seen at Eurobike (Image courtesy of Gary Fisher)

  Thoughts On 32"ers:

On Friday an exc3ellent look at an experimental 32" wheeled XC racing bike was detailed by "Bike Rumor". (See article HERE)

The article shows how BMC engineers cut up an existing Medium sized Four Stroke FS XC bike, modified a DT Swiss fork, and made some customized bits to see if a 32" wheeled bike would make sense as a Pro-level XC bike.

If you are old enough to remember the very beginnings of the 29"er developmental phases, you will find all of this very familiar. Moving to a larger diameter wheel will present a LOT of concerns and challenges. Based upon what we already know about 29"er vs 26"er days, what can we expect from all this development on 32"ers? Will Maxxis release the other tread patterns it says it has ready to go? Will Pirelli release a tire, as suggested in the linked "Bike Rumor"article? Who will pony up the money for a turnkey front suspension fork?

If the industry learned anything from early 29"er development, they should understand rushing to "be first" with 32"ers may prove to be a fatal decision. Early 29"ers weren't very good, quite frankly, and you can see how the wheel size had to grow into its own geometry, axle spacing, and how materials technology had to be developed to make the big wheels work well enough to leave 26"ers and 27.5"ers behind.

In my opinion, 32 inch wheels will demand its own set of geometry tweaks before the bikes will ever hope to outrun 29"ers. Furthermore, the extra weight will have to be addressed by further gains in materials technologies, if this can be done. Thirdly, another set of geometry numbers will have to be addressed here, and this is having to do with wheels. It is my strong belief if 32"ers are adopted you will see wider front hubs, and probably a move to wider rear hub spacing to gain back wheel strength and handling precision lost with a longer, more flexible spoke.

Add in fit and sizing issues and I think 32"ers - while technically possible - will not be quite the same revolution as 29"ers were. Simply because humans in the size range 32"ers will work best for are not going to be as numerous as those who would fit 29"ers well. Therefore your market for products is already limited. Kind of as if you decided to only sell hats larger than 7 7/8ths hat size. You'll sell some, but not like "normal" hat sizes.

Image courtesy of Gravel Worlds

Lauf Gravel Worlds Announces New Awards For Finishers:

Friday saw the press release for Gravel Worlds hit my inbox which detailed the new finisher award concepts for this year's running of Gravel Worlds. These new awards are designed to celebrate thos not in the front, nor those bringing up the rear of the field, but these are for the "everyman/woman" of gravel racing.

First up we have the "Golden Cob"- "Cream of the Crop" award for anyone finishing the 150 distance in under ten hours. Next up we have the 300 Mile (formerly Long Journey) Belt Buckle for anyone finishing the 300 mile distance.

Lauf Gravel Worlds also announced a new 10 mile "Fun Ride" in addition to its other distances on offer.

You can learn more at www.gravelworlds.com 

 Comments: If this reminds you somewhat of a 2010's era gravel event's awards then you are on the right track. The DK200 had similar awards for anyone "beating the Sun" going down in Emporia.

By the way, didn't N.Y. Roll bring this idea up in a recent podcast we did? I think so. While we cannot take credit for the Golden Cob idea, we have to think we were on a similar wavelength there! The belt buckle is a direct nod to the Leadville 100's belt buckles which used to be doled out as awards to finishers under certain time limits.

It is interesting to note that the 300 mile  distance is no longer being called "The Long Voyage", which was originally done in keeping with the Pirate theme since Gravel Worlds was a Pirate Cycling League event for the majority of its years until recently.