32 inch wheels thread

[neptronix]

Oh DD hubs would have awful power density on these due to their diameter. You'd need to go from a personal pizza sized hub to a medium pizza sized hub.

You probably want a mid drive or hub motor that has two gear reductions inside.

 

[MxusMick]

I would love to see an elongated frame that was built to handle a 32" fork/ wheel and a 20" rear wheel with the rear dropouts lower than normal to raise the bottom bracket for safe pedalling, mullets rock

 

[dgc]

Perhaps if you get the right 29" forks the 32" might fit?

 

[neptronix]

The problem with 32" is that contortions to the geometry need to happen to get any kind of shock height.

It looks funny but a front 29" suspension fork and 29" front wheel might work - the rear tire sees the most friction and we're keeping it at 32".

In a hardtail configuration, this would give you:
- most of the maneuverability of a 29er
- large diameter where you don't have suspension
- frontend will probably go up an 1-2 inches on a bike, but you probably won't mind the extra slack fork angle on an ebike

 

[dgc]

On my mullet e-bikes l have no problems with slacker head angle only noticed it on my 29er when I fitted a 27.5" on the back as it's a modern frame only year or two old.

 

[MxusMick]

Somebody needs to have the mullet frame option that could include forks to fit a 36" max up front and a 12" minimum rear with suspension

 

[Epithemeus]

Somebody needs to have the mullet frame option that could include forks to fit a 36" max up front and a 12" minimum rear with suspension

Got it!

 

[Risky Rob]

I bought a new 26" front wheel and tire when I was converting my 26" bike to electric. I would have gone bigger if I knew it was possible.

 

[2old]

Got it

Looks like you're going to need a rear hubbie for that one.

 

[MxusMick]

That bike with foldable catamaran arms is what I'm seeing

 

[MxusMick]

With fat tires for buoyancy

 

[phobos]

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/are-bigger-wheels-actually-faster-what-the-science-says.html

According to this article there were 5 scientific studies on 26 vs 29.
All of them identified that there is more vibration transferred when running a 29 inch wheel, also all of them identified that 29 is faster than 26 by a whooping 2.5% on average across all articles.

 

[neptronix]

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/are-bigger-wheels-actually-faster-what-the-science-says.html

According to this article there were 5 scientific studies on 26 vs 29.
All of them identified that there is more vibration transferred when running a 29 inch wheel, also all of them identified that 29 is faster than 26 by a whooping 2.5% on average across all articles.

What was interesting to me is this one because i live near this university:



I rode a 26er in this area for over a decade and only recently switched to a 29er.
There is a noticeable speed boost for me and significantly less vibration.

This area has poor quality road surfaces and high altitude. There may be some reason 29ers do so well.
I would not want to go back to 26 now.

I have watched numerous test rides of 32" wheeled bikes.
The consensus seems to be much lower vibration and a surprising amount of added speed.
The paragraph at the bottom of this link is the first contradiction i've seen.

 

[Apartunis]

I use bikes and trikes with wheels from 20" to 29". There are many good reasons to use small wheels. Strength, rigidity, packaging, overall bike size, rider and cargo weight distribution, gearing, hub motor speed/power/efficiency matching, and so forth. All else equal or if none of those factors apply, bigger wheels verifiably work better. I wish 32 and 36 inch wheels were more common and affordable. We could benefit from them so much more than 27.5 inch, which is a solution in search of a problem.

If we were riding on 1970s or 1980s American pavement, and we were all 19th century size, then 700c would be a totally okay maximum size. But we are not, and we are not.

 

[neptronix]

Yeah.

I have a 20" wheeled recumbent and very expensive suspension upgrades and close to the maximum amount of tire i could fit is barely enough to keep it comfortable on the crappy roads here @ 35mph. And god forbid i hit a pothole.

I like the 20 inch wheels because a standard 9C motor will go like a rocket.
I don't like 20 inch wheels because the unsprung weight of a hub would take the bike back to intolerable at speed since the rear suspension would lose efficacy.

I came out of a long experience with 20" and 26" wheeled bikes and came out a giant wheels fan.

 

[phobos]

I have watched numerous test rides of 32" wheeled bikes.
The consensus seems to be much lower vibration and a surprising amount of added speed.
The paragraph at the bottom of this link is the first contradiction i've seen.

I think the increased vibration may have been caused by tire pressure, though I could be mistaken. Either way, the result is surprising. It makes sense that 29-inch wheels offer a greater advantage to recreational riders than to professionals. Skilled riders can better compensate for the drawbacks of smaller wheels through their technique and experience.

 

[2old]

One, two % (or any amount) may be vital in racing, but not recreational riding (for me). I was an early adopter of 29, but am gravitating back to 26 now because they're more fun for me on trails with steep ascents. I still ride the 29 on trails without a lot of climbing.