{"id":164137,"date":"2025-09-23T15:52:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T15:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/164137\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T15:52:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T15:52:08","slug":"ktm-wades-into-future-of-32-bikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/164137\/","title":{"rendered":"KTM wades into future of 32″ bikes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The slow tide of 32-inch bikes can not be stopped, it appears. KTM is adding to the growing list of brands going public with project bikes built around the cartoonishly large wheel size.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Faction\u2019s \u201cBig Ben\u201d
\nFrom the fringes to the races<\/p>\n

While a few brands worked on the fringes to open up the space, like DirtySixer<\/a>, the 32\u2033 future is picking up mainstream attention this season.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s Faction Bike Studio is touring around \u201cBig Ben,\u201d<\/a> a working concept bike for what 32\u2033 cross country race bikes could look like.<\/p>\n

BMC\u2019s team pits are regularly displaying that brands vision for what 32\u2033 could look like. That bike\u2019s also been spotted, on occasion, taking test laps under team staff at World Cup venues.<\/p>\n

Project 64: KTM enters the fray<\/p>\n

Likewise, KTM\u2019s new 32\u2033 was introduced at the Lenzerheide World Cup round. The brand\u2019s calling this monster truck \u201cProject 64\u201d. Which is, of course, 32 x 2.<\/p>\n

. While not raced, it seemed to take some time on dirt. KTM\u2019s opted for the simpler hardtail route. While that doesn\u2019t make much of a difference in finding parts, one of the main obstacles to developing a 32\u2033 bike, it does have practical advantages. Like improved standover clearance. Since there\u2019s no rear suspension to work around, KTM could have dropped the top tube as much as they wanted. Could have, but it doesn\u2019t really look like the brand has. The result looks cleaner, but might still be tall for some shorter riders. Just don\u2019t put a foot down, right?<\/p>\n

KTM also goes for alloy frame construction. That\u2019s surely cheaper when producing a prototype frame.<\/p>\n

As for parts, KTM\u2019s taking advantage of its team partnership with Mavic. The historic French brand supplies the out sized set of hoops for this project. Which could hint that Mavic is nearly ready to release a production version of a 32\u2033 rim. That\u2019d be a great step for non-team riders keen to get into the world of 32\u2033 bikes, as there are very few options out there.<\/p>\n

\"KTM<\/a>KTM Project 64<\/p>\n

Like most brands experimenting with the bigger wheels, Maxxis\u2019 Aspen is the tire of choice. Or, well, the only tire currently available. The dominant tire brand\u2019s done well to get out infront of the competition with one of the only 32 tires that looks to meet the demands of high performance riding and look near production ready.<\/p>\n

The fork, one of the other challenges for getting a 32\u2033 bike rolling, is unmarked. But the inverted fork shares some design notes with Intend. Maybe that boutique brand is up to something more XC than the rest of its offerings. Attached to the fork\u2019s steerer tube is, as you might expect, an extremely slammed and negative-rise stem.<\/p>\n

The rest of the parts are relatively standard, in line with what you\u2019d see on any other cross country bike. They all just look smaller, housed between those hefty hoops.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The slow tide of 32-inch bikes can not be stopped, it appears. KTM is adding to the growing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[84975,84976,49,48,635,84977,84978,84979,1700,35620,82],"class_list":["post-164137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-84975","tag-32-inch","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-ktm","tag-mavic","tag-maxxis-aspen","tag-mtb-features","tag-mtb-gear","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}