At the Sea Otter Classic cycling festival in Monterey, California, last week, I was on a mission to learn as much as I could about 32″ mountain bike developments to get a sense of where things might be heading. Though there’s still a lot of uncertainty about how popular the bigger wheel size will be among riders, that’s not stopping tire companies from rolling out new 32-inch models. Here are the brands that showed 32″ tires at Sea Otter, along with the major brands that didn’t.
Kenda Dagger XC 32×2.4″
The Dagger is Kenda’s “ultimate cross-country and light trail tire,” and the brand is set to offer the tread in a 32×2.4″ size. Though the tire patch doesn’t scream 32 like some of the others we found on display at Sea Otter, if you look closely, you can see the specs molded into the tire.
Maxxis Aspen, Forekaster, and Dissector 32×2.4″ tires
Singletracks covered the launch of Maxxis’ new line of 32er tires last week, but ICYMI, the mega tire brand added three more aggressive tread patterns in the 32-inch size. Starting at the cross-country end of the spectrum, the all-new Aspen AT tread is billed as one that’s designed to meet the “modern demands” of XC racing.
Maxxis introduced a 32-inch version of the Forekaster downcountry tire as well, along with the Dissector with a solid medium- to heavy-duty trail spec. Looking at the current crop of 32-inch tires on the market, the Dissector stands out as one of the most aggressive options available today.
Schwalbe Race Rick 32×2.4″ and G-One RX PRO 32x50mm
The Schwalbe Race Rick 32×2.4″ pro-level tire is clearly designed for cross-country racing. Though we’ve known about this tire since at least February, it still isn’t widely available for purchase.
Schwalbe is working on another 32-inch tire as well, known as the G-One RX Pro. This is actually a gravel tire, and the one sample we spotted at Sea Otter didn’t have any official markings on it. From the sound of it, neither of these tires will be available until sometime in 2027.
Teravail Cannonball 32×2.2″ and Camrock 32×2.4″
Teravail launched two 32-inch tires at Sea Otter: the Cannonball and Camrock. Both extend existing tread patterns to the bigger wheel size.
The Cannonball is Teravail’s gravel tire, and was already on its second-generation at the time of the 32-inch launch. The new Salsa Fargo 32 is specced with the Teravail Cannonball 32×2.2, which is no surprise given that Salsa and Teravail share the same parent company, Quality Bicycle Products.
One open question when it comes to 32-inch-diameter gravel tires and wheels is whether they will adopt metric size designations (like the Schwalbe G-One) or the standard measurements used in mountain biking.
In a 2024 Singletracks podcast interview, Lennard Zinn refers to the 32-inch gravel wheel size as 750d. However, this is a very recent “standard,” unlike 32-inch wheels, which were initially developed for unicycles. It appears WTB was the first to use the 750d designation on a wheelset in 2023, though newer WTB rims are marked 32″. Further complicating matters is tire width; is 2.2″ too wide to be considered a gravel tire? In the end, it will surely come down to application.
Unlike the Cannonball, the Teravail Camrock is clearly designed for mountain biking. It’s a fast-rolling XC-style mountain bike tire, and will be available in four configurations based on color and casing style. Could a 32er mountain bike announcement from one of the QBP brands like Salsa or Surly be coming next? We’ll have to wait and see.
Vittoria Peyote 32×2.4″ and Mezcal 32×2.4″
The first two 32″ tires from Vittoria are both designed around cross-country racing. The Peyote tread is meant for “fine, loose conditions,” while the Mezcal is for dry trails and mixed terrain. In their 29er forms, both are extremely lightweight (under 800g each).
One of the Vittoria Peyote 32-inch tires we saw on display is the natural, brown rubber version shown above. Though we don’t have official weights for these new 32er tires, Vittoria’s natural rubber tires are generally about 20g lighter than their carbon-black counterparts.
Vee T-Monster and Nimbus Nightrider
Vee didn’t have a 32″ T-Monster on display at Sea Otter, but the brand has offered their T-Monster tire in both 32×2.2″ and 32×2.4″ sizes for some time now. And there’s also the Nimbus Nightrider, a 2.25-inch-wide tire that was designed for unicycles.
So who has not announced a 32-inch bike tire?
With so many tire brands, both big and small, announcing 32-inch tires, I was curious to see which ones haven’t announced a 32-inch tire yet. Based on my research, Continental is perhaps the biggest tire brand that has yet to announce a 32er tire. Specialized and Bontrager (Trek) are two other brands that have yet to officially share a 32-inch tire, though it’s unlikely we’ll see tires from them until they have at least one 32er of their own for sale.
WTB sells an extensive line of gravel and mountain bike tires, but not in 32″ sizes. The brand has been developing 32-inch rims, so we expect to see 32er tires from them in the future.
Hutchinson, Pirelli, Michelin, e*thirteen, and Delium are other tire brands that have yet to officially launch 32-inch tires, though it seems likely that most, if not all, of these brands are at least considering adding bigger tires to their lines.
Of course, tires are just one part of the 32er picture. Stay tuned for a look at the new 32″ forks and wheels that were on display at Sea Otter.
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