Unsurprisingly, yes 32 is the biggest standout trend we spotted walking around the Taipei Cycle show on day 1. But dont worry, were also nerding out on alt drivetrains, kids bikes, aero bars, and solar-powered ebikes in the coming days. Please, be patient. You can buy most of it yet, anyway. But on the mega big wheel front, we surveyed a dozen frames, 10 different complete bike builds with 32 wheels and surprisingly found a different fork installed on every one both rigid and suspension. In fact, even though suspension forks have seemed to be the limiting factor so far in the bigger wheel push, the Taiwanese manufacturers delivered on a lot of what look like more affordable options.But surprisingly, a year after Maxxis broke this all open, new 32 tires were few and far between. Lets dive inTaipei Cycles 10 x 32 bikes(All photos/Cory Benson)Taiwan is known as the manufacturing hub for the industry, so finding a bunch of 32 bikes at Taipei Cycle wasnt a big shocker.There are a lot of fast-moving contract manufacturers here, and many turned out with aluminum bikes, very often adapted from 29er/700c bikes already in their line-up. This aluminum short travel Vaxes fully will handle your big-wheeled XC and marathon needs.XC or gravel?The bike industry cant quite decide if they want to use these new 32 wheels for XC mountain bikes or gravel bikes. Why choose when you can have both, like these to from Arthur and Judy. As a baseline gravel gets around the need for new suspension forks, but those looking for high performance then still need to make a carbon fork mold.On the other hand though, so far the majority of 32 mountain bikes weve seen both here at Taipei Cycle and elsewhere are repurposing existing inverted or upside-down forks. That works, as you can just reduce travel to keep the higher ride height needed to clear the bigger wheel & tire.This Lenz Leviathan on Maxxis booth is rocking the Wren fork that weve written about for a decade.The made-in-Germany steel Sour Pasta Party hardtail is one of the very few 32 bikes in the world to sport a conventional right-side-up fork. But a closer look confirms even that is an oddity.More often than not, 32 bikes at Taipei Cycle like this alloy Totem hardtail, were fitted with low-end inverted forks that were presumably easy to convert to reduced travel for the 32 front wheel.This couple of alloy hardtail mountain bikes from Fritz Jou & Sanfa are another reminder of the rapid development of Taiwanese aluminum bikes. Instead of waiting for tweaked suspension designs, both of these also get their own simple and straightforward rigid alloy forks.What about mullets?This 32/29 mullet is the only extra-big-wheels bike we spotted at Taipei Cycle with a carbon frame. But it isnt a new bike. Instead, its an existing X-Lab Nokota enduro bike, where KS has dialed back their inverted E36 fork to 150mm for travel to work with the bigger front wheel.Its not too surprising to not see any carbon 32 bikes here just yet. This plastic mockup to display GWs new alloy wheelset is about the closest you get.We chatted off the record with frame makers, wheel manufacturers, and even pro racers and there isnt yet 100% consensus what axle standard will make the most sense for the bike wheels. Maybe even different needs if you are looking at gravel vs. XC vs. trail. So a lot of the industry is still in wait and see mode.Until then, the contract manufacturers are showing off alloy capabilities. Need a 32 gravel bike or a 32 eMTB hardtail with a Shimano motor? If so, Vaxes has got you covered.Big 32 forks on showManitou appears to be fast tracking a 32 fork for their XC racing needs. And while it takes time to get a new set of cast lowers made, in the meantime they chopped a 29er forks legs in half, had their engineers stick a spacer in the middle to lengthen the legs, then wrapped it with carbon to hold it together and make it stiff enough to test. And yes, these are ridable. Ill take one to my home trails in a few weeks! (Maybe, Ill wear a full-face just in case.)But while a bunch of premium European brands have been putting almost 2k Intend forks on their bikes, the Taiwanese manufacturers have raided the OEM catalogs to round up a bunch of low-cost inverted fork options. They easiest way to spot them? Preload dials for the simple coil springs inside, instead of the more complicated but increased rider adjustability of an air spring fork.But not everyone is going down-spec for 32 forks at Taipei Cycle. RST has a solid-looking upside-down air fork with a nicely machined crown and upper tubes. Well be curious to see this one get to market. RST does the bulk of their sales at more affordable OEM prices, too. But theyve made a push in recent years to add a premium option to their line-up, as well.The best way to keep your 32 bike light & simple. Make it a gravel bike and give it a full carbon fork. BlkTec has a couple to show off at Taipei Cycle. Both with full internal routing even for lights and a dynamo, plus options with or without Anything-style cargo cage mounts.32 tires at Taipei CycleBack to where it all started.9 out of 10 complete 32 bikes in Taipei had the Aspen that sparked all this silliness. But Maxxis wasnt showing off the other tires theyve teased in the meantime like the 32 trail Dissector.The Schwalbe Rick Race Pro we spotted a couple weeks back on the Sour Pasta Party was the only other one that graced a complete bike. Yet there were hints of more options as long as we are talking 2.4 XC tires. CST had their own new 32 Patrol. And Kenda had a 32 Dagger. Weve got a test bike or two in the works, and plan to get a closer look at the different tires available to try them all out soon.Whats next for 32 bikes?For now, our takeaway from Taipei Cycle on 32 bikes is that, theres still a lot of design work left to be done. No need to rush into the new wheelsize. Were going to start testing some big bikes head to head, and then dive into reviewing a few individual components. And as soon as we have some real riding insights, well report back on our first impressions.The post Ten 32 Bikes in Taipei, Each With a Different Fork, But Still Only a Few Tire Options appeared first on Bikerumor.