Tomorrow the halls open on Taipei Cycle, the first full-scale cycling industry insider show of the year. And we have to wait… kinda.
While we still keep hearing news of long-running bike brands suffering financial woes or even completely shuttering, there’s still a steady stream of completely new product announcements crossing our Bikerumor desks every day. Frankly, it been the busiest start of the year we’ve experienced in several years. Plenty of new tech you can buy now, lots coming very soon, plus non-stop chatter of things a bit further away – like 32″ wheels for the XC & gravel masses. Even though we head into the halls of Taipei Cycle tomorrow, we can’t ignore that the next onslaught of new goodies right around the corner, half a world away at Sea Otter next month, too.
Buckle up. We’ve got a lot to share with you this spring!
Sneak Peek inside Taipei Cycle 2026, still under cover
We at BikeRumor are inpatient.
That’s a lot to do with the second half of that name that drives us. Always hunting the rumors and what’s next. Shift, TAITRA & Taipei Cycle itself gave us a unique look behind the scenes at the state of the industry earlier today. But it’s the new tech the drives us!
So, while we have to wait until tomorrow to get any of the real details, or even to survey the full scope of what’s coming next, no one stopped us from taking a sneak peek at some of what the exhibitors had already setup at the show.
Yes, a lot of it was still under wraps.
Here, I have a soft spot for Buzz Racks, as they make genuinely affordable ways to occasionally carry bikes on cars. And so a few years back, I bought one of these myself. It’s not perfect, but it works well, and the value was and still is unbeatable. Bike racks don’t have to cost almost a thousand dollars.
Anyway, I had a quick look around the Taipei Cycle trade show halls to see what popped out before the throngs of industry folk invade the aisles tomorrow morning.
And yes, you are going to read 32″ a lot!
32″ isn’t quite ready, but it’s coming soon!
Taipei Cycle can offer a sneak peek of where the cycling industry is headed a bit earlier than most shows. Tons of premium bike frames and components are made in Taiwan. Some of the highest tech carbon and aluminum manufacturing is here in Taiwan, and has been for decades. Curiously, that doesn’t happen in Taipei where the show is situated, but a few hours sound in such industrial hubs like Taichung and Tainan.
Teaser: I’m heading to both of those cities next week to share with you readers how some of this new tech is made!
32″ wheels are an undeniable trend in the bike industry right now. But the new wheel size is still very much in its infancy. No one really knows how it will go. But that isn’t stopping innovation, prototyping, and real world testing… on a much larger scale than we’ve yet seen.
This brand offers 32″ Alloy Frame Inspiration and will be showing both a rigid 32″ gravel bike and a Shimano EP-801-powered eMTB with 32″ wheels. Alloy frames are quicker to whip up than carbon, so we expect there will be plenty available at the show.
Taipei Cycle sneak peeks unexpected 32″ suspension
And yet the real limitation of 32″ mountain bike adoption has been front suspension. It is simple enough to adapt a rear suspension design to bigger wheels. But since mountain bikers have for the most part settled on forged lowers for their suspension forks, adding a bigger wheel size takes time.
First it was boutique suspension brands like Intend at the high-end and Wren at the more affordable end of the spectrum offering 32″ compatible models. Both leveraged upside-down designs that were easier to simply travel-limit to fit bigger wheels. But now we are starting to see (and hear bike rumors of) dedicated 32″ fork platforms.
Will RST, long seen mostly as a solid provider of entry-level and high-quality OEM forks, have a right side up 32″ fork to show us?
Our Taipei Cycle sneak peek suggests that maybe they might start first to market with their own inverted design, too.
But honestly, we kinda love the plush performance characteristics of upside-down forks. So if 32″ wheels are the impetus to mainstream inverted forks (and not just give us more heavy & expensive niche options like the Podium), then I welcome out new upside down overlords!
Have you ridden a KS fork?
For the number of KS dropper posts I’ve used over the past decade, I haven’t ridden a KS suspension fork. For the most part, KS-made forks have gone under radar via their separate SASO brand that often sees more unbranded OEM application. Really, only their GTC Gravel fork has broken from that mold.
But we’re hoping that this E36 inverted enduro fork (on a 32/29 mullet X-Lab Nokota) may join its gravel companion, too. We’ve seen a 36mm stanchion SASO enduro fork floating around for years. Yet, while this one is officially still a prototype, it looks more refined than ever. And it promises 150mm of 32″ travel or 170mm for 29ers. I want to try it out!
Maxxis was the one who opened this 32″ can of worms last year at Taipei Cycle 2025 with their Aspen. And we’re really curious to hear what they have in store this time around. Unofficial rumors have it that there will be a 32″ Dissector and more trail-oriented Maxxis tires in the big new size. So far, we’ve seen none of those.
But this 32″ Lenz Leviathan with an inverted Wren fork is sporting a new set of 32″ Aspens. What’s notable here is yellow branding (signature of Maxxis race line tires) and a new textured sidewall that suggests a new mold has been made. Does that suggest that these are made with Maxxis’ pro-only 170tpi casing?
We wouldn’t be surprised since they already claimed a Cape Epic stage win!
Not just bigger wheels, though
Now, for everyone not racing XC and all of those of you under say 6’/ 180cm tall, don’t worry, normal sized bikes still exist!
Yes, I think our Taipei Cycle coverage is gonna lean heavily towards 32″ (sorry, maybe not sorry).
But our Taipei sneak peek turned up some interesting small wheels, too. (And not just that dodgy old family commuter at the end of our Shift industry predictions story.)
There are tons of tiny wheels in the urban sector. Whether you look at folding commuter bikes or e-scooters or more versatile and adaptable cargo bikes, 20″ and smaller wheels still dominate. It really is hard to argue with tiny wheel for shorter trips when storage space at either end of your commuting ride is limited.
But smaller wheels don’t have to be tiny. Thankfully, 650b isn’t dead!
We reported on it first last summer under the Liv brand, but at our Taipei Cycle sneak peek we got another look at the 650b Giant Seek which can be an affordable youth road bike, all road bike, or fast gravel bike. This small aluminum bike is a perfect testament to the fact that fit matters first. The weight difference between an XS carbon & an XS alloy frame is negligible. But getting a bike that fits without having to compromise handling just to fit a ‘standard’ wheel size is game-changing.
I’ll just leave this little bike as a reminder that 32″ bikes are never going to be for everyone. And don’t be afraid to get the bike that fits you, instead of the one that features the ‘latest’ wheelsize innovation!
And sustainability initiatives, too!
I’m going to leave our Taipei Cycle sneak peek with this…sustainable materials are possible. Yes, bike brands are going to have to think and work a bit harder. But more sustainable manufacturing practices are possible at all levels – whether you are working with steel, aluminum, or carbon frames. Come on, even tire makers like Schwalbe figured out how to recycle carbon black and to make sure that the natural rubber in tires is harvested sustainably.
It was great to see in the Shift survey that consumers prioritized sustainable manufacturing over things like 1x drivetrains, more aero, gearboxes & 32″ wheels. I just hope that you all vote with your wallets, too!
Fingers crossed.
