Big wheels keep on rolling, and those 32″ wheels keep winning races. Back at Sea Otter Europe in Girona, we got a good look at the unreleased 32″ carbon Avona Callis gravel bike that Leon Kaiser raced for the win at the UCI World Series Race in Girona. And thanks to Avona’s liberal teasing of the bike at the show, we also now know that the bike will be available to consumers in just two weeks.
That likely makes this the first production carbon gravel race bike on 32″ wheels that you will be able to ride out of a bike shop this month!
Avona Callis 32″ carbon gravel race bike, coming soon!
Avona’s upcoming 32″ gravel bike looks a lot like the 700c carbon Callis gravel race bike that we test-rode last year. And it likely follows much of the same ethos – a premium race-ready gravel bike that blends light weight with aerodynamic nods, quick handling, tidy integration, and high-performance component spec in even the small details. All combined in the original Callis, it made for a pretty killer fast gravel all-rounder.
And clearly, this new 32″ iteration is built to go fast.
The UCI World Series Race in Girona on September 19th was a relatively short one in the gravel racing world, at just 109km with 980m of elevation to tackle. And it was reasonably quick at just over 3 hours, with more than 35km/hr average speed. An interesting aspect of the race, XC mountain biker Kaiser’s victory on the bigger wheels came in a 3-up sprint at the finish.
One of the theoretical downsides of going with larger diameter 32″ wheels is the additional work to accelerate bigger wheels with heavier rims & tires. But that clearly didn’t hold Leon Kaiser back!
Tech details
What we know about his race-winning 32″ Avona Callis gravel bike is that it shares many of the same details as its 700c predecessor.
It again gets plenty of aero integration details. From the fully integrated internal cable routing through the 1-piece Faserwerk cockpit to its smooth fork crown transition into the downtube. Frame tubing shapes are still quite small. But Avona manages to fit the same internal frame storage into the downtube under the cage mount.
Frame shaping necessitates a more-sloping toptube to ensure standover with the big 32″ wheels. But there still appears to be plenty of room inside the main triangle for two full-size water bottles, both on Kaiser’s size L frame, and a smaller M we saw in the Avona tent.
The new 32″ bike gets a UDH to fit all the most modern gravel drivetrains, but looks to be 1x and electronic only. Kaiser opted for an XTR Di2 derailleur and cassette setup, pairing a 42-tooth GRX crankset to a 10-51T cassette out back.
The 32″ Callis gravel bike also looks to get a threaded bottom bracket, and the same D-shaped aero seatpost with a hidden wedge clamp like the 700c Callis. Like most 32″ gravel bikes though, this one does appear to use Boost MTB spacing – 110x15mm up front & 148x12mm out back.
Prototype 32″ Newmen Streem G.62 CS aero carbon-spoked wheels
Also noteworthy, this race-winning 32″ Avona Callis bike was sporting some also-unreleased 32″ Newmen Streem G.62 CS deep aero carbon wheels with aero-bladed Vonoa carbon spokes.
They look pretty much exactly the same as the 700c G.62s that launched midsummer, just now in a larger diameter. Avona suggested that the carbon-spoked Newmen wheels offered a significant stiffness boost over steel spokes, making them an ideal choice for fast gravel racing on the bigger wheels. But perhaps, everyday 32″ gravel riders would prefer the bit more comfort you would get from conventional steel-spoked wheels.
Kaiser raced on prototype 32″ Newmen wheels with their flashy Pro-style silver decals. But Avona also had more subtle black-on-raw carbon decals on their own 32″ Callis gravel preview bikes, suggesting they will be a regular option at launch in a couple of weeks.
32″ Avona Callis gravel bike – Options & availability
At Sea Otter Europe, we saw 32″ Callis frames marked as sizes Medium and Large. All were built up with SRAM Force AXS Xplr groupsets. And with either these new Newmen carbon-spoke wheels, or more conventional-looking carbon wheels under Avona’s own Faserwerk branding.
Avona didn’t appear to have any bikes labeled smaller than medium. But this purple M looked pretty small. And with the spacers under the stem removed and the same zero-offset seatpost they already offer on their 700c Callis, Avona could likely fit pretty small riders on these big wheels.
Regarding when you can get your own, Avona says the bike will be available from the 15th of October through their dealer network. We will have full pricing, more detailed model specs, and even first ride impressions on the new race-winning 32″ gravel bike then!
