Love seeing some movement in the 32" space! For myself as someone who rides a 56cm bike that's balanced between comfort and performance, this geometry won't fit or handle like I prefer. I'm a drafter by trade so I've played with 32" designs some, and here's what I've been drawing:

Chainstays 435-440mm to keep the handling as nimble as possible and as close as possible to current 700c bikes
BB drop: your 105mm (or slightly more) is great to keep the height similar to current 700c bikes
Headtube: as short as possible at around 100mm to minimize stack (stack ends up around 610mm or so)
Fork offset: 60-70mm with around a 70deg HTA is needed to get the balance of decent trail, minimal toe overlap, and stem length for decent handling
Reach: I've found with the inevitable higher stack, a reach of around 390mm-400mm lets me get the handlebars where I want with a 110-120mm, -6deg stem

The big challenges are getting the chainstays that short and finding/making a fork with enough rake, but IMO these things are gonna need to happen before 32" gravel bike will fit and handle adequately for medium-sized people

32" full suspension 120mm XC frame from LightCarbon. Looks really nice, but I noticed the BB drop and BB height in the geo chart don't add up. I guess that means all the geo numbers should be taken with a grain of salt for now. Really hope the 440 chainstay length is correct though. Most of the 32" bikes coming out have absurdly long chainstays but 440 should keep the back end feeling reasonably agile. Also nice to see 52mm chainline compatibility.

https://www.lightcarbon.com/lightcarbon-32er-light-xc-full-suspension-carbon-frame-internal-cable-routing_p284.html

Quote from: Ciant on August 28, 2026, 08:19:19 PM
Can someone convince me why it would be a terrible idea to use this frame for the tour divide 2026?! Ive been hunting for something that can handle 2.2" tires and build it myself. Im a fan of the Ari Shafer 3.0 but this seems interesting.

Most people are running MTB frames so they can have suspension at the front or on both ends. Doing tour divide on a rigid gravel frameset would be quite the epic underbiking adventure

Quote from: tmhbrl on August 19, 2026, 02:44:47 AM
my opinion: In an age of almost unlimited possibilities with AI, a logo like this is absolutely unacceptable 

IMO any logo made with AI is completely unacceptable

Quote from: el nielsken on August 12, 2026, 01:36:19 AM
the 2x clearance should've been announced from the beginning though since there is a FD mount. there is no excuse for this missing information and throws off potential buyers.
either you don't add a FD mount, or you give FD clearance.

With such short chainstays, it's pretty safe to assume the "official" max tire width with a front der will be fairly close to the 45mm that both Shimano and Sram list as the max with their derailleurs. If someone wants wide tires AND a front derailleur, they're gonna need a frame with pretty long chainstays to get the tire away from the derailleur. Or live with the clearance being tight when in the small ring.

IMO the manufacturer providing a nice bonus feature for the few people who still run doubles doesn't mean they should have to bend over backwards to cone up with an official clearance. If it were me I'd just put 45mm on the website and call it a day

Quote from: Kel-vin on August 01, 2026, 04:59:44 AM
knowing it can only handle 1 x 46t.
I am curious when the updated version will come out that can handle a max of 52/54t.
Sometimes speeds of 65 km/h are reached for kilometers on beach races, so 46t is way too small.

You can always move the chainline out to run a bigger ring, which might also improve efficiency for beach racing if you don't spend much time in the larger cogs

Makes sense that uber long chainstays push the tire away from the derailleur. The official specs are for any chainstay length and assume the widest point on the tire is beside the derailleur. I'm guessing you'll be fine with 50mm as long as you're like me and don't care too much about clearance

Quote from: hubba on July 06, 2026, 11:53:09 PM
Looking good. When are you testing the front derailleur clearance? Hopefully with grx di2.

Your tire clearance with a 2x will be limited by the derailleur itself, so you should be able to get that spec from Shimano. I believe it's something like 48mm but it's been a long time since I was looking at 2x specs.

Edit: just did a quick web search and looks like Shimano and Sram both list 45mm as their official max tire size with a gravel front derailleur. Your realistic max is prolly closer to 48-50mm depending on how comfortable you are with the tire being close to the derailleur

Quote from: wintermute on June 16, 2026, 04:30:26 PM
Far from it: I race a 50 for European UCI events.

I believe we mean different things when we talk about gravel racing. Euro gravel races often have a lot of pavement and play out like Paris-Roubaix or Strada Biancha. In the US when we say gravel we mean completely gravel with maybe a few small paved connectors. The Traka is a gravel race; the UCI worlds is not. I agree with you that if you're racing on pavement (or flat-ish terrain), youneed big chainrings. On the Appalachian terrain where I do most of my gravel riding, a smaller ring provides a better chainline on 8-20+% climbs, which is the majority of the terrain and where you're leaving all your power. My racing days are long past, but if I was gonna race here I'd go for the smallest ring that wouldn't get me dropped on the rare little flat section. Probably 42-46 would be ideal.

Once you're up to $2k shipped here, three are lots of western brand options to compete with. Specialized is always one of the more pricey brands (though they arguably earn it with some of the best riding frames, wind tunnel testing, etc). Then there's always last-year closeouts from established brands that can often be found for under $1500.

My understanding was that the Grow was a true 50mm frame with 6mm clearance all around. You can squeeze a 2.2 into most 50mm frames if you ignore the clearance (or if it's a tire that measures undersized). I've had that much clearance for a couple years now, want more on the next bike

Quote from: jfcb on June 13, 2026, 01:32:05 AM
when you look at the Evolve Cima GR and the tavelo Grow, you basically already have two great alternatives for aero gravel frames to the Crux5.
When it comes to aero gravel frames, I would even dare to say its the first time the chinese brands were ahead of the western brands. This was already the case with wheels, now gravel frames and soon 32" bikes?

Those two bikes only have 50mm clearance, which is a couple years behind the curve compared to the western brands. Specialized was also behind the curve but corrected that by jumping to a modern 55mm clearance. The Tavelo and the Evolve are also kinda pricey compared to western brands outside of Specialized. The upcoming XMCS looks more appealing to me with 57mm clearance. Hopefully the price ends up being competitive

Quote from: lidation on June 12, 2026, 06:07:34 PM
But actually I don't see why people would put 2.2" mountain bike tires on. When you need this wide tires, go ride a mountain bike already.

Because drop bars put your upper body in a more relaxed position throughout the ride and get you a lot more aero for any paved sections you might hit. As someone who rode MTBs on gravel roads for years back in the day, these newer big-clearance gravel bikes have made my dreams come true. Speed+capability=having it all

Quote from: wintermute on June 16, 2026, 04:30:17 AM
If you can't fit more than a 46, you are losing non-significant watts from your drivetrain and you will struggle to get a good cadence..

Don't get me started on the meaninglessness of the 425 chainstay obsession and its impact on packaging.

If you're racing in areas flat enough to benefit from bigger chainrings than 46T, you'd also benefit from a chainring spaced further out for a better chainline in the fast gears.

Couldn't disagree more about chainstays; If I had to pick a most important geo number for handling it would be chainstay length. This likely also comes back to you racing in flatter areas (which is fair since flatter areas are the heart of the gravel racing scene).

Those might be the shortest reaches I've ever seen for a drop bar bike. Definitely not a bike for the masses

Quote from: Rolle2k on March 17, 2026, 10:04:58 AM
actually looked alot better in this picture than mondinces pictures on their website..
Wonder if they will clear 2.1" thunder burts? :-)

2.1 TBs actually measure right at 51mm on 25mm rims so any frame with 50mm clearance shouldn't be a problem