A Falconer hardtail at White Industries displayed a prototype 32″ MTB wheelset built by Astral and White Industries. The prototype used 315mm spokes, necessitating a 2x lacing pattern because those spokes were too short for a 3x build. The wheel used an Outback rim with a 25mm internal width chosen for ease of rolling into a 32″ profile despite being narrow for modern MTB tires. The build highlighted a prototype White Industries cassette single-speed hub while retaining Boost spacing. The bike ran a 30/22t gear ratio matching Alec White's 29er and included a new prototype single-speed cog and colored seat post collars.
Outfits like Astral and White Industries know their way around building quality wheels, but when it comes to 32″ wheels, it's not that simple. Even just finding spokes the right length is a real challenge, and something that caused Astral to build these prototypes up as 2x instead of 3x. The longest commercially available spokes that they could get in time were 315mm, which were long enough for a 2x build, but not long enough for a 3x build.
The other consideration is rolling the rim itself. This bike rolls on their Outback rim which at an internal width of 25mm, is a little narrow for modern MTB tires. But they chose the Outback rim because it would be the easiest rim profile in their lineup to roll into a 32″ rim for the prototype, and make proof of concept.
There's been a lot of talk about how 32″ wheels will need wider hub spacing for better spoke triangulation, but this build was meant to highlight the prototype White Industries Cassette single speed hub, so they stuck with normal Boost spacing. The bike is running a 30/22t gear ratio that was picked to equal the gear ratio Alec White is currently running on his 29er. The gear ratio includes a new prototype single speed cog for the cassette freehub as well.
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