'I'm genuinely scared how fast I'll be able to corner' – Scott creates 32" prototype bike for defending champion at Unbound Gravel

The defending champion will race Unbound Gravel aboard a 32" bike this weekend, with Scott creating a prototype gravel bike to be ridden by Cameron Jones, but never to be released.

Bigger-wheeled 32" gravel bikes have been a tech theme of this year, and this moment signals a milestone as a major manufacturer experiments with the technology in the biggest gravel event in the world.

Scott has in fact created a pair of the prototype 32" gravel race bikes for the flagship Unbound Gravel 200 event, with Tour Divide and Silk Mountain Race winner Robin Gemperle also competing on the new bike.

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Both athletes have been testing out 32" wheeled bikes since last year. According to Scott, it took a single test ride for both riders to be sold on 32" for Unbound.

The bikes themselves are prototype gravel RC models; 'RC' stands for Racing Concept in Scott nomenclature, and the brand has stated that these bikes "will never be released on the market".

Scott mentioned how a gravel race, in particular Unbound, is a great test ground for revealing how a system performs under "real-world riding stress".

"This bike makes you feel like you're levitating over the surface," said Jones. "I'll be experiencing a road race while everybody else is racing gravel.

"The driving traction and cornering grip is revolutionary. I'm genuinely scared how fast I'll be able to corner once on a course with proper descents."

Jones and Gemperle will ride the prototype RC gravel bike frame, but with differing builds.

Jones's bike will feature a mixed Shimano drivetrain with Dura-Ace, XTR and GRX components, along with prototype Industry Nine wheels and 50mm Schwalbe RX tyres.

Gemperle's bike will run a SRAM Red AXS / XPLR drivetrain, a '32" prototype wheelset' and the same tyres.

Why 32" wheels, and why now?

Debate surrounding 32" wheels has been swirling all year, but they are nothing new, having been a niche, little-used size for a long time. What is new is the fact that more and more manufacturers and brands are producing gravel bikes with this wheel size.

We spotted 32" wheels at the Cycleworld Düsseldorf show back in March, and again being exhibited at Bespoked London a few months later.

A regular '700c' wheel, the de-rigueur sizing standard for every road and gravel bike these days, has a BSD (Bead Seat Diameter) of 622mm, whereas a 32" wheel has a BSD of 686mm.

Bigger wheels mean more speed, and for gravel racers on fast courses, a bigger wheel may well offer an advantage over a 700c option. There's also a point on improved obstacle rollover, something that formed a key part of the debate when the mountain bike world embraced 29" wheels.

32" bikes are generally said to better suit taller riders, due to the bigger size and larger frames, which need to be custom-made to suit the wheels.

Gravel racing equipment is still developing rapidly, and a focus on making bikes faster is still a key direction of travel. If competitors decide 32" wheels offer an advantage and embrace them, we may see more and more brands creating bikes for this larger size.

New standards and sizes are often met with scorn in the bike world. Unbound will provide a stern test for these Scott prototypes; perhaps a successful outing at the weekend will soften some critics' views on these big-wheeled bikes.