Originally Posted by
Duragrouch
Maybe. And these will fit members of the NBA and WNBA just fine. But for smaller statured than that, to package that big front wheel in full jounce/compression, requires a frameset that is not well suited to a less-tall rider.
On military off-road vehicles on very soft surfaces, there is a performance traction limit to tires, even very large tires, and that's when tracked vehicles take over, even with the frictional energy losses and skid-steering instead of direct steering like with tires. But that's not feasible with unpowered bikes.
I do think that bike geometry is a limiting factor to wheel circumference. On my 29"er XC bike, I'm running a slammed -13° stem to get into my preferred position. Unless the saddle and BB got raised a corresponding amount, I can imagine that I'd have to get fairly extreme with my stem choice on a 32" wheeled bike.
As far as wheel diameter, traction isn't the driving issue IMO, rather it's about how well larger wheels roll over rough surfaces...which in some cases, does improve traction. Maybe not such a huge deal on smooth dirt, but 29" wheels are massive improvement for the rocky terrain I ride. I'm not about to trade in my 29"er for a big wheel bike quite yet, but I could imagine there are some benefits to a 32" wheel in certain MTB disciplines...assuming the geometry can be sorted out.