Singular Albatross: Our First 32er

If you've been in to the store recently, you would have spotted a rare bird on the shop floor: the Singular Albatross. The first 32er to grace The Woods Cyclery landscape... but the first of many, of that we are sure.

While 32" wheels on bikes aren't necessarily for everyone (I write as a 5 foot tall individual with a 28" inside leg!), they certainly do have their place out on the trails, and you don't have to be a giant to enjoy one.

Joe, our hire manager and a proud owner of not one but two Singulars, was understandably super keen to have the initial test flight of the Albatross when she landed. Joe is 5' 8.5" tall and weighs 65kg for context. He had the following to say:

"Long story short, it's VERY cool. Very efficient. The bike tracks very straight and true, unsurprisingly given the ground contact from the massive diameter wheel and tyre size. It's super smooth to ride. With the build we had in store, and its wide bars and short stem, the Albatross felt super agile. You would be forgiven for thinking it would feel sluggish to ride and turn, given the wheel size, but that couldn't be further from the truth. The carbon wheels paired with a fast-rolling tyre felt incredibly quick. Stairs simply don't exist – all the buzzy bumps are taken completely out of the ride on this wheel size."

Tom [height TBC!], also from our hire team, took the Albatross out for the shop ride on Sunday 5th April – and he loved every minute of it! 

Despite the initial rolling of eyes and heavy sighs with the mutterings of "innovation for innovation's sake" under the breath of many a bike rider, the 32er is quickly proving more popular than some would lead you to think. Plenty of folks in store have been asking about the rise of the 32er, and were elated when they realised that they could take the Singular Albatross out for a test ride. All of them returned to the shop with the same big giddy grin, and spoke about how effortless it felt to ride.

Without doubt, the titanium frame and well thought-out geometry, crafted from Singular's 20+ years of experience, ensures that the Albatross positively transfers the comfort, speed and handling on offer from the larger wheel size; gliding with ease over the New Forest trails. The Singular Albatross is a bird that wants to spread it's wings, so to speak, and is designed as an all-rounder and around a flat bar setup, although it can be run as a drop bar if you're so inclined. Our instore model was a size medium, and as I say riders under 6 foot tall were able to comfortably ride it.

The concept of any 32er in the 'mainstream' market can only work if bike component manufacturers are on board and creating products to support the design, and we're quickly noticing a rise in brands looking to meet this demand. This iteration of the Albatross, for example, comes with the following:

• 32-inch specific full carbon Columbus Futura Adventure fork
• Hope hubs laced onto Willow Al rims
• Maxxis Aspen 32x2.4" tyres

The Albatross is designed around a rigid fork rather than a suspension fork. Singular highlights this design choice in their notes, advising that this was for a number of reasons (such as keeping the front end height 'reasonable'), as well due to a [current] lack of suspension forks available for the 32" wheel size. But if you're after a suspension-corrected version of the Albatross, they are up for working with clients on a frame like that through their custom frame-building service. 

Joe did note that "on tight turns, riding a slalom, the wheels felt as though they had some lateral flex; not to say the wheels felt washy, but there was some 'flex' not normally seen on a 29er or a 650b wheel." 

Singular themselves have highlighted how the 32" wheel design needs further refinement, with the longer than usual spokes on the current design potentially contributing to that ride feel Joe noted. Their suggestion is that wider flanged hubs and thicker gauge spokes will help to overcome these design challenges, and further improve the rider feel of a 32er.

Needless to say, it's early doors for this wheelsize - but we suspect the 32er will be more frequently seen at 2026 bicycle showcase events, such as Bespoked in London next month. 

The first pre-order window for the Albatross has now closed - but keep an eye out, as Singular have confirmed that there will be a small amount of stock available in June 2026.

The Albatross is set to take flight from our store soon and return to it's nest at Singular HQ, but I'm sure we'll see its return to The Woods and the New Forest in the not-too-distant future.