Charge Bikes used the London Bike Show to unveil their new Charge Cooker 27.5+.

The wheel size debate that has occupied the mountain bike industry for the past few years seems to have settled now, but a new trend is emerging: 27.5+.

Yes that’s right, tyres are getting fatter. Monstrous fat bikes have been a common sight at product launches and shows, and some people are even buying them, but for many people they’re simply too much. What 27.5+ is aiming to be is a happy medium between regular tyre widths of up to 2.3in and massive fat bike tyres, with up to 2.8in wide tyres.

Charge Bikes used the London Bike Show to unveil their new Cooker 27.5+. It’s still a prototype at this stage, but does look very finished, so we expect production bikes won’t be that far off.

The frame uses a modified version of the 6061 aluminium Cooker frame, and squeezes a pair of WTB Trail Blazer 2.8in tyres into the frame and the RockShox Reba fork up front. They’ve developed their own dropouts for the new frame, with a bolt-thru axle to keep everything stiff.

The bike uses the new WTB Trailblazer 2.8in tyre, one of the few 27.5+ tyres currently available. As well as the wider tyre, the rims are especially wide as well, up to 45mm in some cases.

Does the world need another new tyre ‘standard’? Probably not, but there’s no denying 27.5+ seems to be gaining some traction in the industry. Is 27.5+ the next big thing?

Time will tell on that, let’s hear your thoughts in the comments below.

More info at www.chargebikes.com