Sea Otter is usually a good place to spot a few trends early, but this year it felt like the industry skipped the “dip a toe in” phase and just went full send. Unsurprisingly, 32in wheels were absolutely everywhere. I’ll admit I tried to avoid them at first, mostly because much of what was on show leaned heavily into the steel bikepacking vibe, but it didn’t take long for things to get interesting. Once you look past the wagon wheels, there’s a lot more going on.
USD forks are having a serious moment, gearbox bikes keep popping up in places you wouldn’t expect, and there’s a noticeable shift toward brands doing their own thing rather than following the herd. Some of it makes a lot of sense, some of it feels properly out there, but that’s the point.
And yes, there’s a $25,000 steel full-suspension bike in here. No, it doesn’t make sense. Yes, I kind of love it.
Here’s a look at the most interesting, weird, and genuinely exciting stuff I came across at Sea Otter 2026.
Ari 32in Prototype
It probably comes as no surprise that 32in wheels were simply everywhere at Sea Otter 2026, and I’ll be honest that I tried my very best to avoid them. Not that I have any issue with 32in wheels, I’ve not tried them yet, but simply because most of the models on show were steel bikepacking style bikes, and they simply don’t tickle my fancy.
But, this Ari bike certainly grabbed my attention, and by snapping these photos, we get a first look at not 1 but 3 new upcoming products.
First and foremost, the frame is an all-new Ari model. It appears a little too well finished to be a prototype, so this could be a first look at a new XC model from the U.S brand boasting those 32in wagon wheels. Speak of which, I believe this is the first time we’ve ever seen Raceface’s own 32in wheels, and check out that fork! The Rad Fox fork fitted to this 32er isn’t the usual USD type design we see on larger wheel bikes, and appears to be based on a larger 34mm platform to account for the larger wheels.
Boyd wheels
Sticking with the U.S. theme, Boyd Wheels had a couple of new products on show. Of course, the brand had unveiled its own 32in rims to wow the Sea Otter public, but it was the alloy enduro wheelset that grabbed my attention.
Named the Kanuga FF wheelset, this is Boyd’s answer to a hard-hitting enduro/e-MTB wheelset, with an alloy rim that has a rather unique “reverse hook” design. This means that the sidewalls of the rim flare out rather than in, which Boyd claims improves the impact performance of this alloy wheelset.
At the booth, we spotted the Kanuga FF rim in a range of colours from this silver finish to even purple and gold, but the UK website only shows them in black, so perhaps these are options that haven’t yet been released? Another interesting fact is that Boyd manufactures its own rims in South Carolina, which makes the wheelset price of just £660 sound like a real bargain!
In addition to hard-hitting rims, Boyd also had a new hubset on show with over 600 points of engagement! And for e-MTB riders, it has a new freehub design with reinforced steel internals that has been designed to offer reliable performance with even the latest range of power-hungry Avinox motors.
Cannondale
Cannondale loves any excuse to get weird and wacky, and Sea Otter 2026 was no different. Alongside the usual range of Cannondale bikes and sitting centre stage was this retro-inspired downhill rig. The blue and yellow paint job is obviously a nod to the old Volvo Cannondale team days, and the bike itself appears to be a modern interpretation of the infamous Cannondale Fulcrum, only with fewer pivots and links.
What has been carried over from the original Fulcrum, though, is the twin chain drivetrain, which looks to drive some sort of custom-made gearbox, yet despite this, there is a rear mech attached to the bike. Perhaps most interesting of all is that this ‘prototype’ seems to have been made from an alloy e-MTB frame. Could Cannondale be working on its own conversion kit to turn e-bikes into regular bikes? Probably not, but it was still cool to see.
Intense Tazer T
This one took me by surprise, and I only noticed it at the end of the first day as I left the show. In fact, the new Intense Tazer T is so new that even Intense don’t have it listed on its website!
Once it does go on sale, though, this will be the third iteration of the Tazer in EMTB form and the second time carbon has been used for the frame material. Gone is the Shimano EP801 motor of the old model, and in its place is a Bosch CX Race motor, bringing the power and technology right up to date. As this new model hasn’t been officially released yet, we don’t know a whole lot, but we do know that it will feature updated geometry and that it appears to be using a version of Intense’s Dual Co-Rotating Link (DCR) suspension system as seen on the Spider trail bike.
According to the U.S Intense website, the Tazer T will be released on the 4th May 2026, but there is no word on a UK or EU release yet.
EXA E36 Fork
Taiwanese suspension and dropper post manufacturer, KS, was at Sea Otter with a range of suspension forks plus a new Race Circuit wireless dropper post (which we have a review of coming soon), but the standout product on their booth was the E36 fork.
There are a couple of interesting points with the E36. Firstly, it’s not a KS-branded product and instead lives under the EXA Form family, a sub-brand that is usually saved for OEM products and designed for more affordable builds. Secondly, it’s an upside-down design which is very much on point these days, and lastly, it has been designed for a new school with 32in wheels! And with up to 150mm travel, the fork hasn’t been designed for noodly XC bikes, but longer travel trail bikes.
With an E in its name, we suspect that EXA might be aiming the E36 at the e-MTB market, a similar move we’ve heard other brands will be making with the marketing around their USD forks.
PEMBREE
UK component brand PEMBREE had its entire new range of GCS products on display at Sea Otter, but a closer look at the rather tasty Transition Bottle Rocket it had on display also uncovered a prototype hidden in plain sight.
PEMBREE’s direct mount stem uses the same face clamps as the PEMBREE GCS Stem, but a direct mount design suited for downhill and freeride applications. The model on display was a 3D printed prototype, and we were told that PEMBREE’s engineers will be working on refining the design to keep the weight down while ensuring it meets Cat 5 safety standards and PEMBREE’s own sustainability targets.
We expect to see this again over the coming months as Wyn Masters will be helping with the development, along with a few other new gravity-focused products. Watch this space!
Priority Bikes
The Gates stand was full of great-looking bikes, but it was this model from Priority Bikes that really caught my attention. If you’re not clued up on Priority Bikes and were to stumble across its website, you might think you’re in the wrong place, as the brand is mainly known for commuter and road bikes, but it also produces this, the Vanth!
The Priority Vanth is a full suspension enduro bike featuring the Gates carbon drive system and Pinion gearbox, and through clever packaging and design, can produce 165mm of rear wheel travel through its ‘Still Point’ linkage system, while retaining plenty of room in the front triangle for a water bottle and accessories.
Shredline
Shredline is a new bike brand born from the ashes of One Ghost Industries, and various versions of the Shredline Eden full-suspension bike were dotted around various booths at Sea Otter. As you can see, the Eden is like nothing else on the market, and while it may look like a prototype, Shredline does intend to release the bike to the public once development has been finalised.
The real standout is the construction method Shredline used to produce its bikes, with both bonded tubes and huge CNC-machined lugs and linkages, all of which are bonded together in the USA. The Eden has been developed to offer plenty of versatility running a Pinion gearbox, and options around the shock and yoke to offer between 158 – 199mm of rear wheel travel!
Chatting to the team behind the Shredline Eden revealed that it’s aiming to put the Eden on a diet and hopes to reduce the overall weight by as much as 8lbs. In addition to this, an e-MTB version is also planned. No work, pricing or a release date yet, but we don’t expect it to be cheap!
Stablead
After wowing the crowds at Eurobike, then disappearing, Stablead was back this time at Sea Otter and now with even more promises. In addition to the concept 3D printed and carbon bonded bikes, the Chinese camera accessory brand actually plans to release.
We had already seen the carbon suspension forks, rear shocks and cockpit products at Eurobike, but new to the lineup were a range of four-piston brakes and a new crankset. We weren’t given much info on the brakes, but they had a single-piece calliper design and a unique-looking lever design with two adjustments. One which looks like it was for leverage adjustment, and another for lever position. The rest of the details weren’t revealed, but a rep did tell me that they use the same pad design as Hope, so spares won’t be an issue.
No info was given on the cranks, but they appear to be a CNC design and available in a range of finishes, along with a bunch of colourful CNC-machined and anodised chainrings. It will be interesting to finally see Stablead’s products launch to see how they perform, especially their suspension systems, and the fact that they have teamed up with Brian Lopes, who we assume will be assisting with development in some capacity.
Telepathy Bikes
If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably wondering where the promised $25,000 bike is. Well, here it is, and it’s not a joke. This show bike with 007 serial number was really listed with that huge RRP, though I seriously doubt it sold.
The Opus is currently the only model in the Telepathy Bikes range, and has been designed to serve the freeride crowd with 180mm travel and mullet wheels. To get the rider in the right position for throwing shapes while leaping off the side of a mountain, Telepathy has designed the OPUS with a short seat tube, low stand over, and shows the bikes set up with plenty of stack to give a very upright riding position.
The U.S made chromoly steel frame used its own Parallel Axle Path suspension system. Compared to most suspension designs, which will either lengthen or shorten the wheelbase as the suspension compresses, Telepathy says that their solution ensures a consistent wheelbase throughout the travel, making for a more predictable ride.
Taken Encounter
The Taken Encounter is a very interesting bike, from its name to its overall design and manufacturing. The name Taken was chosen as the team behind the brand found that all the ‘good’ brand names had already been taken. They then leaned into X-Files territory with a UFO head badge and appropriate model naming.
It wasn’t just the alien theme that caught my attention, though, as the front triangle has more than a passing resemblance to the original Gen 1 Privateer 161, with similar tube profiles and external cable routing, so it wasn’t surprising to hear that the Encounter is manufactured in the same factory as those original Privateer models.
Of course, the rear end is very different with a mid pivot, i-Track licensed suspension design which has been tweaked and tuned by legendary suspension design Chris Canfield himself. Other features include a UDH hanger, huge main linkage, tons of dropper insertion and plenty of space in the front triangle for a water bottle.
So those are the best bits that I saw at Sea Otter 2026, which would make your list? Let us know in the comments section below!
