Everywhere you look in the cycling press at the minute seems to be 32” wheels this, 32” that, 32” wheels the other. It’s too soon to tell whether this new wheel size will become widely adopted, but there’s certainly an air of excitement about it. At this year’s London Bespoked show, British manufacturer Pashley showed off a prototype Wildfinder gravel/monstercross bike, but rather than being a true 32” wheeled bike, it was a mullet with a 32” wheel up front and a 29” wheel at the rear. We got some great insight into the origins of the Wildfinder Mullet from the bike's designer, Jon Cumberpatch.
mullet (noun) UK /ˈmʌl.ɪt/ A hairstyle, originally popular with men in the 1980s, in which the hair on top and at the sides of the head is short and the hair at the back is long. With its signature "business in the front and party in the back" look, the mullet hairstyle was a favourite among rock musicians. (Cambridge Dictionary definition)
Those of you with long memories might have a slight sense of déjà vu when looking at a hardtail with a larger front wheel and a smaller rear wheel (a reverse mullet?). Bike behemoth Trek released their 69er singlespeed mullet in 2007, which utilised a 26” rear wheel and a 29’ front wheel. Initially only offered as a singlespeed, it later spawned a family of mullet-y siblings including a couple of full suspension options before disappearing from Trek’s range as 29” wheels grew in popularity and eventually took over as the wheel size du jour. Now, with the drip feed arrival of 32” wheels, it was perhaps not surprising that someone would try out an updated version of the mullet.
We doubt that many people would have predicted that British manufacturer Pashley, until relatively recently probably better known for their range of elegant town bikes, would have been the brand to trial a mixed format bike. But then in the last couple of years, Pashley have been hugely diversifying their range, so perhaps we should have seen it coming after all? In January 2025, Pashley introduced us to their Roadfinder X and XE all-road/gravel bikes and last September, they launched their Wildfinder “grountain bike”, which has passed on at least some of its DNA to the Wildfinder Mullet.
Pashley describe the Wildfinder Mullet as “a test bed to assess the potential benefits of the new wheel size, allowing informed decisions on the design direction of future models.” Pashley go on to say that “The focus of the bike is all-out Gravel speed and off-road agility.” When asked about the logic for creating a mullet, rather than a full 32” wheeled bike, they say “The Wildfinder Mullet combines the rollover, inertia and comfort of a 32” paired with a 29” out back and its accompanying short snappy chainstays.”
The frame is constructed from Reynolds 853 DZB steel tubing, with 3D printed seat lug, dropouts and chainstay yoke. The frame is “TIG welded with silver soldered lugs and drop outs.” The bike was built for the 2026 London Bespoked show and was kitted out with a range of eye-catching components including custom-painted colour-matched Shimano GRX brake callipers, Hope carbon wheels and a PNW components Loam dropper post.
The whole build has an incredibly well-considered look to it. Pashley describes the colour choice as “ somewhere between the vibrancy of a hillside of heather and a box fresh pair of Nike Air MAX 95s.” We’re not really sure that we can see the hillside of heather (which at least in Northumberland is generally a beautiful purple colour?), but there’s certainly a good dollop of Air Max 95s (women’s version) going on in the paint scheme.
Sadly for anyone desperate to own a Wildfinder Mullet, Pashley say that they built this bike specially for Bespoked and it’s not going to be available to buy (at the minute anyway). If you like the idea of a “grountain bike”, Pashley do offer a standard 29” wheeled version of their show bike. You can find all the details here.