In spring 2018, Goodyear bicycle tires relaunched with a complete line of road, gravel, cross country and enduro/downhill mountain bike tires. Since then, the line’s been unchanged, until now. For road racers, the new Goodyear Eagle F1 and F1 SuperSport offer an “Ultra High Performance” option…
On the surface, the new Eagle F1 models grab the road with DynamicGSR, which combines the two hottest ingredients of the day: Graphene and Silica. Between them, they increase both wet and dry grip while still rolling fast. Those are blended into natural (resistance to cracking, drying) and synthetic (low rolling resistance) rubbers.
The Eagle F1 has long been one of Goodyear’s premium motorsports tires, and Goodyear Bike (which is a licensing deal from Rubber Kinetics, who works with both Goodyear and bicycle tire manufacturers to translate the technology to cycling) continues to use that naming scheme to identify their tire’s hierarchy.
What makes the “F1” version better?
Externally, the Eagle F1 and Eagle F1 SuperSport tires are differentiated by the addition of small grooves on the standard F1. They’re there for both traction and to aid water removal if it starts raining during your ride. The bigger differences are in their internal construction:
The standard Eagle, which was part of the original launch in 2018, is tubeless ready, has more siping and tread files, and have a heavier duty construction. That makes them good for all-purpose training and even e-road bikes.
The F1 and F1 SuperSport shed the extra rubber, which means they’re not tubeless compatible. And they’re actually optimized for the slightly narrower (17mm, so not really “narrow”) non-tubeless traditional road bike rims, whereas their standard Eagle is optimized around 19mm rims. All of this means they’re lighter. And they get that upgraded rubber compound.
Underneath, they both use a supple 120tpi casing. And both use their R:Shield puncture protection cap. The Eagle F1’s cap is a little wider, and the rubber on top of it is just a hair thicker and maintains the mild texturing. The F1 SuperSport has a narrower puncture protection belt and gets a slick center tread section for the fastest possible rolling performance. It’s meant for race day only, without exposing you to every little pokey thing on the tarmac.
Retail is $60-65 USD (€50-55 / £45-50), available first quarter 2020. These are the first tires made in their new R&D facility/factory in Taiwan, but they say you’ll see more coming from them next year.
The weights are great, especially if tires don’t come overweight. I used to consider 205g Pro One TT for a WW build, but a Eagle F1 will do as well. And tubed options are interesting as well.
What is the point of building a tyre that’s 80g lighter and more flexible if you have to fit an inner tube? That’s 100g more weight and the extra compliance gone to make the fancy new tyre actually work. Am I missing something here?
Because people who ride clinchers want nice tires, too?
You need lighter tubes. Butyl down to 50g
Latex tubes are more flexible than tire carcass. Especially a tire that must be airtight. I believe in narrower widths it’s in favor of lightweight tubes vs tubeless. If they make a 32mm tubeless tire, or bigger, I’d be into that.
There’s no free lunch. In order for a tubeless tire to hold air, something must be added to it, usually butyl rubber. In my experience, the only tubeless road tires that approach or match traditional tube tires for speed and ride feel are somewhat fragile. I do like the Schwalbe Pro One and Hutchinson Sectors, but nothing narrower than 28c. I still haven’t seen a sealant really work to seal even a small puncture above 70-80psi.
Seems disingenuous that a tire brand that doesn’t actually supplies tires for F1 racing labels a tire “F1”
Except that they have, and still would if F1 wasn’t a regulatory mess.
I think the decades over which Goodyear supplied tires to Formula 1 teams and Goodyear’s 368 F1 wins qualify Goodyear to use the name “F1” on its products.
Thanks Ag. You were on the ball. Most of my bikes are on several various manufactures, and most of my cars I run Michelin. My Camaro came with Goodyear Eagles and I love them. Will have to look into them for my next Gravel bike purchase.
Tubeless does NOT work for ROAD bikes. Using ROAD bike pressure, 90-120 psi (and if you think the SAME tires/rims have lower rolling resistance with less pressure you are WRONG. Do a roll down test) there is a chance of the tire blowing off the rim. Add to that the additional stiffness of tubeless tires and the mess of dealing with sealant and ROAD tubeless is a FAIL.
Agree 100%. Offering high-quality clinchers is a good decision by Goodyear.
tubulars still are the safest and properly taped on will smoothly glide along safely at low pressure…
i have been riding tufo 23mm elites as low as 50 front and 53 rear but have gone to 68 front and 71 rear for the best feel downhill curves… disc brakes are mandatory for safe heat control…
Looks like it won’t be available in 23mm, so useless as a performance tyre for anything but very wide rims..
@neil
Both the Eagle F1 and Eagle F1 SuperSport are available in 23-622 / 700x23c.
how will these be distributed?