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Goodyear Peak Ultimate XC mountain bike tires – First Rides & Actual Weights

2018 Goodyear Peak XC mountain bike tire review and actual weights
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The new Goodyear Peak XC mountain bike tire is the smallest of the offerings in their new range, which also includes trail, enduro and downhill options. The 2.25″ cross country tread comes in 27.5 and 29er sizes, using a low/mid height, openly spaced knob pattern shaped for speed. We had a couple weeks to rip it around our home trails in Greensboro, NC, prior to the launch. Here’s how it went…

Goodyear Peak actual weight & width

2018 Goodyear Peak XC mountain bike tire review and actual width

Mounted to the ENVE M50fifty rim (22mm internal width), the Goodyear Peak XC 29×2.25 measured a hair over 2.2″ (56mm). Goodyear recommends this tire go on a rim with a 25mm internal width, but the ENVEs are what I had available. So, put them on a wider rein and they’ll likely measure true to the 2.25 claim.

2018 Goodyear Peak XC mountain bike tire review and actual weights

As tested, though, they had a nice round profile that worked quite well for me in the corners and rolled very fast. I doubt spreading it another 0.05″ (1.25mm) would make much difference.

2018 Goodyear Peak XC mountain bike tire actual weights

Claimed weight for the Peak Ultimate 29er tires is 697g, and ours weighed in at 697g and 705g.

Ride review & video

2018 Goodyear Peak XC mountain bike tire review and actual weights

Honestly, I’m impressed with the Goodyear Peak Ultimate. It’s not just the traction, which is superb for our conditions. Greensboro’s trails are a mix of dirt, hardpack, loose over hard, pine leaves over hard, and plenty of roots. The Peaks grabbed hold of it all.

Kitted out, I’m sitting around 192-195lb, and I ran 26-28psi in the tires. At that level, they provided plenty of grip and comfort without ever feeling squirmy. The Ultimate is their higher level casing, with a higher thread count (they won’t disclose what the TPI is), and it’s supple, yet supportive. There’s a fine line between having a flexible sidewall that’s able to contour to the ground and something that can’t support the tire under hard cornering, and this one seems to strike the right balance.

2018 Goodyear Peak XC mountain bike tire review and actual weights

Knob height is low, which helps them roll fast. Hard braking can lock them up a bit easier than something with more aggressive knobs, but for an XC tire they stop at an acceptable rate. And they don’t tend to skid out in corners unless you really lean on the lever pretty hard. I think the lower pressure I was running helped with this, so it’s really the combination of casing structure, rubber compound and knob shaping that all plays into the predictable handling.

2018 Goodyear Peak XC mountain bike tire review and actual weights

For a new range, the tires seem really well thought out. This set’s on my personal bike and will get lots of use, so long term we’ll see how it goes. First impressions are good, though, so I’d say they’re worth a look when it’s time to replace your tires.

GoodyearBike.com

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Tom
Tom
6 years ago

I’d be curious to see whether the sidewall holds mud.

TheKaiser
TheKaiser
6 years ago
Reply to  Tom

Yeah, that texturing is odd, considering that they specifically mentioned minimizing mud holding being a goal in the initial press releases. Some of their tires have little tiny ridges on the casing between the knobs (I can’t tell from these pics if this model has them, but they’re certainly on the more aggro models) and they said the ridges are to help mud shedding. They said their research showed that too smooth a casing, or too rough a casing would hold mud, but just a bit of texture would release it. The thing is, the amount of texture they put on these sidewalls is a heck of a lot more than they said was optimal. Maybe sidewalls are different than between knob surfaces or something, but it could use more explanation.

Smallwood
Smallwood
6 years ago

Since no mention was made, i’ll assume that you wrassel um on fill um with gook and hope they seat up just like the rest of the current tires.

MTB4me
MTB4me
6 years ago

Ricky Bobby…

mech9
6 years ago

So goodyear took the specialized renegade, took away a little volume and made it heavier with side tread to collect mud and stuff. Emmm..good job goodyear?

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