Not wanting to be left out of the mix, Geax has introduced a full line of 650b tires to go along with their all new enduro tire, the Goma. Designed with input from team riders Cam Zink, Aaron Bradford, Macky Franklin and Jason Sager, the Goma is designed for aggressive, controllable traction over a variety of terrain.
Get a grip on the Goma including actual weights after the break.
Team riders like Zink above have been riding the Goma during testing and approve off the final design. Most of the riders had the Goma on the front only for the hardpack conditions of the Sea Otter venue but they mentioned for rockier, more varied terrain they would likely throw the new enduro tire on the rear in place of the Saguaro that many were running.
In order to provide excellent traction on rocks at changing angles the Goma has muti-directional siping which will hook up better than uni-directional. To improve cornering control, the edges of the side knobs are stepped so that after the initial grip of the tire breaks loose there is a secondary edge and also helps to reduces tire squirm. Leading edges of the tread blocks are ramped for lower rolling resistance while braking edges are sharp for excellent bite. Knobs are spaced far enough apart for adequate mud shedding while still offering excellent grip in dry and hard pack conditions.
On the left is a 27.5×2.4 Goma Team prototype, and on the right is a 26×2.25. At 768g and 708g respectively, weight of the tires are pretty impressive considering the 27.5 is the 2.4 size. Unfortunately, there weren’t TNT (tube no tube) tires to weigh, but these give us an idea of what to expect.
As a solid indication of the 650b revolution, many of Geax’s tires are now offered in at least one 27.5 size in standard and TNT casings:
- Saguaro – 2.0, 2.2
- AKA – 2.2
- Gato – 2.1
- Mezcal – 2.1
- Sturdy – 2.3
- Goma – 2.25, 2.4
Yes, that is Cam Zink’s new signature slope style frame from Hyper (the Pro Model signature bike, not the Wal-Mart model). After over a year in the making, Cam got his new bike just before Sea Otter and built it up to make the show. Make sure to check out Saris’ coverage of EC’s new bike!
