Back to their Roots: Goodyear gets serious about cycling performance with the fastest road bike tyre they've ever made

Beyond the blimp - The third largest tyre manufacturer in the world is engineering a cycling comeback

When the manufacturer of 200 million tyres a year, the brand behind the first tyres on the moon and more Formula 1 victories than any other decides it wants to shake up the bike industry, you should take notice!

Founded in 1898, Goodyear has spent plenty of its life making bicycle tyres, in fact, the first tyre they ever produced was for a bike. However, in 1976 they shut up shop and went all in on cars and motorsport - That went rather well, securing a record 368 Formula 1 victories, 14 overall wins at Le Mans 24 hour and 72 years as the official tire of Nascar.

Multiple Goodyear F1 tyres mounted to yellow wheels

(Image credit: Getty Images)

After a 42 year hiatus, Goodyear Bicycle Tyres restarted production in 2018 admitting that performance road bike tyres hasn’t always been it's number one priority. In 2020 Goodyear introduced the cycling world to the famous Eagle F1 name and according to the American brand it's now eager to once again be at the pointy end of cycling performance.

With it's two latest tyres, the Eagle F1RS and Eagle F1 Supersport RS, Goodyear reckons they've got all the necessary tools to take it to the best in the business and of course they still share their name with some super fast motorsport rubber.

The Eagle has landed (Again)

Goodyear Bicycle Tyres being manufactured and tested in a factory

(Image credit: Goodyear Bicycle Tyres)

Goodyear says that both tyres sit within their highest UHP (Ultra High Performance) range and have been completely redesigned from the ground up to make them not only faster but also lighter.

Eagle F1RS:

"The Eagle F1RS is our all-round road race tire developed to perform at the highest levels of cycling. Utilizing a new Power Tensile polyamide casing material, Ultra Ultra-High Performance compound and Advance Profile construction.

The evolution of Goodyear’s cutting-edge technologies results in a 32% reduction in rolling resistance (at 72psi) compared to the previous Eagle F1R. This 4.8-watt reduction in rolling resistance combined with improved grip and durability characteristics results in class-leading performance."

Goodyear Bicycle Tyres being manufactured and tested in a factory

(Image credit: Goodyear Bicycle Tyres)

Eagle F1 SuperSport RS:

"The Eagle F1 SuperSport RS is our lightest road tire, designed to provide ultimate race-day performance in road, time-trial, and triathlon competition. Utilizing a new Power Tensile polyamide casing material, Ultra Ultra-High Performance compound, and Advance Profile construction.

Utilizing cutting-edge technologies results in a 15% reduction in rolling resistance (at 72psi) compared to the previous Eagle F1 SuperSport R. This 1.5-watt reduction in rolling resistance combined with improved grip and handling characteristics results in the fastest tire Goodyear has ever made."

Shared DNA

Goodyear Bicycle Tyres being manufactured and tested in a factory

(Image credit: Goodyear Bicycle Tyres)

The Eagle F1RS and Eagle F1 SuperSport RS share the same core DNA and unlike many of their competitors Goodyear have the resources to both develop and produce these in-house with a dedicated facility in Taiwan.

Both new tyres utilize new Power Tensile casing materials, UUHP Compound, and Advance Profile technologies.

Power Tensile Casing

red tyre casing in a hand

(Image credit: Future)

We don't usually get to see the casing of tyres but incase you're wondering this is what the backbone of a bike tyre looks like...It's a polyamide material that Goodyear says has been designed to deliver a more stable and refined casing than previous generations.

"The fibers offer higher tensile strength and greater thermal resistance, enabling the casing to maintain shape more effectively under stress, heat, and repeated dynamic load." The result Goodyear says is a reduction in energy loss caused by excess casing flex and hence rolling resistance of the tyre can be reduced.

UUHP Compound

Goodyear Bicycle Tyres being manufactured and tested in a factory

(Image credit: Goodyear Bicycle Tyres)

UUHP stands for Ultra Ultra-High Performance and whilst Goodyear wouldn't tell us the exact recipe they did tell us that it uses a high-surface-area silica combined with a proprietary rubber compound formulated for maximum grip, speed, and durability.

A tyre compounds job is more complex than you might think, it needs to be hard enough to be durable but soft enough to grip, perform at different temperatures and also perform in the wet. Goodyear has taken it's learnings from motorsport racing to develop a new compound that "reduces internal energy loss and limits heat generation during dynamic loading. By improving the efficiency of the compound, rolling resistance is reduced while maintaining traction in wet and dry conditions."

Advance Profile technologies

Goodyear Bicycle Tyres being manufactured and tested in a factory

(Image credit: Goodyear Bicycle Tyres)

Tyres are round right? Turns out there's a lot of thought goes in to the profile of a tyre and the shape that they are when mounted to a bicycle rim. With the new tyres Goodyear has used what it calls "Advanced Profile" which combines a non-overlapping double-layer casing architecture with a reinforced shoulder turn-up, and an extended tread profile.

The brand says that by eliminating the traditional casing overlap within the main contact patch, the tread is able to deform more efficiently, reducing localized stiffness and internal energy loss.

"Simultaneously, the reinforced shoulder structure increases lateral support under cornering load, while the wider tread profile creates a smoother and predictable transition from crown to sidewall for increased grip across wet and dry conditions - The result is lower rolling resistance, improved cornering performance, and more predictable handling"

Pricing and Availability

Goodyear Bicycle Tyres being manufactured and tested in a factory

(Image credit: Goodyear Bicycle Tyres)

Both tyres are available in a variety of widths starting at 28mm for the tubeless version and 25mm for the tube type. Goodyear is also introducing a 34mm width to it's lineup with the Eagle F1 RS. Here's a full list of the tyres available at launch:

Range Specifications:

Eagle F1 RS – Tube-Type – 700 x 25 – 200 g
Eagle F1 RS – Tube-Type – 700 x 28 – 220 g
Eagle F1 RS – Tube-Type – 700 x 30 – 240 g
Eagle F1 RS – Tube-Type – 700 x 32 – 265 g


Eagle F1 RS – Tubeless Ready – 700 x 28 – 290 g
Eagle F1 RS – Tubeless Ready – 700 x 30 – 305 g
Eagle F1 RS – Tubeless Ready – 700 x 32 – 330 g
Eagle F1 RS – Tubeless Ready – 700 x 34 – 345 g


Eagle F1 SuperSport RS – Tubeless Ready – 700 x 28 – 260 g
Eagle F1 SuperSport RS – Tubeless Ready – 700 x 30 – 275 g
Eagle F1 SuperSport RS – Tubeless Ready – 700 x 32 – 300 g

Pricing:

Eagle F1RS – Tube-Type - $84.95 / €74.95 / £68.95

Eagle F1RS – Tubeless Ready - $94.95 / €84.95 / £79.95

Eagle F1 SuperSport RS – Tubeless Ready - $99.95 / €89.65 / £84.95

Website URL: https://goodyearbike.com

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