Goodyear Escape Max and Inter Tires

Goodyear Bike's Escape Max and Inter tires are two new options for shorter-travel, aggressive bikes. While the Goodyear name is well recognized in the automotive sector, the bike division only shares the name and the logo. This is not a drawback if we refer back to the Wrangler MFT and MTR review from six months ago. Goodyear Bike, aka Rubber Kinetics, has been doing things right for a while. When it comes to choosing the correct combination of tread pattern, casing and rubber compounds, Goodyear has a nifty little chart to guide you along.

Goals

What did I want to achieve with these tires? Slapping a set of tires on the bike and taking them out of their designed conditions, so they fail, is no use to anyone. Since the beginning of this year I have been really enjoying the agility, speed and acceleration that lighter and faster tires bring to the table. The Schwalbe Nobby Nic/Wicked Will combo, at 855grams apiece, has been joyous to pedal around in all kinds of terrain: Arizona, North Shore, Sea to Sky, you name it. I was certain I would immediately take these tires off the bike as soon as I got home but instead I have put hundreds and hundreds of kilometres on them and found them to be exceptional performers. Before those, the Maxxis DHF/ Rekon combo ticked boxes with satisfying grip and low rolling resistance. While the relatively chunky DHF bit into the ground with affirmation, the Rekon rolled effortlessly on a variety of surfaces. Those tires set the bar high for these new Goodyears.

While the charts showed 1025 grams per Trail Plus casing tire, the bread scale at home showed a hair over 1070 grams per tire. We have just put on weight. This was a bit of a perceived setback as the outgoing Schwalbes came in at 850 grams per tire. I really had gotten used to the uphill speed on tap.

Escape Max Trail Plus Grip 2 on the front,

Escape Inter Trail Plus Grip 2 for the rear.

While the charts showed 1025 grams per Trail Plus casing tire, the bread scale at home showed a hair over 1070grams per tire. We have just put on weight. This was a bit of a perceived setback as the outgoing Schwalbes came in at 850 grams per tire. I really had gotten used to the uphill speed on tap.

While the Wicked Wills lasted well on gnarly surfaces, one of the last rides on the Shore put a sizeable hole in the rear tire, metres into Ned's Atomic Dustbin, a trail known to eat tires and wheels for fun. The hole plugged relatively well, but it was time for retirement, and time for the Goodyear Escapes.

Goodyears in general have a looser fit on most of the rims I've tried. While this makes getting them mounted an easy affair, they rarely seat with the floor pump alone. A quick shot of air from the Shimano Pro Team Compressor, along with a dewalt inflator, did the trick as they popped into place with confidence.

Escape Max

The Escape Max comes in five flavours. From vanilla to black liquorice, there are casing and compound options for multiple riding scenarios. 29" only tires come in two casing options, Trail Lite and Trail Plus. 160 grams divide the casings. The added layer of armour on the Trail Plus will be well appreciated as the speeds pick up and sharp rocks start floating to the surface in this part of the world. It is crazy how the erosion increases as the moist, organic soil turns to dust.

Compounds are labelled Grip2 and Grip3. While the Grip2 is a dual compound tread with a firm base and softer upper rubber, the Grip 3 improves on that with even softer shoulder and side knobs for more cornering grip. Of course, as we have discovered in the last few years, soft doesn't necessarily mean more grip; the rebound speed and resistance to changes in ambient temperatures also play a huge part in perceived grip on the trail.

Wanting to test a tire with similar riding characteristics to the outgoing Schwalbes, I opted for the 29x2.4 Trail Plus Grip2 Escape Max for the front. On the trail the 3-2-2 tread pattern set a familiar tone to some of the more aggressive versions of this knob layout. Assegais, Kryptotals, and Magic Marrys all carry a similar tune. The knobs on the Escape Max are nowhere near the height of these more aggressive Enduro/DH-purposed tires but the sharp edges are there with plenty of front edge ramps for plenty rolling speed. The center knobs stick out 4 millimetres from the casing. Goodyears corner well and transition to the side knobs slightly better than the Maxxis DHF that we all loved and praised at one point. The bigger knobs of the DHFs dig into loose soil appreciably better but on harder packed, lower grade trails, the Escape Max performs better in every way.

The casing is supple and gives good trail feedback, too. With the added weight, the bike feels a bit less agile compared to the Schwalbes, but the suspension is calmer and more planted.

Escape Inter

Inter is an inter-esting name for a tire. It is designed to be an intermediate tire between XC and trail riding. For trail bike applications, it is meant to be a rear tire, but it's happy to take on steering duty if the pilot is racing the clock uphill too. It comes in three different options, all in 29" size: UHP and Grip2. UHP is a single compound offering for maximum speed and life span. It is happiest in the dryest and the grippiest conditions. If your ride starts with miles of on-road pedalling, this is what you want on the rear. I probably wouldn't want it on the front of my bike unless I was riding in Southern Spain or slickrock. The Grip2 is happy to add more friction to the V-shaped 4-3-4 knob wide layout. The knobs are 3 millimetres tall and roll extremely well. The Trail Plus casing is appreciated on a bike like the Scor 2030 . It would be equally happy on Specialized Epic or Rocky Mountain Element. The Maxxis Forekaster is a similar feeling tire if you needed a reference point. The Schwalbe Wicked Will, however, out pedals both of them. It's a tire where every pedal stroke is converted into forward momentum. The Escape Inter hesitates a little more but also grips better on the downhill. The Forekaster has slightly more grip than both of them when it comes to dropping the proverbial anchor. The hammer drop is rewarding with all of these tires. I love how fast tires feel these days. The desire to pedal the big bike, with sticky Goodyear Wranglers, is not high.

Goodyear naming blankets the Rubber Kinetics operations in a well-thought-out package. RK also provides rubber for companies like Ride Concepts and others. The trail feel and benchmark traction are evident. I find the Goodyear Wranglers to provide some of the most mechanical grip in mountain biking on the North Shore. They claw their way up anything and can find grip where others struggle. The Escape line of tires shares some of the traits of the Wranglers in terms of grip on surfaces where other tires struggle. The drawback is often the rolling speed when things get going fast. Too much of a good thing can be, well, too much. But the Escapes in Grip2 compound roll fast and hold air inside as things get sharp. There is a Grip3 Escape Max in packaging, waiting for things to get greasy again, and I'll be interested to find out how it copes as temperatures drop to single digits.

The Escape Max and Inter provide the grip and speed promised and I will report back when and if my opinions change.

The Escape is 85 USD for any of the Trail Plus variants and 80 USD for any of the Trail Lite

Goodyear Escape Tires