Goodyear Connector gravel bike tire 700x50,review

Goodyear Connector gravel bike tire 700x50  

Review 

The Holy Grail .

My quest for the Holy Grail of the gravel bike tire world continues with my latest review, this search has taken me to the Goodyear Connector Ultimate tire for my next review, priced at a bargain price of £72 for the pair from Pro Bike kit, link. Below.

https://www.probikekit.co.uk/bicycle-wheels/goodyear-connector-ultimate-a-t-tubeless-gravel-tyre-twin-pack/12935260.html

I managed to find a discount t code on the web, so applied that at the check out to save me more money.. Sorry to say I’m not to sure on the stock of the Goodyear Connector as Paligap had none they could send out for this review or the smaller size review, and as I’m sure the Connector gravel bike tire is the Holy Grail to the Gravel World I had no choice but to splash the cash as they say, if I’m right in my thinking you will thank me all, hopefully it will keep the puncture Genie away from the wheels.  

I decided on the largest size they make at the moment, the 700x35 are great as a road tire with the odd off road exploration, the Connector can handle the terrain, but I wanted to find The Ultimate tire, The Holy Grail, the Connector is large, very large, I have gone from the 700x35 to the 700x50 size as Goodyear say it should provide me with a better grippy ride over the rough stuff and still be a fast tire on the road, you will see the centre section of the Connector has a number of tiny knobs closely spaced together, this gives it the fast road rolling on tarmac, as the pattern then moves to the outer side towards the shoulder of the Connector the knobs get slightly larger with wider spacing, this will give you the grip needed off the tarmac  and on the dirt and gravel tracks, the Connector is available in two  different versions, Premium, and the Ultimate as on my review here, they supposedly weighed in at 645g.

The Goodyear Connector is available with tan sidewalls as well as the black sidewall version, 4 size are available at the moment, (not sure if they plan to add more sizes) 700cx35mm, 700cx40mm, 700cx50mm, 650bx50mm, but i have just noticed only the two sizes now shows up on the Pro Bike Kit website, so do check before you place a order.

Casing on the Connector gravel bike tire utilise a much finer thread fabric, so Goodyear Connector has a 120 tpi casing (see my previous recon explanation for tpi) this will make the Connector a supple and faster rolling tire with added improvements on traction, a most welcome feature.

Goodyear have made the Connector Tubeless Complete, so they are a Tubeless ready tire, with additional air retention properties it says on there website about the details of the Connector. A multi-compound material layer is added to the tire casing, allowing for improved air retention while providing additional puncture and cut protection with minimal weight increase. Goodyear’s unique design means more sealant remains after installation, ready for the moment you need it, that is what it tells me on there website anyway… 

Fitting the Connector was a bit hit and miss, took me several attempts to get the Goodyear to pop on the rear tire when fitting, with about 6 attempts at getting the Connector to pop on the rim, the front one went on first time! And I didn’t even get my camera out to video it, that would have been a impressive video! (At least I think it would be a good one!)

Listen to the Pop video.

Hopefully I’ll be adding a section on a tire booster pump, if I do manage to get hold of one I’ll be updating as soon as I can, it would save you all a lot of hassle and aggravation with getting the tire to pop on the rim, So I’m excited to find out if this product does what it says it can, watch this space!  

I replaced the giant valve with the TY Bike Products so it matches the one I had fitted in the other wheel.

Once I had the Connectors seated on the rim I left them inflated to 40psi and had a coffee, the reason for me doing this is simply to judge if the tires would lose any air before I add the Yogurt Tire Sealant from TY Bike Products. 

The great thing about the Yogurt you can reuse it, so that is what I have done, I reused it! 

 

Yogurt Tire Sealant removed from the existing tire to be refilled in the new Connector.

New TY Bike Products Valve fitted.
https://www.tybikeproducts.com/bikeproducts/flat-base-valves

The 700x50 is a lot larger than the 700x35 .

I think this would be the max size of tire to fit the Giant Toughroad bike.

Love the look of the Tan walls on the Connector tires.

Easy to install on the wheel.

 

Shame to get them muddy.

My Test Ride.

My test ride was along the River Stort, up to Rye Hill and back down to the towpath, so various sections covered, tire pressure was at around 40 psi to start with, but on one section of hard gravel I decided to drop the pressure to around d 25-28 psi, this I found changed the character of the Connector on the roughest section by soaking up the rough path section with the Connector soaking up the buzz of the path, in-fact it made the ride so much more enjoyable than with less vibrations going up through the seat and handle bars, a result. 

On the road sections the Goodyear Connector gravel bike tire was fast on the road, soaking up any bumps and rough surface, speed wise not much difference between the 700x50 and the previous Connectors 700x35,  once I checked the route on the Strava I found a couple of PB’s came up, so was surprised at that as I was not racing, but enjoying the ride! Well pleased. 

The Goodyear Connector with Tan Wall.

Good Puncture protection.

I dropped the pressure down to around 25-27 psi.

My verdict.

BEST BITS.

Easy fitting on the rims.

Great traction on the lose gravel, with plenty of grip on the muddy sections, and a bonus of being fast on the road.

Tan sidewall looks really nice on the bike.

BAD BITS.

Not many bad bits at the moment, only thing that could present a problem to any rider with large shoe size, and that is your toe could catch the front wheel on a turn when your foot is in the 3o'clock position when you turn the front wheel, I just noticed my size 7 foot just slightly touched the front tire on a tight turn, not sure  if this will give me a problem, if it does I’ll let you know with another update. 

My next ride was along the towpath towards Bishop Stortford, this section is mostly a close packed gravel and muddy section with plenty of ruts etc, so. If it’s been raining you can guarantee a muddy ride.. 

As you can see by the pictures, ride wise it was slightly muddy, but the Connector tires went through everything in there path with ease. 

It’s early days yet to find out how good the Goodyear Connector is on the Puncture protection, but with the added Yogurt in the tires I’m feeling pretty confident the future rides will be hassle free. 

https://www.probikekit.co.uk/bicycle-wheels/goodyear-connector-ultimate-a-t-tubeless-gravel-tyre-twin-pack/12935260.html

https://www.goodyearbike.com/tires/connector/

Epping Forest ride out, amazing grip on the mud of Epping Forest, .. 

Amazing I made it through with no wheel spin! 

So glad I made it all the way without getting stuck!

Hard compact gravel, just what the Connector was designed for. 

Tread filled up with grit and mud, but it was soon clear after a few  yards the tread was soon clearing. 

Took everything in there stride. 

For the test it had to be rode across! 

 

Any sensible rider would have taken the easy route, but not me, I was here to test the grip of the Goodyear Connector gravel bike tire, and the muddiest section had to rode through! 

Fine silt was in every part of the bike. 

There is a Name there somewhere!

Going to need a bit of cleaning!

The above photos were from a ride to Epping Forest, a range of track with very fine grit on the path, to thick mud was available on the day! 

I enjoyed putting the Connectors through the pace of the Epping Forest ride. 

Next ride out was a cross between road and a country side route to Great Dunmow and loop, around back to Harlow vie the Flitch Way, as disused railway line turned into a cycle way. 

Flitch Way Essex.

. 

Sections was the hard compact gravel path

Plenty of sure grip with the tires. 

Just a typical ride out, trail ranges from tarmac to rough gravel with the lose stones, to a sections of muddy trail. 

Stones ground.

Typical ride surface.

Revolubes is the chain lube I have on the chain, (see my review in the search bar)

 Great fun out on the Giant Toughroad.

One good thing, the Connector do clean up well. 

The centre tread soon filled up with the very smallest of grit, but the good thing it was soon cleared as you carry on riding. 

Love the style of the TY Bike Products valve. 

My verdict on the Goodyear Connector gravel bike tire. 

Brilliant (so far)… 

Early days yet, but I have put the Goodyear through it’s paces I feel, from lose gravel tracks to full on mud, and anything in the middle! The Connector has coped with it all, so I would say (fingers crossed) the puncture protection is looking good as the TY Bike Products Yogurt has not had to do any work as far as I can tell, after each ride I have cleaned the bike and had a close inspection of the tires, with no evidence of any visit from the Puncture Genie! 

Keep a eye out for my next blog on how to make a Tire Booster Tank from a old Fire Extinguisher coming soon. 

UPDATE.  10/11/2021.

Great news on the Goodyear Connector Gravel bike tire, so far I've not had any problems with the tire going flat, this could be due to the TY Tire Yogurt in the tire, I've not had to refill the Tire Yogurt either as there are no problems with the tires going down apart from the odd bit of pressure, I'm well impressed both with the Goodyears and the Panaracer Gravel Kings, Its hard pressed to chose between them now! 

 UPDATE: 29/01/2022.

Really happy with the Non visits from the Puncture Fairy, is it down to the added TY Bike Products Yogurt in the Tires, either way, if that's the case its a great set up, not even had to add any more TY Bike Products Yogurt, It is "Honestly The Best Tubeless Tire Sealant I've Have done a Review on" 

If you want trouble Free Tubeless Cycling check out the TY Bike Products Website, they also do brilliant Rim Tape and more.. 

https://www.tybikeproducts.com/

Save 10% by going on line.. 

UPDATE: 12/04/2022

I almost forgot about the topping up of the Tubeless tyre sealant! 

It has been 9 Months since I first put in the Yogurt from TY Bike Products! 

If I had been using any of the other top names I bet the tyre would have been flat! 

BEST TUBLESS TIRE SEALANT ON THE MARKET! 

A top up with the Yogurt 

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Foot Note This is not a Paid Advertisement for Goodyear Bike Tires, Paligap Distribution company or Pro Bike Kit, and TY Bike Products, Revolubes chain lube. 

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