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New Specialized Ground Control Tire

53K views 140 replies 39 participants last post by  HrznRider 
#1 ·
Is it just me or does the tread pattern of this tire look like the tread pattern of the discontinued Specialized Roll-X???
 
#4 ·
Brandywine cycles in wilmington de had them a week ago. The 29" control version is advertised as 60-70g less than the captain control in the same size. Thats nice. Yet, I can't see how the GC is supposed to be fast rolling with all of the space between the center knobs. One of the nice things about the captain is the closely spaced center row. I might just get one to try on the front with a captain rear.
 
#5 ·
Stopped by brandywine cyclery yesterday and got a 29x2.1 ground control (control casing). Ground control.... control ? Guess the legacy name was more important than awkwardness. :) Some thoughts -

I bought it to replace one of the 2 captain controls I'm running on my bike and save some weight. Tried a new fast trak control on the rear for a few rides and its useless on my local terrain, slip... spin out... slip. Don't know what I was thinking. Well, I know what I was thinking... 605g and easy sealing. I'm just not a racing tire guy...

I was hoping that the 2.1 GC would be a little larger than the stated size and match the width of my captain 2.2s. It isn't. Its true to size, which puts it about 3/16" narrower across the tread than the captains. Not a problem though...

Instead of running it on the front I realized after looking at the tread that this should be a great rear tire for climbing traction, so I put it on the rear and kept the captain 2.2 on the front. First ride tomorrow.

Weight wise - 652g. Thats about 70g lighter than a new captain control 29x2.2 and over 100g less than the captain I took off the bike that has dried sealant inside.

Mounting/sealing was the easiest yet of all the 2bliss tires I've had. It was tight enough that it started inflating on the first pump, with the beads still sitting in the center of the Arch rim, and no hands on the wheel. But, it wasn't so tight I needed a lever to get the last section of the bead on the rim, hands only. I sprayed a light mist of soapy water on the beads, pumped to 35psi and watched as the tire stretched a little and the bead seated with a dull thud. Beauty ! It held at 35 all night with no sealant.
 
#6 ·
Stopped by brandywine cyclery yesterday and got a 29x2.1 ground control (control casing). Ground control.... control ? Guess the legacy name was more important than awkwardness. :) Some thoughts -

I bought it to replace one of the 2 captain controls I'm running on my bike and save some weight. Tried a new fast trak control on the rear for a few rides and its useless on my local terrain, slip... spin out... slip. Don't know what I was thinking. Well, I know what I was thinking... 605g and easy sealing. I'm just not a racing tire guy...

I was hoping that the 2.1 GC would be a little larger than the stated size and match the width of my captain 2.2s. It isn't. Its true to size, which puts it about 3/16" narrower across the tread than the captains. Not a problem though...

Instead of running it on the front I realized after looking at the tread that this should be a great rear tire for climbing traction, so I put it on the rear and kept the captain 2.2 on the front. First ride tomorrow.

Weight wise - 652g. Thats about 70g lighter than a new captain control 29x2.2 and over 100g less than the captain I took off the bike that has dried sealant inside.

Mounting/sealing was the easiest yet of all the 2bliss tires I've had. It was tight enough that it started inflating on the first pump, with the beads still sitting in the center of the Arch rim, and no hands on the wheel. But, it wasn't so tight I needed a lever to get the last section of the bead on the rim, hands only. I sprayed a light mist of soapy water on the beads, pumped to 35psi and watched as the tire stretched a little and the bead seated with a dull thud. Beauty ! It held at 35 all night with no sealant.
I read somewere that the ground control grips better then the captain and has less rolliing resistance. How was your ride? How do the compare? Im between getting 2 ground control....control 2.35 or 2 the captain control 2.2.
 
#8 ·
I'm buying tires tonight, I was planning on a pair of the new fast trak controls fr/rr but may run the new GC front with Fast Trak in the back as I was mostly concerned with lost corner grip in high speed turns on the Fast Traks and having wash out issues.

92GLI, for a guy coming from Capt Cont fr/rr like I have now you think a pair Fast Trak Controls or a mix with the GC front would be better for Texas hardpack with loose in the corners?
 
#9 ·
I'd go GC front so you don't wash out in those loose spots at speed. But be aware you'll have to get a 2.0 fast trak to go with a 2.1 GC. If you get a 2.2 FT you'll have a wider, puffier tire on the rear and it might feel all weird. Wish they did the GC in 2.2 so it would match the other offerings... I sent them a tweet about that.
 
#10 ·
I'm currently running 2.0 fr/rr in the Capt's and thats plenty, a 2.1 front and 2.0 rear will be great.
My LBS only has the GC in 29' sizes right now but according to Specialized site they are offering the 26" in 1.9/2.1/2.3 widths on the 26" size.
 
#16 ·
does anyone think we are being played...?

Specialized is releasing these tires - actually building them wierd too - in a strange order.

1) Fast Trak 2.0 control tires....no sworks yet. It is the XC race tire, sworks version ready in July.
2) GC 1.9 and 2.1 sworks tires....nothing wider, yet it is the trail bike tire.

What I want is the full on race tire (sworks fast trak) - 500g range. AND, then wider trail tire 2.3 GC.

I admit to having a tire addiction, so I couldnt wait. $170 just spent on non-idea tires for what I need. So come June or July - when ever they decide to feed my additction - I will be into 4 more tires (or so) for different racing and riding conditions.

To there credit, the Renegade is one crazy fast tire ... 26 X 2.1 is an amzingly gripy semi-slick that makes any racer faster - immediately. However, in the 29er world we only get a 1.9, and if you like to lean over and corner with a wider tire - this is not the tire for you.

The Captian 2.0 and 2.2 (at the right PSI) rolls and grips like crazy...again credit to Specialized.

cheers
 
#20 ·
I've been running the 29X2.0 Fast Trak LK 2Bliss for about 300 miles now, maybe a bit more. Now that they have some miles they are starting to not grip so well in hardpack, and have never been that good in soft sand or kitty litter. They aren't cheap, so I'm trying to get some more miles out of them before I swap them out. Thinking about getting the Schwalbe Hans Dampf next.
 
#22 · (Edited)
I was at Mike's Bikes today, and the sales rep there said that the GC was more of a rear tire and that as a front tire, it would slip more than either the Captain or Purgatory. FWIW. I did notice, however, that specialized's packaging says that the CG works over hardpack, but does not claim that the Purgatory does. The GC has a tread pattern similar to the Hans Dampf, which others have said works well as a front tire for all conditions.
 
#23 ·
Out of curiosity...was the sales rep an LBS employee or Specialized employee?

I was dinking around on some on the some of the foreign country Specialized sites and noticed that (were available) Specialized ships the Camber Carbon Pro Evo R with GC front and Fast Trak rear.
 
#25 ·
Store employee is speculating then on the GC design and purpose.

I was in one of the big LBS this weekend as well and also noticed how Specialized has positioned their tires. From mild/fast to wild/gnar: Renegade, Fast Trak, Ground Control, Captain, Purgatory, Eskar, Butcher.

Based on that, and pairings I saw on the showroom floor bikes - their sizing makes sense:

Rear/Front
1.95 Renegade/2.0 Fast Trak
2.0 Fast Trak/2.1 Ground Control
2.1 Ground Control/2.2 Captain
2.2 Fast Trak/2.3 Ground Control
2.1 Ground Control/2.2 Captain
2.2 Captain/2.2 Purgatory
 
#28 ·
mini review

I got a GC 2.3 tire to put on the rear. It measures 2.15" wide on a 23mm (inner width) rim. About the same size as the Maxxis Ikon. At the bike store, I measured the 2.1 version as 2.05". So the 2.3 is not that big, and smaller than my Captain and Purgatory 2.2 from a year ago.

First impression is "this thing rolls better than it looks". I would say the rolling resistance is almost as good as one of those low knob tires like Conti Race King or Maxxis Ikon. Only on perfectly hard surfaces like pavement or under high torque can you slightly feel the knobs, and then the rolling resistance is only slightly worse. However, you have to keep the PSI above the low 20's, or else the knobs will begin to make crunching noises and the rolling resistance goes up.

Grip on hardpack and slight loose over hard is "fine", similar to the low knob tires. Braking might be similar or slightly worse. Two areas in which it is better are 1/2" rocks over hardpack, and slight mud. I have not tried it over wet roots and rocks, but if it works ok in these condition, this could be a good "low rolling resistance all purpose tire".

I can't speak for the cornering performance because I ride too slow. I don't know how it would work as a front tire either. Fongster can report on that later.
 
#29 ·
I got a GC 2.3 tire to put on the rear. It measures 2.15" wide on a 23mm (inner width) rim. ...At the bike store, I measured the 2.1 version as 2.05".
Yep, my 2.3 GC is also 2.15" on a wide rim, and that may explain why the 2.1 tire is only 45g lighter

I've been thinking of replacing the rear to a 2.1 GC to save a bit of weight, but think my front TK 2.4 (which is very big) to a 2.2 TK (or even GC 2.3) might be the way to go as it's 920g (vs 600-650 for the GC).
 
#32 ·
That's something I noticed too - the GC seems to have a grippy compound, irrespective of what durometer it is. One of the things I didn't like about the Captain was what low grip it had over wet roots and rocks. Perhaps the new GC will be better, but I won't know because it is too dry here. Perhaps somebody in the Pacific Northwest, where it is still wet, can chime in?

Also, which Purgatories have this new compound, and since when did they have it?
 
#33 ·
Another update

I was able to ride this tire as a rear in a few more conditions, mainly wet, with crumbly rocks, solid rocks, and a layer of dirt and leaves and twigs. I am very impressed with the traction grip of these tires under these conditions. It can even power thru uphill thick mud, albeit with wheel spin. I am not as sure about the lateral grip, though, as it got a little fish-tail under braking.

Another impressive quality of this tire is that it can really scoot along when there is a slight layer of loose "stuff" (either powdery dirt, wet crumbly rocks, or leaves and twigs, etc). I feel it rolls best if you let the knobs sink in just a little bit.

For those of you in NorCal, and know about El Corte De Madera, Purissma Creek, Montebello, etc - this seems to be a really good all conditions rear tire for these places.

I didn't want to mention this in the NorCal forum because they are busy hating on Specialized right now.
 
#34 ·
I've used the ground control 2.1 as a front tire on an Epic 29er. My Sworks 26" runs a 2.2 captian in the front and a Fastrak LK 1.95 in the back. This has been my favorite set up till I rode the ground control. I have found that the Ground Control grips better than a Fastrak and almost as good as a 2.2 captian...but rolls faster than a captian. Maybe almost as fast as a fastrak.

I'm getting a new race wheelset next week (Enve AM 28mm wide) and going to run the Ground Control 2.1 in the front and back on my Epic 29er. I'm hopeing that the wide rims will let the 2.1 Ground Controls grip very nice and still roll fast.

However depending on conditions, I may still run a renagade or fastrak in the back for racing.
 
#42 ·
I've used the ground control 2.1 as a front tire on an Epic 29er. My Sworks 26" runs a 2.2 captian in the front and a Fastrak LK 1.95 in the back. This has been my favorite set up till I rode the ground control. I have found that the Ground Control grips better than a Fastrak and almost as good as a 2.2 captian...but rolls faster than a captian. Maybe almost as fast as a fastrak.

I'm getting a new race wheelset next week (Enve AM 28mm wide) and going to run the Ground Control 2.1 in the front and back on my Epic 29er. I'm hopeing that the wide rims will let the 2.1 Ground Controls grip very nice and still roll fast.

However depending on conditions, I may still run a renagade or fastrak in the back for racing.
Just to update what I orginally said. After running the GC for a while I'm no longer a fan. I took it off the front after a few weeeks. It no way comes close to hooking up like a captian. I've been running it on the back since we have a lot of rough courses around here. But I'm putting a Fastrack on due it rolling a little faster than the GC. The GC rolls ok and has good grip but not good cornering grip due to not much side tread.
 
#36 ·
Despite being disappointed to hear the GC 2.3 is skinnier then a Captain 2.2 I went ahead and ordered a set anyway. Mine should be in by Wednesday so I should have a ride report by next weekend. My LBS said to go ahead and beat the heck out of them and if I don't like them I can switch them out for a set of Captains.
 
#37 · (Edited)
I have the Fast Trak Control mounted as a front tire that replaced a Hardrock'r and I've been really happy with it. I haven't had much trail time with it because I got it at the end of last season...but it's miles better than the Hardrock'r (large knob area = scary as a front tire) and I've been totally comfortable with it. It is thin and light though...which means it's not exactly puncture resistant in urban environments. And Obviously it's low-knobness isn't going to do as well as the GC or Captain though etc in loose stuff. I've been flying around with it on pavement as well...fast rolling indeed.

I also run Continental Verticals on my other bike so i have at least some comparison to taller knobed tires.

I also have the Fast Trak LK Sports...now obsolete and the new tread design is definitely an improvement. In fact it looks like the Fast Trak Sport is now using the new tread pattern.
 
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