Grannygear has been testing and posting individually on the Specialized tires we recieved and Captain Bob has done a special report on the S-Works Fast Trak model. I am here now to give you a Mid-Western spin on the Captain Control, Eskar, and Fast Trak LK models.
Captain Control 2.2″: This tire is a moderately knobby, roundish cased tire that has a tread featuring a center network of knobs that form a “ridge” as the tire spins. The weight on my examples ws 720 grams and 730 grams each. The wdth of the casings on Salsa Delgado Disc rims was 54.3mm and knob to knob width was 54.7mm.
The ride was surprising in that the tires seemed to roll very well. I suspect that the “center rdge” type design had something to do with this. I rode on hardpack, rock embedded single track, roots, and mud. The tires were mounted on my trusty OS Bikes Blackbuck. I was most impressed while climbing. Even on moderately slippery leaf strewn trail, The Captain gripped tenaciously. On one particular ascent up a tough steep, I actually stopped at the top to see how it was that I didn’t slip the rear tire. I was flat out amazed!
In the mud, The Captain did “okay”. I give it a middling grade for packing up and mud shedding abilities. This tire seems to be able to grip through some of the mud pack though, so you do not lose all traction. which I found to be nice. There are better mud tires, (Conti Mt. Kings and Michelin XC AT) but the fact that the Captains hold their own here makes them a good all-rounder choice.
One thing I often notice about comments on The Captain is that it gets raves for front tire usage. True, it corners, rolls, and brakes really well, but don’t overlook this tread for your rear tire! The Captain rocks on both ends, as far as I am concerned, and I think it is a great all-round trail tire. I used mine with a tube. Imagine how good it would be tubeless! I aim to check that out soon.
Eskar S-Works 2.3″: The Specialized Eskar is billed as their trail/all mountain tread. It features big, chunky knobs with a dual compound rubber. As with all of our Specialized test tires, it features the “2Bliss” casing. My examples weighed in at 710 grams for the S-Works casing which is a bit thinner than the Control casing. The Eskars measured 55.8mm in casing width and 56.4mm knob to knob mounted up on Salsa Gordo rims.
The Eskar tires went on my full suspension HiFi ride and were a great trail tire from the standpoints of traction, control, and braking. I did think that they rolled very slow in comparison to some other trail/AM tires I have ridden like the Rampage and Nevegal treads. The Eskar tires felt sluggish climbing, much like a WTB Stout. Although, the grip is amazing. Turning and braking while descending is fantastic, but climbing is best done slowly and spinning a low gear.
The trail conditions were much like they were for the Captains and the results were similar. I wouldn’t recommend the Eskar for wet, muddy trails. Dry, hardpack, tacky, or even loose, rocky terrain, but not anything that sticks, because the Eskar packs up in a hurry. It also tends to hold on to that mud and does not retain much of its excellent traction characteristics when packed up, like The Captain does.
My conclusion on this tire is rather mixed. On one hand, I can totally see this as a great tread on a full suspension trail rig. Traction and cornering are fantastic. However, the lighter S-Works casing leaves much to be desired in the toughness department. Whether it would hold up in the long run from any sidewall abuse is not known, but I wouldn’t count on it being a contender for All Mountain use. The more robust Control casing would be my choice there.
Specialized Fast Trak LK: Unfortunately, our weather soured before I had a chance to really ride these tires. I can say that these were the only tires out of the three versions here that I tried to mount tubeless. (So far anyway. The Captains will be next.) The tires were (horrors!) mounted to Bontrager Race X Lite Tubeless Ready rims with Bontrager’s plastic rim strip installed with tubeless valve stems. The tires mounted very similarly to Bontrager TLR tires and sealed up with my home brew sealant really well. The tread pattern is identical to the Fast Trak S-Works tires Captain Bob and I have ridden. I would expect similar performance, but certainly, we will get these out and test them as soon as we can.
Look for a winter update on these tires and a more thorough report on the the Fast Trak LK’s coming in a few weeks.
GT – good feedback. I’ve been eyeballing that Captain as a potential replacement for my Python out back. I like the Python a lot down here – with one exception – wet roots. This is a bit more open and may help me in that department since it rolls well. I’m pretty pleased with the Ardent as a front tire – don’t think I’ll be venturing away from that tread any time soon.
GT,
I was waiting to hear what you thought of the Fastrack LK’s in 29. I guess that I got the “cliff hanger.”
I am new to MB’ing and have these on my ’09 Specialized RockHopper Expert Disc 29. I did have trouble with the rims, but I have SWISS DT 470 rims with the DT hubs now. I am running with tubes right now. I am going to go tubeless later. I like the traction on the tires on hardpack as well as on tacky trails I have ridden here in Texas. Cornering and stopping traction are great! I just need to get my skills up to the equiptment…
Waiting for your two cents…
Marc
Flatlander 59: Sorry! We don’t mean to leave folks in the lurch, but we got slapped upside the head with Ol’ Man winter back around the first of December. While we could give you a song and dance routine about how we did such and such with the tires since then , we don’t roll that way.
We intend on getting back to the Mid-West review on the Specialized tires once the weather breaks here. Then we will ride the tires some more and give our final asessment on them from a Mid-West perspective. Our own Grannygear has already given his say on the Fast Traks in his West Coast review, which is linked above.