Editor’s Note: This is the final installment from our West Coast cntributor, Grannygear, on the Specialized Captain Controls 2.2, Eskar S-Works 2.3, and Fast Trak LK/S-Works. So check out these final thoughts from the West Coast.

Over the past few months we have been rolling around on various combos of the latest offerings for 29er MTB tires from the Big S and I think I have had enough saddle time to come to conclusions that are reasonably accurate.

Captain Controls

The Captain Controls – It is hard to beat an all around tire like the Captain. In a world where it seems like there are tires for every occasion, the Captain stands out as a fine example of a tire you could leave on all year round, travel with it, and just pretty much forget they are there. They are a great size, and on a Stan’s Flow rim, offer a full and round profile. Are they an all mountain tire? Not really, but it is a very good trail bike tire. They steer very well and roll much better than that size of tire should, likely due to the center ridge of knobs. They even make a very good rear tire, although I did find them wanting to break away and drop into ruts a bit more than I would like, but the side knobs are not that aggressive and that is where I would place the blame. I ran these on the Lev, but I bet that it would make a fine SS tire front and rear.

Muddy eskars

The Eskar – I ran these on the SS Monkey. I never needed more traction than these tires offered. They loved the loose, rocky trails we have around here and they even hung pretty well on one very muddy ride. I was slightly dismayed in the non-2.3 size, but they are easily a good 2.2 and the large tread lugs felt like cushions in the rocks. I did not care for the way they steered in hardpack conditions as they seemed to wander when they were in between the center rows of knobs and the edgy, aggressive side knobs. The biggest hit against them is the slow rolling that they impart on any ride on a hard surface. Not a go-fast tire for that, but if you ride in loose, chewed up terrain or sandy, gravelly soil, they are a good choice.

Fast Trak

The Fast Traks – I ran the non-S versions on the SS Monkey. Before I installed them, I had been running some Continental Mtn King 2.4s, so the 2.0 Fast Traks looked like a cyclocross tire compared to them. However, the tires are more than meets the eye. They are a fast rolling, quick turning tire. If speed is a priority and you are not a Clydesdale rider, these babies will get it down the trail. They actually have more grip than I expected and on smooth harder surface trails they are very agile and fun. They are much less fun if the surface is deep and loose, like sandy soil and rocky, rubbly stuff. There they let you know you are not rolling on fatties. I also found it challenging keeping them from spinning on kitty litter over hardpack when I was really pulling hard on the SS in steep pitches. I bet they would rock on gravel roads and they were a huge advantage on long, extended fireroad climbs.

NOTE: I leant the Fast Traks out to a friend who was competing in his first 12 solo endurance race. He trained a bit on the K versions and raced on the S-Works tires. He expected them to roll well, but was skeptical that the tires would hang in there on the fast, hardpacked and sometimes sketchy course. However he was more than happy with the tires performance overall and commented on the good cornering and grip in those conditions.

More final thoughts: I ran the Captains and the Eskars tubeless on the Flow rims and they installed easily and inflated with a floor pump no muss, no fuss. The Fast Traks were run with tubes.

Currently I am running a Captain front and an Eskar rear on the Lev. So far that has been a super combo, although I would run another rear tire if I was trying to be fast on a long ride with lots of climbing. The flip side is tons of braking and driving grip from the rear tire. The Eskar barely fits in the chainstays of the Lev and a muddy day would be a challenge. I have no present use for the Fast Traks, so I will shelve them for now, but if I ever feel the need for speed above all, they are just an arms reach away.

Thanks to Specialized for providing us the tires in this review!