Spesh Tyres

gregmorris234

Are Spesh Tyres any good I always thought they looked a bit short of thread!

Anonymous

i like specialized tyres, im using eskars and the captains at the moment and both are good. the eskars are particularly good and if they came in a smaller size, i would fit them to all of my bikes. they behave a lot like high rollers which is good as they are my next fave tyres.

i think specialized started off years ago making tyres before they made anything else so they should know what they are upto i would think.

good thing about them is they have all of the features of good tyres (multi compound, light weight, tubeless ready versions) but they arent massively expensive.

Raymondavalon

+1 on the Captians, not used them myself but when I partook in the Test Valley 50KM event I saw lots of riders using them as they have excellent mud shedding properties.
When you see over a dozen riders using them on a really muddy event they just have to be "that good"

Gully0001

I found that spesh tyres are really good in muddy conditions, however wet rocks washout all the time and unpredictable
I now run continental speed kings they grip like glue

SDK2007

Specialized tyres are awesome - I use Eskar S Works and Clutch SX (both 2.3)
I've tried Maxxis Minions (2.3 42a) and Continental Mountain kings (2.4 folding) and they don't give me the same confidence to ride hard.

Maxxis tyres come up narrow for their width so a 2.3 is actually a 2.1, 2.5 a 2.3 etc and so they weigh too much for the size. Great for DH use but leg sapping for trail centers and normal riding.

The S-Works Eskar 2.3 only weighs 650g, the low ramp center tread rolls very well and it grips like High Roller; except that weighs twice as much and isn't as wide.

The Clutch SX tyre is the same design as the Clutch DH tyre but uses a lighter casing and slightly harder rubber; 50 centre and 45 shoulder.

Surf-Matt

I rate them - my Sauserwind S Works are the best all round XC tyres I've had by miles. Also very light and cheap as well.

Skonk

I have some The Captains (2.0) on my new Stumpy, they seem pretty good but a tad slippery on damp surfaces (thin coat of wet mud over stone or compacted gravel). Last few rides it's been dry and they have worked really well.

Oddly, though they are supposed to be 2.0's they are wider than a friends Maxxis Minion 2.35's.

My SX Trail also has some Spesh tryes on, forgot their name but they are very wide and and so far have held on in everything from dry to soaking wet and through thick mud.

Would definatly buy Specialized tyres when the current ones need replacing.

adb1006

I have the Captains - in 2.0 S-Works 2Bliss form. They're decent tyres IMO. Good grip, shed mud well, and roll OK on road if you stick a higher psi in them. I normally run mine about 30 front, 30-35 rear for XC.

They're fairly lightweight for tubeless tyres too.

Anonymous

i think spesh tyres are as lightweight as tubeless ready tyres get.

mudsucker

I have some The Captains (2.0) on my new Stumpy, they seem pretty good but a tad slippery on damp surfaces (thin coat of wet mud over stone or compacted gravel). Last few rides it's been dry and they have worked really well.

+1 on that. Came as standard on my stumpy FSR. Good on hardpack, scary on anything remotely damp or loose. Washed out twice on me yesterday at thetford, fortunatlly managed to stay upright. WIll be changing them for some Panaracer Fire xc foldings this week as used them before and rate them highly.

paul.skibum

I have a spesh resolution pro on the front of my hardtail - has been a good performer in the 3 months I have had it in a variety of conditions.

blakef111

i use the captains on my xc bike and i have to say i agree totally that they are brilliant until faced with wet roots or stones/pebbles, when you meet those you stand no chance, will be switching over to eskars as they seem to be better rated for wet stuff

blister pus

+1 for Sausage-winds

- I have the Control version which bumps up the puncture protection a bit, still light at 530g.

I can't fault them as an all rounder and they are extremely quick, good on the road too if you need to use roads.

CycloRos

+1 for captains. been running these on my stumpy for a while now. performed impeccably yesterday at Sherwood pines through a mixture of surfaces (dry hardpack, very wet claggy mud, sandy and dusty)

P-Jay

I'm not sure what they were called, but the Spesh tyres that came with my '06 Endruo were utterly, utterly useless. I slid around on them for 2-3 rides and pot a hole in the side wall of the rear and binned them. Been using highrollers ever since and they're great, perhaps not a great XC tyre as they can slide climbing in deep mud, and they're heavier than some, but for normal trail centre use they're unbeatable.

SDK2007

^^ Since 2006 Specialized has updated their tyre line up twice.
Originally your bike came with Enduro tyres; those were updated in 2007 to Resolutions then completely overhauled in 2008 to the Eskar tyre.

Surf-Matt

I do find Fastraks a bit cack - roll well but no grip in any mud.

RealMan

gregmorris234 wrote:

Are Spesh Tyres any good I always thought they looked a bit short of thread!

Spesh storm control.

Specialized do lots of different tyres, but being an American brand, a lot of their tyres are designed around hardpack, dry trail riding. Americans dont ride when its wet.

SDK2007

Surf-Matt wrote:

I do find Fastraks a bit cack - roll well but no grip in any mud.

Fast Tracks are designed for lightweight XC riding on hardpack terrain, probably explains the lack of grip in muddy conditions

SDK2007

gregmorris234 wrote:

Are Spesh Tyres any good I always thought they looked a bit short of thread!

Tread depth and design vary depending on the tyre; XC Race tyres are very low profile & fast rolling and Down Hill tyres have a deep tread, soft rubber and a strong casing.

Surf-Matt

SDK2007 wrote:

Surf-Matt wrote:

I do find Fastraks a bit cack - roll well but no grip in any mud.

Fast Tracks are designed for lightweight XC riding on hardpack terrain, probably explains the lack of grip in muddy conditions

But my Sauserwinds "do" lightweight XC riding AND grip decently in mud...

vii_voo

Hi,

What width are your Sauserwinds, 1.8 or 2.0?

How are they on the road?

vii_voo

Hi,

What width are your Sauserwinds, 1.8 or 2.0?

How are they on the road?

vii_voo

Hi,

What width are your Sauserwinds, 1.8 or 2.0?

How are they on the road?

vii_voo

Hi,

What width are your Sauserwinds, 1.8 or 2.0?

How are they on the road?

vii_voo

Hi,

What width are your Sauserwinds, 1.8 or 2.0?

How are they on the road?

J55TTC

So many people report spesh tyres being poor on wet roots, please show me a tyre that grips a wet root and Ill eat it.

Fast tracks on the rockhopper do look a bit shallow on tread but they grip well and are good IMO. The s-works the captain are good in the sense they are light, however the tyre has such thin rubber my rear tore on a loose stony fast descent. I replaced them both with the captain armadillo elite, much stronger and just as light
Grip in the captains are good, cant fault them!

J55TTC

So many people report spesh tyres being poor on wet roots, please show me a tyre that grips a wet root and Ill eat it.

Fast tracks on the rockhopper do look a bit shallow on tread but they grip well and are good IMO. The s-works the captain are good in the sense they are light, however the tyre has such thin rubber my rear tore on a loose stony fast descent. I replaced them both with the captain armadillo elite, much stronger and just as light
Grip in the captains are good, cant fault them!

Thread8

i find that spesh tyres are buggers to fit and remove, dont know if anyone else has this problem?

ride_whenever

if all you ride is wet roots then studded tyres work well, enjoy eating one J55TTC

ESHER SHORE

since Maxxis tires pricing went through the roof, we have been selling loads of Specialized tires (here at Freeborn)

I personally use several of their tires

the Eskar Control (2 bliss / kevlar 60 tpi) and Eskar S-Works (2 bliss / kevlar 120 tpi)

the Captain Control (2 bliss / kevlar) and S-Works Captain

the Fast Trak LK Control (2 bliss / kevlar)

I run the Eskar on the rear of my all-mountain bike and the 2.2 Captain on the front - using the Eskar on the front is sketchy as it loses grip without any warning - as a rear tire its excellent for aggressive trail or all mountain riding

we've had several colleagues and customers share this problem, and switched them all to Captains on the front - for 2010 Specialized have redesigned the Eskar with taller side knobs to combat this known issue

the Captain in 2.2" is as large as the Eskar 2.3" and gives a much more reliable steering tire for the front

I've also used the Captain Control tire in 2.0" as winter tires and had no issues with them, great tires and reliable in rain, snow, mud, etc

the Fast Trak LK's I use on my short travel freeride bike for dirt jumping, pump tracks and bike parks (north shore, etc.) and love them - they are light and very grippy with their dual compound rubber - MUCH higher quality tires than all those generic "DJ brand" tires on the market

Specialized tires are made by ****** so its not surprising its good rubber

something to be aware of, is that their tires are noticeably larger in width and volume than other brands like Maxxis

a 2.3" Specialized Eskar is actually a little larger than 2.5" Maxxis High Roller

The "2-bliss" cased Specialized tires are half way between single ply and UST in terms of easy tubeless inflation and weight - we all use our Control and S-Works tires with Stans's No-Tube (tubeless conversion) and having setup Stans on Maxxis, Syncros, Kenda, Panaracer, etc. I can easily state with confidence that Specialized are the easiest for quick inflation every time

Control tires are 60 tpi, S-Works are 120 tpi and come in a little lighter

you can typically get a pair of their high end (S-Works and Control) tires for £42-45 "street price"

more info here:

http://www.freeborn.co.uk/blog/2009/05/03/specializedtires/