Specialized The Captain Control Tyres - Winter?

adrenalinemunki

Hi guys,

My Rockhopper came with The Captain Control tyres (2.0") and they've seemed fairly decent to me so far although I'm not comparing against much...

Are they classed as a decent all-rounder that will see me through the winter or should I tuck them away until the spring and put on some Mud-X or something like that?

Going to be doing the trails up Cannock Chase mainly with the odd family bike ride, so shall I just stick with the Captains or twist and go for something which may give me more grip in the nasty british winter conditions?

sharky1029

I found that the captains can not deal with slippy mud and wet roots and rocks very well. Depending how often and how gnarly you like it to be I would recommend at at least a mud tyre up front like a storm or Mud x, and possibly a sligtly more knobbly tyre out back but thats not that important if its only lightish xc.

It also depends on how worn they are.

I'd recommend try riding in the wet with mud spikes up front and captain out back and if you feel its to slidey get something more grippy out back.

adrenalinemunki

What is the thinking behind different tyres front and back? do you not simply want the best / grippiest tyres you can find on both?

Also, what do people think about DMR tyres? The Moto RT & Moto Digger look interesting and I couldn't help but notice that's what Danny Macaskill uses so if it grips the kinda stuff he needs it to it much be easily good enough for a bit of singletrack no? Or are tyres for stunt/trial biking a whole different ballgame to XC/singletrack stuff?

jairaj

I find my Captains are not very good in the winter. They are OK in mud but I don't like the feel of them on wet roots, I loose confidence and end up riding slower and slower. Totally love them in the dry though.

I use Maxxiss Ignitors through all of winter they are an all around tyre that work well in wooded type areas. I find they cope well with all but the muddiest conditions where only a proper mud tyre will work but then I don't tend to ride much when its that bad.

Have a search through the forum, there are many tyres recommended, its all horses for courses, there is no one correct answer.

Also the tyres for stunts and trials riding will be very different to a XC tyre best to stay away unless you'll be doing a lot of that type of riding too.

sharky1029

Different tyres front and rear are often used because the front needs more grip than the rear. Grippier tyres are generally slower rolling on the harder stuff. So it is possible to have a better tyre combo with two different tyres.
Also it is cheaper to only buy one tyre for winter than two and less hasssle changing them.
I do generally run two identical tyres front and back though.

And street riding is different to single track as you dont need to grip into the mud, just onto it with a sticky compund. So his would probably be great on rocks and roots but not so great on the mud.