Introducing the 2012 Specialized Ground Control Tire 2

Resurrected from the archives, yet modernized with the same FE Analysis as the new Fast Trak, Specialized is bringing the Ground Control back for the masses. With Adaptive Tread technology, they're now able to offer XC and Trail riders a fast, grippy tire for all conditions.
Credit: Specialized
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View replies to: Introducing the 2012 Specialized Ground Control Tire

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Mr. P
12 years ago
Varaxis, Specialized tires were tubeless ready long before most of the competition (including Schwable), dual compounds and compounds based on riding type (Captain has 70a = trail, Butcher has 50a = AM/FR) hardly off the pace.

Specialized also has Maxxis's former tire designer, so I guess they have some experience too.

I agree the FEA is over the top marketing, and is really only one factor of many that make up a quality tire.
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Varaxis
12 years ago
They call that advanced? Zomg, we learned how to properly better design knob support and knob flex for performance on a computer, using sipes to gain more traction, with some base rubber compound. Looks like Specialized is only now is trying to "catch up" in tech.

FEA only eliminates some guess work, which may be a lot of guesswork when you're not really a big tire maker with lots of experience. Real world performance matters most and the last word always comes from trial and error with field testing. Things that pop out of the lab to be tested, err I mean "validated," by consumers are not something that can be called reliable.

Brands like Maxxis, who make high performance tires for all sorts of purposes has vast amount of trial and error experience that eliminates most guesswork, allowing them to adapt current designs without needing to start from scratch, since they know what works on them and offering multiple versions of each pattern is just considered refinement to them and options to consumers. Maxxis tires evolved considerably over time through constant refinement and their performance earns them their reputation. Schwalbe has taken mtn bike tires to the highest levels the earliest, investing the most into researching them and getting them to be some of the best performing tires you can buy, without spending a fortune for one-offs. Others have caught up to them though, offered at better prices, and have enough performance to not make the extra expensive of Schwalbe worth it to most.

What's next, Specialized, tires with specific ratings for speed, weight of rider + bike, and terrain (rock type, brush type, soil conditions)? Actually, I'd welcome that. Thank me for the idea later. Oh and fix your Captain tire. It's a disgrace to Ned Overend with how the backside of the center treads are angled (causes it to be unstable under braking). This Ground Control just seems to be a better option than a Captain in the rear for those using a big beefy Specialized tire up front, for those who have incentives for using Specialized tires. The sipes on the center tread clue it in that it's not meant for efficient rolling resistance, as the extra knob deformation just slows it down more, so XC race types probably shouldn't apply unless it's for training only.

Oh, for those who don't know a damn thing about tires and wanting to see "cool tire tech" made using computers, check out the Tioga Psycho Genius with its triangular AI knobs. Nice to have computer tech, but the design is far from being mature and being considered to be a true competitor to other top of the line performance tires.