The Specialized S-Works Ground Control is your next Specialized MTB tire I have examined. I have already analyzed the S-Works Quick Trak and, though it’s slower than comparable tires in Schwalbe and Conti, it performed fairly well in the rolling resistance evaluations. I think that it’s interesting to take a peek at another Specialized scooter with a few larger knobs and determine how it contrasts to the rapid Schwalbe Nobby Nic SnakeSkin and large knobbed Conti Mountain King RaceSport.
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I have analyzed the S-Works variations of this Specialized MTB tires since these would be the top of the line products that use the finest materials, have the lowest weight, and price the most. The S-Works models include an extra-subtle and lightweight 120 TPI carcass, 2Bliss-Ready folding beads (tubeless prepared), along with a 60a compound. All of this ought to make this a great tire, but it is always fascinating to get to learn more about the intricacies of the way this tire is constructed and performs.
All rolling resistance evaluations are conducted on our rolling resistance test system. Read our The Evaluation page for a detailed explanation about how we examine tires.
Do not forget to have a look at the review pages to make it simpler to compare all of tires which were examined.
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While the given weight of this 29 x 2.3 S-Works Ground Control is 650 g, the measured weight comes in at 686 g. The carcass steps 53 mm wide, height is 53 mm too. The huge border knobs stick out somewhat further making the entire diameter of the bicycle 56 mm onto a 17C rim in 35 psi / 2.4 pubs.
Having a height of 3.2 mm, the centre knobs are a little bigger than anticipated. The Schwalbe Nobby Nic (3.6 mm) (read review) and Continental Mountain King (4.1 mm) (read review) have larger centre knobs. The knobs in the edge of the tread come in at 4.5 mm that’s somewhat closer to the contest (4.7 mm to both). The sidewalls have a depth of 0.5 mm, that is very similar to other rapid tires with no reinforced sidewalls.
In comparison to the Quick Trak (read review) that came in at 28.0 watts, rolling resistance in 25 psi / 1.7 pubs has become 31.3 watts. At higher air pressures, the gap gets smaller. When compared with this Schwalbe Nobby Nic SnakeSkin, that has a similar horn elevation, rolling resistance is a great little higher as the Nobby Nic arrived in at 25.0 g at 25 psi / 1.7 pubs. The Ground Control does outperform the Conti Mountain King by 0.2 watts, but that bicycle has considerably larger knobs.
The same as the Quick Trak, it appears like that the Ground Control can not outperform the competition and also lags the most important competitor by 5-6 g each flight. It will outperform the Conti Mountain King, but that bicycle comes with an excess mm of centre knob elevation. It appears like Specialized has some work to do to enhance rolling resistance of their MTB tires by 10-20% if they wish to compete with the speediest tires.
Since the carcasses of both the Quick Trak and Ground Control look indistinguishable, these two tires rating 6 points at the tread puncture resistance evaluation and 5 points at the sidewall puncture test. The Nobby Nic SnakeSkin scored seven points in both those evaluations which reveals the strength of this reinforced sidewalls. The Nobby Nic LiteSkin ought to have similar sidewall power as the Ground Control, but provide a much lower rolling resistance. For more details about bike pump types, check out http://www.bikespumps.info/best-bike-pump.
The Specialized S-Works Ground Control gets outperformed on all tests (except weight) from the Schwalbe Nobby Nic SnakeSkin (read review) that is a drill at precisely the exact same course and with similar knob height. I think this evaluation once more affirms Specialized lags behind Schwalbe and Continental by close to 20 percent on rolling resistance in the MTB class but does provide far better functionality compared to Maxxis, Kenda, and Vittoria.
I speed the Ground Control 3 out of 5 since it will outperform tires from different manufacturers and performance is adequate. It may also possess other attributes which compose the greater RR. I really do believe that the Schwalbe Nobby Nic will offer the best performance in case you’re trying to find a scooter at the 3 – 4 millimeter knob height class. The Nobby Nic LiteSkin must Offer a much lower RR compared to SnakeSkin I have examined.
