Specialized Purgatory / Trail Control Tyre Review: A Pleasant Surprise

By MTBSA contributor

Between the speed-focused, minimalistic treads of cross-country tyres and the meatier designs optimised for gravity riding, there's something of a gap in the market. Plenty of tyres aim to fill that space, but it's a fine line to walk, balancing speed and traction across a wide range of terrain and conditions.

Specialized's Purgatory - now dubbed the Trail Control - is a quietly strong contender in that space, bridging the gap for those shopping rubber for short-travel trail bikes and capable XC builds alike.

Trail Control Details

• Casing: Grid Trail, Grid Lite, or Grid

• Rubber: T7 or T9

• Sizes: 29" or 27.5", 2.4" width

• Weight: 1,009 grams (29 x 2.4", Grid Trail casing)

• MSRP: $50 - $80 USD

• specialized.com

MTBSA's Take

| Many people are chronically over-tired for the terrain they're riding, and options like the Trail Control are an ideal solution to that problem. With a faster-rolling tread that still hooks up when you need it to, this do it all design should suit the trail riding most people do most of the time. — MTBSA contributor

Design

The Trail Control uses a 2-2 pattern, with very similar knob shaping to its meatier sibling, the Butcher. The side knobs use an alternating design, stepping in and out with every other knob to reduce the dead space between that cornering edge and the centre tread.

The Trail Control is offered in a few casing options, with what seems like a similar transition in naming convention. Grid Trail is Specialized's most common offering, bridging quite a few models and balancing puncture protection, weight, and sidewall support nicely. Grid Lite seems to be replacing the standard Grid nomenclature, and is meant to be a lighter, more supple option for shorter-travel bikes.

Both use 60tpi construction with a standard layup, with the Trail receiving bead-to-bead puncture inserts, and the Lite only sporting those inserts in the sidewall.

Price and Weight

This is where the Trail Control is very competitive, especially if you don't mind a retired name on the sidewall. Tyres bearing the Purgatory hotpatch are priced as low as $50 USD, with the newer Trail Control models priced at $75-80 USD. With competing tyres like the Schwalbe Romy costing upwards of twice as much, the Trail Control really does propose a strong value.

Weights:

Trail Control Grid Lite 29 x 2.4": 860 grams claimed, 1,035 grams actual

Trail Control Grid Trail 29 x 2.4": 930 grams claimed, 1,009 grams actual

Confusingly, the two new Trail Controls I weighed ended up sitting in opposite order to what I'd expect, with the Grid Lite tipping the scales a bit further than the Grid Trail. The T9 rubber could have more density to it, or perhaps this is just within the standard deviation for a tyre of this nature. Regardless, both are a fair bit heavier than the advertised figures on Specialized's website, so don't take those quoted weights as gospel if you're shopping around.

For reference, I weighed a 29x2.4" Butcher Grid Trail at 1,065 grams when I first wrote those tyres up last summer, so the difference between the two isn't drastic on gram count alone.

Setup and Testing Conditions

I've been running the Trail Controls on bikes with less than 140mm of travel, as that seems like their ideal use case for the majority of people out there. They do come stock on the Levo R, but I'd call that a very niche application, as most full-power eMTBs warrant a sturdier tyre.

For the most part, I've settled on 25psi up front for a Grid Trail tyre, 26psi up front for a Grid Lite, and 28-29psi out back with a Grid Trail casing for my 185 lb (83.9 kg) / 84 kg weight. They're less damped than a heavier casing at lower pressures, but I didn't find the Trail Control to be too bouncy feeling at the pressures I was running, even when conditions were hard as can be.

Having first jumped on these mid-winter, they've seen a very wide range of terrain and weather, from hardpack and dust to deep mud and slime. Some vague combination of all those factors is where they feel happiest, as you'd hope for a tyre aiming to do pretty well in most places. Deep mud and dust are better served by purpose-built tyres, as are the speed-focused cross country courses where lower-profile treads reign supreme.

Ride Impressions

Fast and predictable, the Trail Control feels like a great bridge between sketchier fast-rolling XC options and more sluggish treads that maximize traction in all situations. I've found the balance of speed, braking traction, and cornering predictability to be best suited to bikes in the 120-140mm realm. For me, that category is where a bit of drift and zest is welcomed in trade for a generally quick feeling tyre.

By no means is this going to be a competitive tyre for any sort of XC racing, but I could see people adding a T7 Trail Control to the front of some XC builds to gain a bit of cornering confidence in looser and deeper soils. As a rear tyre, the tread pattern scales well, though I'd still draw the line at a mid-travel trail bike, as any thing more starts to warrant better braking traction, except in specific circumstances.

It's for that reason that I haven't ridden the Trail Control in a 27.5" diameter yet - most MX bikes I have are long travel, and this simply isn't a tyre for big bikes. Fast 29ers are its bread and butter, especially for people who want something that will work just about everywhere, without any specific highlight or strong suit.

For deep mud or dust, there are obviously better tyres out there, but the Trail Control holds on as best it can, avoiding the instant terror that can come when pushing other light-duty tyres beyond their purview. You might not love the feeling, but you'll survive long enough to get back onto some firmer ground.

How Does It Compare?

Part of the reason I wanted to write up the Trail Control was Mike's recent Schwalbe Romy review, which dives into a tyre that fills a very similar niche. Similarly speedy and multi-purpose, the Romy is more defined by its radial casing than by the subtle details of its tread pattern or rubber compound. The Trail Control, on the other hand, feels more typical casing-wise, but does as much as it can with the other factors to hit a similar level of grip on trail. I'd say that at speed, and when smearing over rocks and roots, the T9 Trail Control is on par with the Romy, but falls a bit behind when it comes to slow-speed grip on awkward obstacles.

Though slow-speed maneuvers always feel a bit easier with radial tyres, the typical downside is the casing stability for heavier riders, where radial tyres like the Romy can feel a bit too easy to deform, requiring higher pressures. Ultimately, both are excellent options, and represent two of the best light-duty tyres I've tried of late.

As Mike compared the Romy to the Maxxis Dissector, I'll do the same with the Trail Control. I think I prefer the Trail Control simply because it's a bit more intuitive to lean over, with more defined edge knob grip than the Dissector. The Dissector is a great rear tyre, but up front it can push a bit in loose terrain. The Trail Control does the same eventually, but I have an easier time predicting that point - same goes with the Romy.

In a way, I think the Maxxis Forekaster is still one of the stiffest competitors in this realm, despite its diminutive look. Predictable grip, impressive speed, and a variety of size options make it a pretty great choice for many builds. Forekaster MaxxTerra rear and Trail Control T9 front might be an ideal combo for those looking for speedy and predictable rubber, so long as you're not afraid to mix hot patches.

Pros

+ Great blend of speed & grip

+ Predictable cornering support

+ Easy to ride all-rounder

Cons

- Heavier than advertised

For South African readers

Overseas prices in this report are not confirmed South African retail prices. Check local availability, warranty support and the complete rand price with your retailer. No MTBSA test score has been assigned.