The Ground Control is one of those go to tires for the conditions I ride in the southeast USA. Very grippy for how lightweight and fast rolling it is. Great as either a front or rear tire or 2Xcombo. My only gripe is it's available in wider sizes, but that's an issue I have with Specialized xc tires overall. Some of the trails I ride are very sandy and the extra volume of a wider tire is welcome in those conditions. I'd love to see their xc treads (renegade, fast trak, and ground control) in sizes of 2.4+ that are commonly available from other manufacturers.

First, these are light, lighter than claimed, I got the blackwall T5s in both 27.5x2.35 and 29x2.35 and they were 734g and 764g, respectively. This is way lighter than claiming and I used 3 different scales because it seemed wrong. Perfect XC/Trail tire for here in the rocky, rooty, janky Northeast. The T5 compound seems softer than the Maxxis MaxxTerra compound when I compare the two side by side. Do not expect bombproof tires at this weight, opt for beefier casing options if that is what you are after. My big bikes have Assegais, DHFs, and Butchers and these GCs have excellent grip that is easy to adapt to which I cannot say about all XC treads. The transition treads really help inspire confidence. I think these are better than Rekons which were my go-to XC/Trail tires for nearly a decade.

I thought this would make a good rear tire. After 2-3 rides the tan seperated from the black and was ruined. Specialized warrantied it. I rode the replacement a handful of times in Colorado singletrack and it sustained a puncture right through the meat of the tread- not the sidewall. It was too large to accept a plug so the tire was ruined. Normal singletrack, not riding through an old nail factory. I get a bit wild, but I expect an MTB tire to accept some air. I would not recommend.

Have these tires on my Epic Evo for 2 seasons with some major endurance rides. Traction super and durable, no issues! Best tire in the market for its price!

Good fast rolling tire for hard packed trails and concrete. Just don't hit the dirt shortly after a rain or you'll have slicks 50 feet down the trail.

Good value, performed very well in less than ideal conditions

All good great tyre

Compared to another highly available name brand well rated tire I've used, these are faster rolling at 3psi less, and about 50x easier to seat on my rims when set up to be tubeless. How? Seriously? How?

Perfect for my type of riding , XC and the odd knarly DH .

Wasn’t happy with my current setup and wanted something different that was fast and grippy at a good value. Rode these tire 10 years ago so I gave them another try. They are perfect. Great tires at a great price. Fast and provided great traction. I run ground control front and fast track rear. Used them for a race and they performed great.

Usually tires that come with new bikes are not great but these have impressed me. I have over 1600 miles on my current set and they still have plenty of life in them. If you are looking for a solid all around tire these fit the bill.

Great all around XC tire

Ground control is a great tyre - knobbly enough for trail,light enough for XC, or as I am using it some off road commuting. Went up tubeless easily. Only downside is the rotation marking was hard to find and the fact my Gound control is "control" as opposed to Grid which is a little confusing. I bought the T5 as I only intended to use it on paths and gravel, though I have now been off road and it is impressive - traction and grip all good.

Excellent tires, highly recommended, great price, very fast shipping.

Great cross country tires! I will continue to run them!

Using the Control Casing Ground Control t5 with a Control Casing Fast Trak t5. My new favorite combo. t5 rubber is said to be the same as the old compound, but this has more traction. Mostly hard and loose over hard here. I feel much more confident in my 2.35s than with my fast trak 2.6s in the old compound. I'll probably run these ground controls on my stump jumper later. Of course, I'll use a thicker casing.