As per title, looking to upsize from my 2.3 Minion up front and the Butcher is my choice there, but now thinking seriously about a Captain Control at the rear as it looks faster rolling that my Minion 2.3 as well as being a fair bit lighter, and also still having a decent tread on it.

Anyone tried this?

I use a butcher fr, purgatory rear combo and like it a lot – not quite what you wanted to know but I’m liking the combo.

I’ve been running a Captain on the front for a while and it’s surprisingly grippy although gets clogged up a bit at this time of year. It is fast though. Quite big for a 2.2, not much clearance with my Rebas.

Purgatory Control front with Captain S-works back – running tubeless.
Using for the last 2 months – combo works surprisingly well in the mud and roots of the local off piste forest trails.
Lean them over + they grip well even the Captain.
As you would expect the Captain does sometimes struggle for grip on steeper muddy climbs – due to quite a shallow middle tread pattern but apart from that really good. Think I would go for the Control version due to the slightly thicker side walls than the S-Works, although so far the s-works has stood up to a fair amount of abuse.
First time I have used Specialized tyres since buying a pair of Ground Controls way back in 1988! So far so good, seem well made and good value for money esp when you consider they are dual compound and tubeless ready. Been running them at 30psi and they do seem to roll a lot better on those long fire road climbs – compared to my usual tyre combo.
Usual combo – 2.5 Minion front + 2.3 HR back.

Check this video out to see how fast you can go on that combo
http://www.chopmtb.com/2013/01/30/kirt-voreis-gets-wild-at-retallack/

I almost went for the captain but I’ve gone for butcher 2.3 front and purgatory 2.3 rear. I’ve got em about 35psi and found them to be plenty fast enough with tons of grip

Tbh im under the impression any combi of speshi tyres is great, run ground controls 2.3/2.2 on my camber and purgetory control 2.3 ground control 2.2 on my p7 and its just as good, only reason im not running 2.3 ground control is because they don’t make them anymore.

I used to run the stock clutch front purgatory rear but now run clutch front and rear …..Not the best for fireroads etc but who cares!?
Better than high rollers in my opinion 🙂