purgatory control rear / butcher control front

any one running this combo/ ran this combo last autumn/winter?

ive got a perfect setup for the dryish weather, which ill be taking off soon due to it suddenly being awful!

mostly peak district rocks, but lots of foresty type stuff as winter nears in….just want a pretty much good all rounder, dont need mud specific as we dont have hugggggge amounts of mud, so muddy slogs/slipping/clogging are not really an issue

still want them to be relatively good at rolling (though now summers gone, they have got to grip the climbs well), and obviously grip in the wet/whatever mud i throw at them

will be running tubeless, are the sidewalls ok for the peak rocks?

People say Spesh tyres have thin sidewalls but I’ve never had a problem with mine. I use Clutch SX either end on my dh bike and I’m yet to damage a sidewall, and I’ve had the one on the back since 2011! Ridden some proper rocky trails but never in the peaks so I dunno how the rocks there compare to Snowdon etc.

watching this with interest as Purgatory’s are my front and rear default at the moment for all round natural Scottish xc stuff and wondering whether I’ll need to drop from comfy 2.3 to mud plugging 2.0 Mud X soon…..

As long as you do go for Controls rather than S-Works, the sidewalls will be fine

I’ve got purgatory’s F+R for the autumn-winter-spring.

Unlike mud-x or storms they actualy work in the dry too IME.

Im running them. I like them. Not much more to add.

I did rip a sidewall on a berm at Gethin, but thats probably my weight and riding hard on low pressures.

I’ve got purgatory’s F+R for the autumn-winter-spring

this is encouraging 🙂 I’ve been running them on my Soul since building it in May and they have been great all round so far. Last few winters I have ran Mud X’s F&R on my Rock Lobster hardtail, but I sold that and my 5 and now have Soul as only MTB, so it does a bit more tecky stuff than the Rock Lobster was flung at. I like the beneifit of 2.3 tyres for a ‘one size fits all’ bike, so hoping that the Purgs are up for a bit of gloop…

iainc do you ride up Mugdock at all?

It’s probably the tyresI’d fit if I only had one set and had to use them till they were completely worn. But I do put something else with a softer compound in summer (Spesh Eskars for gnarly stuff, WTB Bronsons for XC/trial centers). But for ‘soft’ winter conditions I’ve not found a better all round tyre (with the obvious caveat that if you’re doing 24h races of CX then trailrakers, storms, mud-x or swamp things might be better in constant deep mud).

iainc do you ride up Mugdock at all?

yep, every Wed night with GMBC, plus a few Sundays 😛

I think we’ve probably met on the trails at some stage ?

TINAS – very helpful, cheers. I do also have some Ardents, but they seem better suited to dryish trail centre use than my more typical riding..

I have this combo sitting in the house ready to go on the bike tonight – will hopefully find out good things over the weekend. Hoping for the Butcher to behave like a squarer Minion, and the Purgatory something like an Advantage (mostly looking for the Butcher to provide what I’m after)

cool,more than likely,i ride alot with david and john mckinnon,
reason i ask is i was looking at the purgatory tyre but muggers can be pretty gloopy in areas,the Flux is especially bad in wet,mud galore,using minions right now,but 2.5 and my rims say 2.4 max,

Up until early this year I was a serial tyre junkie. Swapping all the time and trying out different combos. Then I realized that the differences between them weren’t that big anyway, the main limiting factor for grip was my skill, and for rolling resistance – my fitness. So when I went tubeless I went for what seemed like a good all round combo – purg rear, butcher front and have used them since. Get on with riding, forget about the damn tyres. So far so good, just need to see what they are like in the depths of winter!

very positive so far, in fact ive just been in the lbs and all the spesh bikes stumpy evo, enduros etc all have this combination fitted as standard!

so if they are putting them on enduro’s at 160mm travel i guess they will be burly enough!

hainman, a 2.35 Minion would probably be better up there than a 2.5 – more chance of cutting through the mud (mud tyres are generally skinnier). If you’re regularly riding places like Mugdock, you’ll find a smaller tyre is generally more suitable anyway

I had been using this combination on my 26″ bike. They were fine for general riding, not as grippy as a Minion DHF/Ardent combo, but probably rolled a touch better & was a bit lighter.

Got cocky & tried them for a day in the Alps, and some faster riding in preparation for some races,and one race. Ended up with 4 tyres in the bin. All wrecked beyond repair.

The sidewalls are noticeably less durable than an EXO. Good tyres for the money to be fair, but I would rather spend a bit more and have something better.

Never really tested my Purg yet but I’ve used butcher controls and sxs all year round on various bikes, really excellent allrounder. Could be stickier, maybe, so a little slippier on roots and the like than some but they clear so well that it’s swings and roundabouts there.

If you want to go a bit muddier then the conti baron is fantastic

Been using Spesh control tyres tubeless for years and never ripped a sidewall.
I tried the Butcher/Purgatory combo last winter/spring but didn’t like it. The Purgatory on the rear seemed to grip more than the Butcher on the front, not good! Swapped to a Crossmark on the rear which has worked well over the summer. My local trails are mostly hardpack so I’ll stick with the Crossmark into the autumn.

Love purgs in both 26″ and 29er form. For out and out grip, use them F&R, if you want a bit more slip on the back, use a ground control.

I run this combo tubeless all last winter with no issues. A great combo.
Now running purg rear RQBC front and this feels better.

turns out spesh are now doing a purgatory ‘grid’ control tubeless ready

ive felt one in the flesh and the sidewall is much thicker, but the weight only 50grams more at 780 in total!

perfect for a rear tyre for the peak and still quite light compared to a full on UST

ive ordered one, and im going to get a butcher control up front, sidewalls seem a bit thicker than normal purgs, but as its on the front it wont get the same bashing off rocks like the back

used this combo last night for the first time, thy went up a piece of cake on UST rims! easiest yet!

wow, these tyres are bloody good, dont know how ive not managed to try spesh before, but they are great great tyres, usual route i ride so i know how i like them to ride etc and they were spot on, the grip on the butcher up front is like glue, the purg on the back is grippy as hell on any sort of climb, and whats more the weight ive saved is massively noticeable, i know people say weight doesnt always make a tyre roll faster etc, but all i can say is the 200grams per tyre ive saved was massively noticeable, they felt much more nimble and lively climbing stuff, whether it be rocks, singletrack etc

so impressed with the butcher on the front though, its just amazingly grippy….hopefully they will be both fair well in the winter now, but even in some semi wettish trails about last night it gripped moreso than my other tyres, and on a few fast singletracky steep descents last night where you can easily wash out in the bends witha bit of damp, i had no such problems, it felt so sure footed up front, that id totally forgot half way through it was my first ride on it

the grid purgatory has got a thicker sidewall so perfect for peak district riding, and weighs in at 760 grams, so alot less weighty than other UST tyres and seemingly just as strong sidewalls (and still fully tubeless ready)…the butcher controls sidewalls did seem a little thinner in comparison to UST and the purgatory grid on the rear, but to be honest ive never slashed a front tyre before, so i reckon it would be pretty freakish if i was to now…..

genuinely think ive found a great (cheapish) setup here! bring on winter!

Just switched up from Maxxis Advantages to Purgatory front and rear on my Soul for a Lakes trip, with potential wetness and big rocks in mind.

Hope they work.

I’m running a butcher control up front and a purgatory control rear in 29er guise on my camber and on my carve (swap wheels between the two)

I echo OW’s comments above. Really happy with the set up, hopefully won’t need to swap to Storm’s this year!

Specialized tyres – light, cheap, tubeless easy – what’s not to like?!

im sure i’d get away with just a standard purgatory control in the peak (as my butcher control faired fine last night) but as the rear always takes more of a beating off the rocks i opted for the purgatory grid, which as mentioned has thicker sidewalls, i felt alot more confident knowing it had the thicker sidewalls on the rear around the rocks last night, and whats more the grid version is only 50 grams more, its basically got the same sidewalls as a maxxis UST now with only a small 50 gram weight penalty, it came in on the scales at work at 760grams so pretty light for what it is really, so a no-brainer around the rocks for me, though im sure again the control would probably be ok too, just nice to have that extra piece of mind

as for the butcher up front, im still pretty amazed at how it handled some of the singletracky stuff last night, i was properly flying in sections ill usually get ready to brake on for fear of sliding out, but it just gripped and gripped through everything

now just hope a, they are a good winter compromise and b, they last fairly well (IE, not like schwalbes in the peak 🙁 )

Switched to a Butcher from a Purg on the front and I’m in love. Superb tyre. I have absolutely no issues recommending for anything vaguely damp or loamy. Probably not the best in the dry as it does drag.

Purg on the rear corners well, but doesn’t like braking in a straight line.

Overall tho, great all-rounders and a doddle to set-up tubeless.

This is a 26er BTW – is the Butcher available in 29er flavour?

Edit: Yes! The Butcher is available in 29er flavour! Happy boy am I. 😀

Shame as I just bought a 29er Ground Control S-Works… 🙁

i found the butcher great on the rocks last night, but it definitely excelled in the woods/foresty type stuff, didnt find it dragg to be honest but then i never do find front tyres really draggy, always make sure ive got something slightly quicker out back, which is what the purg does, didnt seem draggy at all on the road sections, and anything that was off road it felt really light and nimble pulling me along

but yeh the butcher upfront seems a pretty awesome tyre i must say, much more inspiring than a hans dampf, and the purg on the back was grippier and seemed much much faster than a hans dampf out back too

Agreed OW. For the wooded singletrack I prefer riding I love it. I’ve found it really confidence inspiring in the turns and now ride more with my weight over the front.

This is a 26er BTW – is the Butcher available in 29er flavour?

Yup! They’ve been OEM on 29er Spesh bikes in 2012/2013, but for 2013/2014 you can get them aftermarket. I first got mine mail order from hi-bike but have since got another from my LBS (they ordered it in tho – but said they’ve had a enough requests to get a few in as stock)

i figured id give them a go, as ive tried just about every other tyre going bar spesh

and whats more the purg rear and butcher front comes as standard on the 4.5k enduro/stumpys so as they are ‘all mountain’ bikes i kinda figured they must be fairly decent and up for what i want out of them…..

and yeh PMJazz its easily the most confidence inspiring tyre ive used from the word go, i just thought at the end of the ride ‘jeez’ where has this been all my riding life

Yup! They’ve been OEM on 29er Spesh bikes in 2012/2013, but for 2013/2014 you can get them aftermarket.

That’s a trip to the Spesh dealer this weekend then…

Spec tyres are the shimano cranks of tyres. You put them on and forget about them because they just keep doing their job.

And I’m not fanboy – Schwalbe back and front for me.