I reckon there’s an invisible line you cross during every ride, where the toil and trouble of the day ceases to exist and the adventure begins. For me that line is often located somewhere around the Edge of the Burbs which fortunately is only a minute or two’s ride from where we live. From that point on it’s all bush and trails.

After a foggy and drizzly early morning the day turned out ok. I was pumped more than usual to be at the edge of the burbs as it was the first opportunity to take the new tires on the Mojo HD for a spin and probably the best opportunity to notice differences between the new and old tire sets, before the new set becomes too familiar.

The tubeless tires held pressure overnight so I dropped them down to around 28psi, scientifically measured by the squeeze test as per usual.  A little firmer than I usually run but an OK starting point. I headed off into the Baco network of trails and rode 20km or so of single track, damp but not as slippery as the other day, and not muddy either.

Some first impressions:

Purgatory Control 2Bliss 2.4
The front end definitely feels lighter, a lot lighter— it should I guess as it’s 400 grams lighter! — and I reckon it’s a little higher compared to running the High Roller 2.5, due to the Purgatory 2.4 being one tall tire. Combined I think it gives the Purgatory much more of a ‘huge volume’ feel compared to the High Roller. The front end also feels like it rolls much better which makes sense as while the Purgatory’s tread pattern is still quite open it’s much tighter than the High Roller’s. Front end grip felt great especially later in the ride as the confidence levels came up. Granted the trails were tacky today but the Purgatory railed turns nicely.

The Captain 2Bliss 2.2
The 300 gram weight saving on the rear wasn’t as noticeable when cruising along seated, but out of the saddle and on the gas the bike was definitely more responsive. It was great to have gobs of grip on the rear while still having a tire that rolls well.

It’s early days but the Purgatory 2.4 on the front and The Captain 2.2 on the rear seem to play very well together. The tires basically felt fantastic, especially later in the ride once I stopped pussy footing around and had a good crack at it. Weight, grip, ride, rolling and volume are all looking great – at least as good as the High Roller 2.5/Crossmark 2.25 combo and in some cases such as weight a major improvement. I guess the rocky Central Victorian trails will sort out durability and wear as the rides roll by.

After the ride I realized it had been 20 years since I last ran Specialized tires on a MTB, last time was on my Stumpjumper. It’s been too long Mr Overend, funny how the wheel turns 🙂

Many thanks to Pete and Gary at The Bike Vault