MTB Tire Test: Specialized Air Trak Flex Lite T5/T7

Specialized recently renewed its entire tire lineup, and the brand-new Air Trak is the replacement for the good old Renegade. For all those who loved the Renegade, the Air Trak's tread pattern is very similar to the Renegade, and we guess Specialized wanted a name that aligns better with the Fast Trak.

With Specialized's new range of tires, they also said goodbye to "2Bliss Ready," which was Specialized's designation for whether a tire was tubeless-ready. They now mark their tires "TLR," which aligns better with other brands and makes it clear to everyone that these can be used in a tubeless setup.

The casings have also been renewed, and you can now choose between the "Flex Lite" and "Grid Lite" casings, with the lighter Flex Lite casing replacing the old 2Bliss Ready casing and the Grid Lite casing replacing the old Control casing. On paper, the new Flex Lite casing appears to be a downgrade, as it has been reduced from 120 TPI to 60 TPI. In practice, this is not always a negative thing as we've seen more brands move to thicker, lower TPI casings that hold air better and offer a bit more protection for the same amount of casing layers.

The compound appears unchanged as we still find the Gripton T5/T7 dual compound on the new Specialized XC tires. We've tested some tires with the T5/T7 compound, and although it's not an extremely fast-rolling compound, the old Renegade was one of the best-performing mountain bike tires in our wet grip test.

The Specialized Air Trak with Flex Lite casing is available in the 29x2.2 and 29x2.35 sizes, with the 2.35 size offering the option of tan sidewalls. We've tested the 29x2.35 black sidewalled Air Trak Flex Lite and will compare it to the Renegade 2Bliss Ready T5/T7 (read our review), Fast Trak 2Bliss Ready T5/T7 (read our review), and a range of similar tires from other manufacturers.

Manufacturer Specifications

Manufacturer Specs
Brand	Specialized
Model	Air Trak Flex Lite T5/T7
Year	2025
Supplied By	Bought in store
New or Used	New
Mileage	0 km
Price Range	High
Buy At
Manufacturer part number	00125-4131
TPI	60
Compound	Gripton Dual T5/T7
Bead	Folding
ETRTO	60-622
Size Inch	29"
Width Inch	2.35
Specified Weight	585 grams
Max Air Pressure (psi)	50
Made In	Members Only
Available Sizes	29x2.20 29x2.35

Specialized Air Trak Flex Lite T5/T7 Test Results

Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements

Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements
Specified Weight	585 grams
Measured Weight	596 grams
Measured Width Carcass	55 mm (un-round)
Measured Width Tread	56 mm
Measured Height	52 mm (un-round)
Measured Knob Height Center	2.3 mm
Measured Knob Height Edge	3.1 mm
Measured Total Thickness Center (excluding knobs)	2.2 mm
Measured Total Thickness Sidewall	Members Only
All size measurements are taken at an air pressure of 35 psi / 2.4 bars on a 17.8 mm inner width rim.

Rolling Resistance Test Results

Rolling Resistance Test Results
Inner Tube	None (40 ml sealant)
Rolling Resistance 55 PSI / 3.8 Bar	Members Only
Rolling Resistance 45 PSI / 3.1 Bar	Members Only
Rolling Resistance 35 PSI / 2.4 Bar	21.9 Watts CRR: 0.00656
Rolling Resistance 25 PSI / 1.7 Bar	24.5 Watts CRR: 0.00734
All numbers are for a single tire at a speed of 29 km/h / 18 mph and a load of 42.5 kg / 94 lbs. Use the formula: RR (Watts) = CRR * speed (m/s) * load (N) to calculate rolling resistance at a given speed and load.

Puncture Resistance Test Results

Puncture Resistance Test Results (higher is better)
Total Puncture Score Tread	29 Points
Total Puncture Score Sidewall	Members Only
Tread Puncture Force Sharp Needle	Members Only
Tread Puncture Force Blunt Needle	Members Only
Tread Total Tire Thickness	2.2 mm
Sidewall Puncture Force Sharp Needle	Members Only
Sidewall Puncture Force Blunt Needle	Members Only
Sidewall Total Tire Thickness	Members Only

Hard Surface Static Grip Test Results

Static Grip Test Results
Wet Grip Average	69 Points
Wet Grip Center	Members Only
Wet Grip Edge	Members Only
Measured Knob Height Center	2.3 mm
Measured Knob Height Edge	3.1 mm
Grip in points = coefficient of friction * 100 MTB grip test rim width = 30.0 mm
Wet Grip Test and Off-Road Tires (info)

Conclusion

Let's start with the good news: the new Air Trak with Flex Lite casing is an improvement over the old Renegade with 2Bliss Ready casing (read our review), and that bodes well for the other new Specialized tires with these new casing constructions. The strongest point of the Air Trak Flex Lite is the low weight and the strong performance in our wet grip test. We do observe a slight reduction in hard-surface edge grip, but we attribute this to the wider spacing of the edge knobs and the resulting decrease in contact patch on the hard surface.

Specialized claims a 60-gram weight reduction, but we can't confirm this. According to our test results, the new Air Trak reduces weight by 5 to 15 grams compared to the Renegade. When you look closely at both tires, you'll see some of this weight saving comes from the wider spaced tread pattern and a slight reduction in the casing size. Still, if you value a low weight, the Air Trak is one of the lightest mountain bike tires in its category.

The bad news is that the Air Trak doesn't roll all that fast, and for a tire with this kind of tread pattern, that's probably one of the most important selling points. Additionally, like the old 2Bliss Ready T5/T7 tires, the sidewalls score very low in our sidewall puncture tests. The sealing looked to be okay, so we're not sure how much of a problem this will be, but these sidewalls will be vulnerable to cuts and punctures.

Compare the Air Trak Flex Lite T5/T7 and Renegade 2Bliss Ready T5/T7 on our comparison section.

RATING: 3.7 / 5
TEST VERDICT: Recommended

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