[RSutton1223]

I put a great ride in on the Maxxis Ardent 29er's. Overall I was pretty happy with the tire, but it's downhill and cornering capabilities were not on par with what I was used to out of the Ardent tread pattern.

Full Review ---> 198's Review of the Maxxis Ardent 29x2.25

 

[Guitar Ted]

Those tread blocks look low. Too low for great grip in corners around here. Kind of looks like a "low tread" type tire.

 

[RSutton1223]

I had to rewrite the review. As it turns out, these tires are a little bit more pressure sensitive than I am used to. Once I got them down in the 25 - 26 psi range (I run 27-28 normally), they gripped incredibly well. They actually felt a lot better than the Specialized Resolutions on the trail.

I took the bike over rock gardens, jumps and loose corners to try to get a really good feel and they performed flawlessly.

They are currently setup with 26" ultralite tubes and I was trying to get them to pinch flat but couldn't. I will be running them tubeless in the near future.

I would also really like to see a 2.4 29er version of this tire with a 3c front and 60a rear. For me, that would be the perfect AM tire for 29er's.

 

[MMcG]

so that slightly lower psi had that big of a difference? Wild.

 

[RSutton1223]

so that slightly lower psi had that big of a difference? Wild.

No kidding...The best I can figure is that the lower pressures made me engage the side tread more and gave a better footprint.

 

[MMcG]

cool! Nice discovery right!?

 

[RSutton1223]

cool! Nice discovery right!?

It was...and it's a no brainer really...but I am just not used to running tires that low. There were no roll over or pinch flat issues even when I was trying for it...so we'll see. One of the benifits of 29er tires (as you guys already know) is the increased air volume that allows lower pressures than you might normally run on the 26" version of a tire.

 

[Guitar Ted]

Nice discovery. Thanks for updating. We've found that the current crop of 29"er tire introductions are starting to shy away from the super thin sidewall casings of old, (the Racing Ralph being a notable exception here) I think that has something to do with why we're finding lower pressures to be working better on our terrain too. We've often run from the high 20's all the way down to just below 20 psi on some tire rim combinations with great results.

In fact, I rarely ever ride off road anymore with anything above 30 psi, and i weigh well over 200lbs all geared up.

 

[MMcG]

Nice discovery. Thanks for updating. We've found that the current crop of 29"er tire introductions are starting to shy away from the super thin sidewall casings of old, (the Racing Ralph being a notable exception here) I think that has something to do with why we're finding lower pressures to be working better on our terrain too. We've often run from the high 20's all the way down to just below 20 psi on some tire rim combinations with great results.

In fact, I rarely ever ride off road anymore with anything above 30 psi, and i weigh well over 200lbs all geared up.

GT what yave you been able to run the Mountain Kings at?? How low can you go?

 

[N8 v2.0]

so that slightly lower psi had that big of a difference? Wild.

i learned this on my Maxxis Ignitors on my rigid ss... I usually run 22psi (ft) and 25 psi (rear).

 

[Guitar Ted]

GT what yave you been able to run the Mountain Kings at?? How low can you go?

In the rocks down in Texas I ran the MK's at 27 psi rear and 25 psi front if memory serves correct. I did one snow ride on them right at 20 psi each. I just did a ride to and from work on them at 35 rear/30 front and they felt rock hard to me, but that's my opinion.

I am not planning on doing anything offroad with them above 30 psi and probably not much below 25 psi on the rear. The front may dip down as low as 20 psi for something I encounter, but will generally stay about either side of 25 psi. I think it's the sweet spot for this tire myself at my weight.

That's with a FS bike, by the way. Slightly higher in the rear for a hardtail and slightly higher up front if I were running rigid all 'round.