I have gotten a few rides in on the Maxxis Ardent tires and am now ready to give my impressions on the tire. I also have a few measurements to pass along as well.

Ardents on the HiFi Deluxe

I mounted the Ardents with tubes on a set of Salsa Delagado Disc rims laced to DT Swiss 340 hubs. I pumped up the tires to 40psi and let them sit a couple of days. Here are the measurements with the casing width first and the outer knob to outer knob width given second for the front and rear tire.

52.8mm/54.7mm front
54.5mm/54.9mm rear

I then set the air pressures at 20 psi front and 25 psi rear for my off road rides. The terrain I rode consisted of the following: some gravel road, hard pack, loose sand over hardpack, sand, buff tacky single track, and several sections of rooty “stair steps”. Some short sections of rock embedded trail were also encountered. Another ride was done on wet to slightly muddy soil that was a mix of black dirt and sand.

The Ardents immediately impressed me on an opening section of off camber trail with a couple of switchbacks that occurs right off the bat on the loop I did. Great grip here which was a confidence booster. After some down hill, I encountered a section of extended climbing littered with rooty “stair steps” and steep ups that tested the tractability of the Ardent as a rear tire. It did very well here. Nary a slip.

The top o the hill!

On several occaisions I was impressed by how the Ardent gripped as a climbing tire on this terrain. Then there is a section that is littered with fine sand, especially in the corners. This had been really tossed up by an equestrian event held over the weekend. The sand was loose like hour glass sand. In these situations the Ardent sought to cut down to harder ground. If I attempted to lean a bit, the tire exhibited a tendency to wash out suddenly. Keeping it upright was the ticket there.

In all the corners after this, the tire simply did its job. On braking, the tires felt controlled and calm. Good braking traction overall. The tires didn’t skid unless I wanted them to. I thought that the Ardents felt a bit harsher than the tubeless set that came off before the Ardents went on, but I suppose that is to be expected running tubes. If I had been running rigid, these would have felt much more harsh than tubeless tires at the same pressure.

In softer, slightly muddy conditions the Ardents didn’t fare so well. The soil was a mix of black dirt and sand. I ran the tires through the trails two days after a heavy rainfall. Here is the result of that experience.

Ardent packed with mud

The above picture was after I had run through about 50 yards of grass and a water puddle, so the mud was actually worse than this out on the trail. The packing in with mud made the Ardent practically useless for anything other than slow plunking along on this day. Clay type soil would pack this tire in a similar manner. I’m thinking wetter mud type soil may show the Ardent to be an okay tire choice, but I’m thinking this is a dry conditions tire based upon my experience. Here’s a shot after running a mile on a gravel road to clear out the tread as a comparison to the above shot.

Ardent cleared of packed in soil

So far, great grip, confidence inspiring on the off cambers, and good braking traits. Not so good for wet, sticky soils or mud. I’ll keep on putting them through varying conditions and report back later.