Twenty Nine Inches has just taken delivery of a pair of Maxxis Ardent 2.4″ 29″er tires for test/review. These are the wider versions of the Ardent 2.25″ers we tested back in 2008 which are a bit different in some ways than these new, wider versions. Following are the features as put forth by Maxxis on the Ardent 2.4″er.
-Aggressive high traction tire for demanding trails.
-Long wear, low rolling resistance 60a rubber compound
-Durable, lightweight 60TPI casing
-Multi-edged center tread grabs in any condition
-Sharp side knobs corner with authority
I will do a comparison between these and the 2.25 Ardents coming up in my “Out Of The Box” post coming up soon. These tires will be going on the Velocity P-35 wheel set we are testing. We’ll be starting out right off the bat with these as tubeless tires, although it should be mentioned that no where does Maxxis say these are meant for tubeless usage.
Note: The reviewed products were provided to Twenty Nine Inches at no charge for review. I was not paid or bribed for this review. I will give/gave my honest opinion or thoughts through out.
How do you think these’d do down in TX Mark? I’ll be headed that way in early March for some warm weather and ‘racing’. You know the terrain down there. I’d probably even set it up tubeless.
@Martini: Thses should hold up really well. I am excited to try them out down there myself as I should be going down for spring break. El Paso is very, very rocky and has some gravel-like sandy stuff. Depends on where you will be headed, but this tire looks tough and looks like it’ll perform well in loose over hard stuff.
But we’ll see about that.
GT;
You guys have tested quite a few tires, is there any sort of central point with the virtues of each tire listed where one could peruse a list and perhaps be able to compare tires based on their good points, uses, tubeless capable or not, etc. Is this posted somewhere else already? Is something like this even possible? I’m looking for tires for a few 29′s and there are so many and so little info or else its heavily biased. Given you all test each about the same at least your thoughts or opinions are going to be consistent. Just sayin’….
I’ll be headed to the Austin area. I know the Schalbe that I’m running right now won’t survive down there with out blowing a sidewall. No need to blow that much money on a tire for a few rides down there.
@martini- In San Antonio (same limestone tire-shredders) I’ve had great success with Rampages in front, and Ignitors in back. That being said, I’m looking forward to trying an Ardent on the front soon.
@WKilburg: Hmm………good idea. No, we don’t have a single post that details that, but I could do one, and about now would be the time, (winter and all).
I’ll get on that and you can look forward to seeing that coming soon.
I’ve had great success running the 2.25 version of the Ardent tubeless, so I imagine the 2.4 should be similar in that respect. The 2.25 is a great tire too, so I can’t wait to get my hands on a 2.4 to try on the front of my Big Mama, paired with a 2.25 on the rear. That’ll be a great combo, I suspect for the conditions I like to hit when I travel out west to Colorado and Utah.
Marty I’ve actually had really really good luck with Racing Ralph 2.4′s in CO – no sidewall cuts on 4 different tires. I’ve had 2 2.25 Ardents tear sidewalls though, but I am chalking it up to a bad production run hopefully. LOVE the tread pattern of the Ardent, this is a very good all around big tire. Can’t wait to get my hands on the even bigger 2.4′s!
Shiggy has a site with some tire specs but doesn’t normally review them the way GT and crew does. Ideally we would have a combination of the two, data and testing. Hint, hint.
http://mtbtires.com/site2/tire-specs/65-700c–29q/62-29q-700c-tire-specs
I have been on the 2.4′s for a couple weeks & find them to be super-duper so far!!!
This is an interesting tire. Looking forward to measurements & impressions.
GT – I too would be interested in how these Arrdents stack up against the other big volume tires out there like Racing Ralph, Weirwolf, and Rampage. I hope you can include a few sentences to that effect in your review. Thanks.
BTW, you do some of the best reviews here anywhere (web, print, etc). Not just 29er specific, but pretty in all bicycle media. Maybe on par with Bicycle Quarterly. Keep it up!
I’m running a pair of these tubeless on Flows, and was able to seat the beads with my floor pump. Great tire, just not as sticky as a Stout, and the knobs are smaller. Should wear well, though.
I’m trying to decide which tire to put on my rigid ss…the Ardent 2.4 or Weirwolf LT? My goal is the most volume I can get on 28mm rims. Thoughts?
@Jeff: For pure traction and volume I would do an Ardent 2.24. The WW LT is good but can give fits with regards to traction in certain situations.