Maxxis Ardent Tire

4.1/5

(52 Reviews)

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MSRP : $56.00

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Product Description

An aggressive tread in high-volume casings distinguishes the newest addition to Maxxis' downhill and mountain disciplines.

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Reviews 1 - 15 (52 Reviews Total)

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Submitted by mikey b

Date Reviewed: May 20, 2013

Strengths:    grip in all conditions when on the front. fast and corners very well. best tire i have ever ridden in the front.

Weaknesses:    none so far

Bottom Line:

This is a great front tire and one that wont let you down. Fast in all conditions and the price is pretty good as well. it has never done anything that would make me question this tire!

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Submitted by Matthew Norris

Date Reviewed: May 13, 2013

Strengths:    I'm running a steel frame with a solid fork, no suspension, a HIGH ROLLER in the front and ARDENT in the back, and i really like it. Another reviewer has said it's not a front tire and i would agree with that since I am running this combo on dry loose pack. For me, this combo is great and the Ardent seems to climb pretty well with at times a little slip, but that could be my riding technique. Good XC tire though in the front.

Weaknesses:    Climbing on dry loose pack it can slide a bit, but that could be me. The tire seems to corner well and grip good. I run it in the back and a High Roller on the front. Front stays solid, back slides. I'd say this is a predictable tire. Can't wait to ride more on it.

Bottom Line:

XC, front and back. AM, Put it in the rear an a Highroller in the front. Maxxis makes good tires.

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Submitted by Andrew Frosch a Weekend Warrior

Date Reviewed: April 29, 2013

Strengths:    rolls fast, good climbing traction as a rear tire - EXO version sidewall is tough

Weaknesses:    Sketchy and slippery as a front tire - not confidence inspiring

Bottom Line:

Ive used a 2.25 EXO Ardent on the front with a Crossmark in the rear for about 5 rides. I had Nevegals on before and just wanted to try something different with less rolling resistance. Ardent up front was sketchy and could not rail turns as usual. Had to slow too much to make some turns, but it was fast in the straights. Riding on rocky and hardpack singletrack with some sand/kitty litter on top.

Moved the same Ardent tire to the back and put a Nevegal up front for a couple of rides. I liked the Ardent as a rear, and it negated the speed penalty when running a Nev front and rear (way to slow for me). It gripped and climbed up short, rocky technical grunts no prob. (The Crossmark that was on rear would slip too easy on roots/rocks).

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Favorite Trail:   Soquel Demo (CA), Grapevine Northshore (TX)

Duration Product Used:   1 month

Price Paid:    $68.00

Purchased At:   cant remember

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Submitted by willbur

Date Reviewed: April 18, 2013

Strengths:    Tread wear seems good, climbing traction, rolling resistance seems low for a good climbing tire.

Weaknesses:    Cornering and side-hill traction

Bottom Line:

I have about 150 miles on dirt with these tires covering most trail conditions. This tire is great until you lean the bike over or are riding on a side-hill angle. The traction just goes away. I dont know why Maxxis decided to recess the intermidiate knobs between the center and sidewall knobs but it clearly has a negative affect on cornering. I'll ride these till they wear out but will not be replacing them with the same model.

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Submitted by david a Cross Country Rider

Date Reviewed: December 5, 2012

Strengths:    front tire bite, steers great, traction, rolling, cushy, can run low air pressure

Weaknesses:    none yet

Bottom Line:

ridden 4 times. used on the front. 2.4 x 29. great directional stability. great grip. rolls great. no weaknesses yet. art's cyclery had a good deal.. got a nevegal at the same time for the back. not impressed with the nevegals grip on hardpack/leafy climbs.......slips a very good bit. If i had to do over i think that a 2.2 ardent on the back would have been a better choice. maybe kenda can get me a free back tire in repayment for this great review of their tire:)

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Favorite Trail:   heritage park, watkinsville ga

Duration Product Used:   4 rides

Price Paid:    $52.00

Purchased At:   arts cyclery

Bike Setup:   niner emd 9

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Submitted by DYI01 a All Mountain Rider

Date Reviewed: November 26, 2012

Strengths:    They aired up tubeless on Stans Flow EX easy and continue to hold air well. Low rolling resistance.

Weaknesses:    Cornering grip is horrible on these tires.

Bottom Line:

I had issues with getting an old, worn in set of OE Ignitors to hold air tubeless so I wanted to try a new set of 29x2.25 Ardent up front with a 29x2.1 Ignitor on the rear. The previous set of Ignitors I had were super confidence inspiring and had tons of cornering grip. This Ardent slips as soon as you start leaning on the side knobs, and has led me to one very hard crash and more than a few close calls. Never will I buy another Ardent.

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Favorite Trail:   Avalon

Duration Product Used:   1 month

Price Paid:    $44.00

Purchased At:   Amazon

Similar Products Used:   Maxxis Ignitor, Schwalbe Nobby Nic

Bike Setup:   Kona Kahuna 29er.

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Submitted by Jarek

Date Reviewed: October 22, 2012

Strengths:    Grip and Weight

Weaknesses:    sidewalls are starting to fray...

Bottom Line:

Not much to say except these tires give me confidence that they will break, accelerate and not puncture as I expect.

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Submitted by siraerich

Date Reviewed: September 8, 2012

Strengths:    cool sidewall graphics

Weaknesses:    everything else

Bottom Line:

I am rating the 29 x 2.25 tires.

these are horrible. no climbing grip and absolutely no cornering grip. these came on my bike stock and went off after 3 rides. Not dependable at all, sometimes they slip and sometimes they grip. I even siped the side knobs and they still have no dependable grip.

This is what I would call a wal-mart mountain bike tire. Yeah sure it will roll good on a gravel path, but when you want to roll on some nice single track and rock some corners these get you none. I would rather rock some holy rollers than these. DO NOT BUY THESE!

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Submitted by Tarekith a All Mountain Rider

Date Reviewed: August 31, 2012

Strengths:    Fast, grippy, looks nice.

Weaknesses:    None

Bottom Line:

I've long been a huge Nevegal fan, but when I my new Rocky Mountain Slayer 70 came with the Ardent's, I decided I'd give them a few weeks to see if I liked them. Very glad I did too, as this tire has completely changed my view on what I mtn bike tire should be. Right away you can tell it's a much faster tire than the Nevegal, and so far it's exceeded the Nev in cornering too. Tight turns I usually drift around I was now railing like never before. It's the dusty season here in Seattle, but these tires grip the dry and loose trails like nothing I've ridden before. Haven't had a chance to put them to the test on wet roots yet, but given how impressive they've been so far I'd be very surprised if they didn't excel there as well.

Well done Maxxis, you've made a convert out of me!

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Favorite Trail:   A-Line

Duration Product Used:   2 weeks

Similar Products Used:   Kenda Nevegal 2.3 Sticky

Bike Setup:   Rocky Mountain Slayer 70

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Submitted by Jon a All Mountain Rider

Date Reviewed: August 19, 2012

Strengths:    Fast rolling, aesthetic

Weaknesses:    Very difficult to mount tubeless, poor grip dry loose climbs, weak sidewalls, sub-par cornering on loose gravel, expensive for what you get

Bottom Line:

Hard to mount tubeless....no chance if it flats on the trail so carry a tube. First ride-tire slipped all over on loose rocky climbs, second ride-poor cornering unsuspecting washouts, third ride-1 inch tear into side wall 1/2 mile into long ride. fourth ride-to the dump.

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Duration Product Used: 3 weeks

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Submitted by Lucas

Date Reviewed: July 5, 2012

Strengths:    Cornering
Tread Life
Rolling Resistance

Weaknesses:    A little heavy

Bottom Line:

I purchased a 2.35 for my '08 Fuel Ex 7 and my first impression was that I'd made a mistake. It seemed very soft and unstable just looking at it. Once I rode it for the first time however, it was clear that I was completely mistaken. It corners beautifully and gives confidence I never experienced on my older Bontrager Jones (no surprise there). It is now my number one recommendation to anyone looking, and I plan on changing out my rear tire (currently a High Roller) to an Ardent around the end of the season. As for the weaknesses, I'm more than okay with a little extra weight for the quality of the tire.

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Submitted by C.P. a All Mountain Rider

Date Reviewed: May 23, 2012

Strengths:    Rolls well for an agressive tire, tenacious braking grip, good cornering grip.

Weaknesses:    Lacks some grip in the usual Maxxis mid lean gap.

Bottom Line:

(Review for the 2.40 size on front)
Overall I am really happy with this as front tire. The grip is great in pretty much all conditions (Mud / rocks / dusty hardpack) and it rolls well for such an aggressive tire. The volume is huge. Straight line braking grip surprised me the first few hard brakes I made, putting me in a stoppie and almost going over the bars! As with most Maxxis tires, there is the vague gap at mid lean while transitioning from center knobs to the outer knobs. It is not as bad as others because there are some small, widely spaced transitioning knobs in there providing a little grip (docked one star for this).

It has proved to be very durable and looks like it wears well. It should last the next two seasons.

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Similar Products Used: Panaracer FireX, WTB Prowlers, WTB V-Raptors.

Bike Setup: Giant TranceX

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Submitted by CB2 a Racer

Date Reviewed: May 11, 2012

Strengths:    High volume, fast rolling, tough, awesome grip in most conditions

Weaknesses:    A little heavy

Bottom Line:

I've used the 29 x 2.25 and the 29 x 2.4 version of the Ardent. It took my a while to find the sweet spot pressure-wise but once I did these tire are great. The volume lets you run them really low without minimal risk of flatting or dinging a rim. The roll fast enough to race, but offer enough traction for all conditions, and are tough enough to not ride everyday without worrying about tearing a sidewall.

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Favorite Trail:   Rocky rooty New England Singletrack

Similar Products Used:   Kenda Nevegal, Geax Saguaro,

Bike Setup:   Rigid 29er

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Submitted by Mark a All Mountain Rider from Wales U.K

Date Reviewed: April 8, 2012

Strengths:    Good low rolling resistance, good grip, light weight for size 2.25, predictable, good longevity.

Weaknesses:    None

Bottom Line:

Its a good compromise between size, weight, grip and longevity.
Its faster than Minnions, High Rollers and Advantages. It has the usual maxxis "no-mans-land" when leant over between little grip and full grip but it is much more predictable than the advantage which lets go unpredictably.
Grip is better than Advantage bot not quite up to HR or minnion.
Have ridden in wet and slimy conditions with good effect. Can recommend.

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Duration Product Used:   2 Years

Price Paid:    $30.00

Purchased At:   LBS

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Submitted by Kayton a All Mountain Rider from San Diego CA US

Date Reviewed: March 23, 2012

Strengths:    Rolling, cornering, traction .

Weaknesses:    Cost

Bottom Line:

I bought these tires after reading the reviews here. I love them! I have to ride to the trails and after a week of everyday riding they show little to no signs of wear. Through the rocky technical stuff they are great, awesome for climbing and cornering. Defiantly a fantastic tire for rocky, sandy conditions.

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Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month

Reviews 1 - 15 (52 Reviews Total)

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Maxxis Ardent Tire

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