Maxxis Ardent 2.6 3C and 2.4 60A – Tested

I have finally gotten enough time on the new DH Ardents from Maxxis to give a full review. This impressive new tread pattern from Maxxis should be making its way to the public soon. This sample set is the 2.6 3C (run as a front tire) and the 2.4 60a (run as the rear). The test bike was my Ventana El Terremoto 6.0. The TM is a 6″ coil sprung bike, and it is probably the smallest travel bike you will find these tires mounted to. According to the guys at Maxxis, the downhill versions tested here are designed for hard pack dh courses.

The other posts on the Maxxis Ardent DH Tires

THE TEST CONDITIONS

First, I have taken these tires all over the place trying to get an idea on how they will react in all situations. The first ride out was a cross country course in Georgia followed with a trip to a small freeride/dh area. After trying out these local areas several times over, I took the tires up to Pisgah Forest and Asheville in North Carolina for some long, extended, rocky downhill runs that you have to climb to get to. These tires saw everything from hard pack to loose and rocky, but I have not used them in wet or muddy conditions as of this review.

HOW DO THEY PERFORM?

ROLLING RESISTANCE

Like the 29er versions tested earlier this week, these tires roll very fast for their size. The Ardent tread pattern has a very low rolling resistance for its size and weight. This helps a lot in the flats and while climbing. Granted, most users of this dh casing will not climb regularly on these tires, but it is good to know you can if you need to. If you are riding on dh courses that have a lot of flat pedaling sections, the Ardents will perform above your expectations.

CLIMBING

The weight of these tires does become a factor in extended climbing situations, but that is to be expected with heavy dh ready tires. That said, these are probably the best climbing downhill tires I have ever been on. You can use these for mountain epics where you want to have a lot of tire for the downhills and are willing to get them up there. Unless you are an extremely strong rider, expect to be in the middle to the end of the pack going up, but one of the first going down. For me, it’s worth the pain of the climb on a heavy bike to get the payoff at the end.

CORNERING

Maxxis did a great job on the design of the transitional and side knobs on these tires. Even though the angled transitional knobs are almost half the height of the surrounding knobs, they keep grip while bringing the bike from flat to hard angle cornering. The tires did not slip at all during this crucial point. Once you are in full cornering mode, the multistage side knobs are hooked like Velcro. There was not one time that I can remember where they gave way to a slide out. A lot of tires run a solid line side tread, but I tend to like the staggered, multistage design like you see on the Ardents better. This design seems to have more versatility in different loose cornering situations. Even running low pressures (mid to low 20’s), the casing does not roll over during hard cornering, but this is expected out of downhill casing tires.

ROCK GARDENS/DROPS

One of the biggest surprises with these tires was the size. They are almost dead on to the quoted width with plenty of volume. In the past, I have gotten used to Maxxis tires being smaller than quoted. The large volume and width really comes into play with the rock gardens and drops. These tires just ate them up like they were nothing. Pilot Rock has a really long rock garden towards the middle of the run that you hit at full clip. The large volume and sticky rubber of the 2.6 3C up front carried the bike through the boulder sized rock garden with ease and confidence. Large drops (5 ft. +) had solid landings and the smaller drops ended up being almost uneventful.

THE COMPOUND

60A – This ended up being a perfect rear tire compound. It is soft enough that it doesn’t slip under hard pedaling and cornering forces, but hard enough that it won’t wear out prematurely. One of the biggest draws to the Maxxis tires are their longevity and the 60A does not compromise in this area. You could run the 60A in the front as well, but with the 3C option…I would be hard pressed to even try it out.

3C – This is where my prototypes are going to deviate from the production runs. The 3C tire that I was testing was mostly 40 series rubber. You can play with the side knobs like play doe. Even with the extremely soft rubber, I have not lost a knob or seen any premature wear. This is great news of the production runs that will see more of a true balance between the different compounds.

OVERALL FEEL

These tires are fast. If you are looking for a lighter downhill tire that is going to perform on hard pack or slightly loose courses…this is the tire for you. On race courses that have pedaling sections, racers are going to cut down times with these fast rollers, but not lose any in the technical sections. I would not recommend these for muddy or extremely loose conditions because the Minions are going to fair better for those situations. The Ardent tread pattern is showing to be very useful for a number of different riding styles. When Maxxis increased the tread size and added the downhill casings, they created a monster. I am so happy with these tires that they will be staying on the Terremoto for awhile. Even though they can be punishing on the climbs, it is worth it for the downs.

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