My Niner came with Racing Ralphs, which though only about a month and a half old, are starting to lose their knobs (I've put about 500 miles on them and am not shy about locking up). I'm actually not complaining about the tires' life, but a few of my friends swear by Ardents. I ride mostly gravelly/sandy/rocky stuff in Colorado, not so much mud or anything like that. I have no complaints about the RRs and, in fact, have had great luck with them (tubeless wise), but am willing to try something new. I rode Minions on my DH bikes years ago (which I know they still make).
Any reason I shouldn't try Ardents or is there something better?
My bike came with Ardents. They lasted a long time - very durable - but I didn't like the way they connected with the ground. I much prefer Nobby Nic's. Don't last as long and cost more, but I don't care. The traction is worth whatever the tradeoff is.
I have been running the WTB Vigilante 2.3 tires on the rear this year and they have given good service for the amount of hard use they get. Have had Ardents before and they seemed like a great front tire but wore fast on the rear.
Ardents are the default front tire for my brother and his riding buddy's down in Canon City, and their terrain is pretty rocky. Currently, I am running a Hans Dampf front and Knobby Nic rear on my RIP 9, which works well on the trails around Colorado Springs. That being said I am probably switching over to Ardents in an attempt to get a little more longevity out of a set of tires as well as to maybe get a touch more front-end grip in loose scree.
I've beenriding Ardent 2.4s front and rear since this spring. With the wet summer we had, they ran well most of the year, however, as things have dried out and gotten to typical Front Range Colorado sketchy loose-over-hardpack, they're not nearly as inspiring. I'm still fine with the rear, but I wish I had something with more meat on the front. Thinking about putting on a minion even though that seems like overkill for a trail bike.
Prior setup was Hans Dampf/Nobby Nic, though the rear tire getting all the knobs ripped off wasn't so cool.
I've also run Panaracer Rampages in the past and liked those.
This is kind of like asking pig vs sheep - They're both 4 legged animals, but that's about as much similarity as they have :skep:
Personally with my experience in CO tyre wise, I would not run an Ardent, lack of intermediate transition knobs in the loose/loose over hardpack can end in nasty high sides. While I agree that anything Maxxis normally lasts very well and most definitely have never suffered any of that "loosing knobs" BS that Schwalbe owners put up with. If you've been happy with the RR, then something like the IKON 2.35" would be a better option for something a bit more aggressive that would last better.
I'm a big fan of 2.4 conti trail kings for western colorado. I'm running 2.4 ardents at the moment, because I wanted to try something new. They don't seem to hold as much traction-not horrible by any means though. But I will switch back this winter.
I agree with jonshonda the RR and Ikon are comparable. With that I've switched all my dead and dying Racing ralphs to Ikons. They last longer, are marginally heavier, and don't constantly fail at inopportune times
I also agree with the above comments about the RR. It's an OK tire with a very low shelf life. I stopped buying them after repeated sidewall tears. I've never liked the Ardent, it always felt like it was looking for traction on loose over hard pack, however, they do last forever.
The Ikon is an excellent rear tire, I've had great results with it and it has twice the life of a RR. I pair it with a 2.3 Specialized Purgatory. It's an excellent combo for the type of riding I do here in Colorado. :thumbsup:
I ended up switching to a Highroller 2.3 up front and an Ardent 2.25 in the back. Both in the TR/EXO series. The HR makes a huge difference on technical/off camber stuff and the Ardent also steps up the grip game. I feel like any speed I lost is made up for by vastly improved handling. I've got a winter to sort out my set up before the first races next spring.
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