Maxxis has a few new tires this year including the Shorty DH tire and the Ardent Race. I got the scoop on both from Aaron at Interbike and here’s what I learned.
The Shorty DH tire is designed to chew up loose trail conditions and roost them out the other side. Offered in a 2.40, 26″ configuration only, the Shorty is aimed squarely at the longest travel mountain bikes on the market. The tire features a dual ply casing with a butyl insert and each one weighs 1.2Kg.
The Ardent Race is, in a way, a mashup of Maxxis’ popular Ardent and Ikon tires. The tread pattern is meant to run fast and light yet still hook up in most conditions. I’ve been running the Ardent on my 29er for a couple years and I love the beefiness of the tire, though if I had one complaint it’s that the tire is a bit sluggish. The Ardent Race promises to remedy that!
The Ardent Race will be available in a number of configurations and will be well suited to 29ers. The model we saw was a 2.20, 120tpi tire which should offer supple sidewalls for excellent cornering grip.
Maxxis is also extending 650b sizing to their most popular tread patterns this year–everything from fast XC rollers to beefier, all-mountain worthy tires. The company hasn’t jumped into the fat bike tire market yet but who knows… I’m sure some mountain bikers would love to see an Ardent 4.0 one day.
Ardent Race looks AWESOME! I’m using an Ikon rear and Ardent up front, and the Ardent is good in looser conditions but once summer rolls back around and things firm up the Ardent Race would work better I imagine.
I see that Sram wheel hiding in there … The new Sram wheels appear to be the only UST 27.5 on the market right now. Any plans to review those?
I think Syd may be working on an article about SRAM’s new wheels, X01, etc.