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I run these in there 2.35 width on my hardtail which are great, I want to put a 2.5 on front of my full sus to match up with a 2.25 Ardent rear.
Is the 2.5 to wide (I've heard they come up short) I'm no freerider but I like going down quick and am after some front end confidence in these wet conditions.
Aren't Ardents huge though? sure you can get Minions in 2.75 too, this may be better to match up???
A bigger tyre will help to some degree, but if you want more confidence from your tyres when it's wet then I personally think you'd get more by fitting a Super Tacky (42 durometer) on the front in 2.35 rather than a regular 60 durometer 2.5 tyre.
It's also quite easy to get hold of single ply super tack minions and high rollers whereas the single ply 2.5 is harder to come by (although it does exist as was recently pointed out on here).
EDIT 2.25 Ardents are just regular size, maybe a little bigger. More like a 2.35 but nothing like a 2.7.
A Maxxis 2.5 anything is about as big as anyone ever really needs to go.
Yeah the ardents are big . The width of the 2.25 is the same as the 2.35 minion although it had a bigger carcass making it look bigger.
I have an Ardent up front a the moment but its getting really wet where I ride and was thinking the minion would suit better. Super tacky are pretty slow aren't they? and I have to do road work as well so thought the 2.5's 60a would be better.
Just didn't know if they look massive and abit overkill on a trail bike (whyte 146)
Super tacky are pretty slow aren't they?
Yes they are and you will [i]really [/i]notice how much they drag on tarmac but they are going to give you the extra grip/confidence you want.
Outside of a DH course, I honestly don't know anywhere I would ride in the UK and feel that I wanted a 2.5" tyre. I will regularly run Dual Ply Maxxis tyres when it's seriously rocky but never more than 2.35.
The larger volume 2.5 will give you a little more rubber on the trail so that will give you a bit more grip, plus you could probably run a slightly lower pressure, again to give more tyre contact.
Of course your big problem is that you cannot have a tyre that offers loads of grip and super low rolling resitance, at least not relative to the extremes of those two features. More grip means more drag so you can't really have one without compromising the other.
You could, and this is not meant to be a sarcastic comment, try to learn to ride regular 60a tyres in the wet. Drop your speed and get more comfortable with the bike drifting and slipping. That's what I ended up doing and it will bring your skill level on hugely.
You could, and this is not meant to be a sarcastic comment, try to learn to ride regular 60a tyres in the wet
🙂 I do on my hardtail! have minion maxpro 60a Fr & rear and I love them, but when I put one on the front of the whyte it looks smaller than the ardent rear (which is new and cost £45 so don't want to change). I want the front to be wider than the rear and any extra grip would be welcome. Just don't want it to look overkill.
So then I would ride the Ardent up front and put the Minion DHF on the back, although I would actually reverse the rotation so that the groove the tread forms is in an 'open V' as it bites into the ground. I find this helps with braking traction.
I prefer the extra bite you get from minion's over the ardent in the wet so maybe I'll just buy another set of 2.35 minion's for Fr & Rr and save the ardents for next summer. I've heard that before about reversing the rear so maybe give that a go as well.
Costing me a fortune this year in rubber.
Costing me a fortune this year in rubber.
Tell me about it! UST tyres especially got expensive recently.
Funnily enough I have just swapped out my Ardents with the rain over the past couple of days as they are pretty lethal in muddy conditions-I have fitted my Maxpro 60a Minnions for winter-didnt half notice the difference in cushioning of the big Ardent carcass compared to the smaller volume of the Minnions.
I did consider running the Ardent on the rear but felt the difference in size would steepen the head angle by a few degrees too not least I would have no braking grip.
Love the minion's, I use to run the 2.5 (42a ust) on the front of a nomad sometimes but only for the downhill runs in the lakes. IMO it's overkill for general trail riding, to heavy and to much drag but never tried the 2.5 single ply 60a. I always run the 2.35's on the front of my trail bike, I need all the help I can get!
Whoops computer glitch!