Someone made a comment on another forum yesterday looking at my lads bike

“Ardents, they’re rubbish grip…”

Personally i’ve always liked Ardents. What’s the consensus ?

His other choice for this weekend at FoD is WTB Trail Boss which i have some spares of… There’s some new Geax Saguros too but they’re a bit more ‘fast XC’ than FoD really.

I tried an Ardent on the front and, yes, it was terrible. It looks like it should be OK but I was massively disappointed on the front.

OK on the back but no more than that for me.

Trail Boss IIWM.

That’s an easy fix then, i can swap the front trail boss from my spare wheel along with tubelessing the wheel at the same time i guess.

FoD is plenty of soft loam and roots..(and a mud bath in the wet). I’d be looking at nice sidewall knobs…

I run a Mary up front for FoD… but it’s useless* on anything hard it can’t bite into… Jnr runs his Maxxis High Roller up front and this copes a lot better on hardpack at 417 or anything like Swinley ginger and subjectively also seems good at FoD but obviously his choice is limited in 24″.

*Might also be me but you can feel each sidewall knob slip and I’ve lost the front a couple of times… when it wears out I’ll replace with something else.. probably a Minion ???

They are both only good enough to be rear tyres

TB is a good rear tyre, did me fine on the Tweed Valley steeps, should be cool at FOD too.

What are you guys recommending for the front then ? I’ve run Trail Boss’s from BPW to Morzine etc without any issues myself on both front and rear.  Obviously FoD has some pedalling and it also has to be a day to day tyre for him, so a high grip Minion isn’t exactly what we need.

Don’t forget, he’s only 10 and on his first time on this bike, he’s not exactly Steve Peat.

at 10 I’d be easy oasy tbh, as you say, something he can pedal.

The Vigilante is the front partner to the Trail Boss. or perhaps Trail kings or Mountain Kings both are pretty good rollers? Or a High Roller, which is my go to all rounder.

Vigilante front pairs well with a Trail Boss rear.

I used to run trailboss on the rear. After destroying 3. I now run ardents. No issues since. Wont be putting another trailboss on any of my bikes again.

Cool.

Well the Trail Boss has been fitted to the front and the wheel tubeless taped and filled with goo 🙂

So either way, that’s now staying on there for the duration.

Will leave the Ardent on there tubed unless the valves i’ve ordered arrive today and i’ll get the rear tubeless as well then.

Given he’s 10 and I’d imagine FOD is dry at the moment then there shouldn’t be any dramas.

I’ve only been there twice – once in pouring rain and slop and once bone dry. I was running Conti MK2’s in Black chilli in the wet (not tubeless and probably 35 psi) and there were great to be fair. It was mostly an uplift day with a bit of pedalling up to break it up.

In the bone dry I happened to have a dhf on the front and aggressor on the back. Also fine – did the freeminers tail and I had so much grip. If it were in the winter I’d have a dhr2 on the back instead and last year had a dhf up front all winter. I’ve just put on a Mary for this winter so will see how that compares.

I used to run trailboss on the rear. After destroying 3. I now run ardents.

Tough or light casing?

Agree with those saying that Trailboss, Ardent & the Geax are all good REAR tyres for the more natural FoD tyres, but definitely not for the front.

The lad will do fine with whatever you put on there though… kids find a way… my boy is always on semi-slicks when we ride the more groomed trails at FoD… one bike with one set of tyres for everything he rides… he’s a kid.

Ardent is OK on the front in some places, but not many! I actually quite like it on the front around Cannock for example. Liking the Maxxis Forekaster at the minute, basically a grippier Ardent that still rolls well. It’s not a Minion/HR II by any stretch, but I’ve found for blasting round Llandegla and natural trails around North Wales and the midlands it’s a nice compromise of grip and speed.

Majority of my riding is in the FoD and I’ve got an Ardent on the rear having replaced a worn out Trail Boss and although it’s only been on for a couple of months I want to change it, which is unusual for me normally I’ll run any tyre until it dies.

I just cannot find a good compromise pressure that works with it.  Either it’s compliant and rolls well over roots and rocks but on transitions into jumps or hitting fast berms it compresses and deforms horribly or it works on the berms and jumps but bounces and pings off everything else.

I think it’s because the sidewalls are very very soft and there’s no support from the tyres construction itself.

Doesn’t help that it steadily drops pressure over time running it tubeless, I think I’ll go back to a DH casing and just live with the extra weight.

What are you riding around FOD?  That will greatly swing your tyre choice.  If you are taking him around the way marked trails like the blue or launchpad, its like most trail centres so loads of grip.  If you are riding some of the off piste or down hill trails then i would suggest an Ardent and trail boss are pretty bad tyre choices for the front.  Magic Mary seems to be the front tyre choice year round for me and my buddies.  Alternating the rear based on conditions.  Spesh Butcher or hillbilly and purgatory may be a bit of a compromise.  In my experience its always best to run a slightly more aggressive front tyre and something faster and lighter on the rear.  FOD is not hard on tyres at all, so something with good front grip in mud is preferable and something fast clearing for the rear.

I missed the my lads bike bit. Sorry.

I had 2 tough casings, and pulled some shoulder knobs off causing them to fail in tubless set yp and revealing the casing bekow. I had 1 which was a ‘race’ tyre and came as standard on my pinnacle. I pulled that completely off the rim on a bkue at BPW in a rock garden. I think that wasnt a tough casing though