Thinking about one or the other for the rear ... experiences, etc very welcome - ta.

I'm running an Ardent at the front and Crossmark at the back currently. They did the Lakeland 200 and the Shindig. It's a good combo.

I run 2.25 Ardents front and rear. They seem to handle everything I throw at them. Pretty predictable. they come up quite big on Stans Arch EX rims too.

I've been on ardent front, cross mark rear for 3 years.
Great combo.

Big cross mark fan!

Same for me - Ardent F, Crossmark R, on the 26er. Bit heavier than Schwalbes (Ralph/Ron), but no probs with running tubeless and less trouble with punctures.

Crossmarks F+R here too. Great tyres

Thanks all ... it's going on the rear and hopefully mating up to a Chronicle ont' front, sounds like a Crossmark will do the job nicely.

I'd planned a Chronicle/Ardent pair, then I saw the price of the Chronicle...

atk wrote:I'd planned a Chronicle/Ardent pair, then I saw the price of the Chronicle...

More recent pricing suggests more likely at the £60 mark rather than £100. Which I'll concede is still pretty expensive albeit an improvement!

I'd planned a Chronicle/Ardent pair, then I saw the price of the Chronicle...

There seems to be a few prices floating about, including over £100 I'm expecting the 'real' price to be £55 - £65 depending on model.

Beaten to it

Ah, I hadn't seen that... I've popped a favouribly-priced Knard on for now. The whole fat front thing is quite fun, seems to make up for my lack of finesse at times...!

I put a 2.4" Ardent on the front of my 29er a while ago and noticed great improvement in cornering. I have a 2.2 Highroller on the rear, not really by choice but because I found one in a bargain bin.

+1 for half fat fronty, especially with a few PSI let out...

I am a road cyclist who has just started to dabble in singlespeed MTB riding. After doing some research, I opted to start with 2.25 EXO TR Ardent front and rear as they appeared to cover the majority of conditions. Having now put in about 400-km on them in varied terrain, I can say that roll pretty well and generally offer good grip. However, they are not great in mud.


They are also not the lightest - the tyres weighed in at 831g vs an advertised weight of 800g.

For mud, especially that horrible clay (I've got it here too, near Stansted airport), I swear by maxxis Beavers.....even the wired version are lighter than conti x-kings, air up tubeless easily, and grip fantastically......they also shed clag, as my face will tell you after a muddy ride! They seem draggy on Tarmac though, but that might be in my head