Not one to leave a stone unturned in your favorite rock garden, Maxxis looked upon its family of capable off-road tires and noticed a space between the XC-oriented Ikon and the trail-focused Ardent. Determined to fill the gap between these two beloved tires, they went back to the drawing board before unveiling the Ardent Race Tire--an updated version of the classic Ardent but with a lighter and faster tread that provides maximum speed and cornering on hard-packed or mixed trail conditions. While the tread pattern is almost the same as the original Ardent, Maxxis removed some of the depth from the knobs while also condensing the entire pattern. Shoulder knobs combined with ramped central knobs create a tire that rolls fast while doing a great job holding its grip in corners. The Maxxis 3C compound features a blend of three rubber densities arranged across the width of the tread, with harder rubber in the base layer for longer tread life, and softer layers on the top and sides for maximum braking and cornering traction.