Ardent trimming of the Crossmark

Being a bit of tyre tragic it takes little prompting to try different treads. I don't think I've worn out a set of tyres in years, they get changed well before then.

There are more tyres for 650b/27.5 around now than a year ago but still much more limited options than 26 or 29 inch. On the plus side there are a couple options from the makers of my favourite tubeless convertible tyres, Maxxis. (Their standard folding tyres, not the exception series, have been reliable conversion for me now for years)

The Ardent and Crossmark have been proven performers in the 26 and 29 inch format so it was no surprise they were the first options in 27.5. Having run the Pacenti treads, Nevegals and Racing Ralphs the Maxxis tyres proved to be good performers straight out of the box (or straight off the hanger card really). The Ardent was definitely a strong performer up front, only the Neo-moto felt better overall, with the Nevegal just behind (after giving it the Peaty cut). The trails around here, when dry, have a good mix of challenging surfaces, sandy, loose over hard pack, dry clay ruts, and in some places leaves and sticks (in a forest would you believe). The Crossmark does what they have always done. Never been a big fan, but not a fan of the RR's either so...

The Ardent for Fans

Anyway to get on with it... my tests of the various tyres and mucking about with cuts on the Nevegals led to thinking about mods on the Maxxis pair. My main target was the Ardent which is such a confident tyre but occasionally got out of sorts on loose corners. 

It's a pretty simple mod really.If you look at the new Ardent on the left you can see the H-shaped intermediate knobs. Get rid of those suckers and you open up the tread expose the edge knobs, which then work like they should. You'll notice that I haven't worried about cutting them flush with the casing. I used a set of pinchers which are less than surgical but really it's better to leave a bit of rubber there than risk damaging the casing. Best 650b front tyre I've tried, only the Neo-Moto may have better grip. Matty Groots has tried removing the smaller intermediate knobs instead which should work well too, but I haven't tried that one yet, soon...

Well Cross my Mark

The Crossmark has a few more options. A check of the forums revealed that a few have already taken to removing the round edge knobs which seem like overkill anyway. I tried that first and... nothing huge to report. Ok so what can we do here to improve traction but keep a fast rolling tyre. Staring at rubber may work for some but... oh ok, I do far too much of it and I promise I'll get help soon, but my thoughts were to open the tread up a little because the ramped knobs stop the square edges of the centre tread from having real grip.

Now pardon the poor photo, but the knobs marked with white are the ones I removed. You can pretty much take out all the round edge knobs or every second one if you like. Then I have removed every second ramped knob in a staggered pattern. The paint pen dots were done because I found in previous attempts it became quite hard to make sure I took out the right knobs and ended up with some interesting combinations.

Having tried a few of these combinations this is the one that I like best (so far). 

btw the round knobs are best removed with side cutters and the ramped knobs with the pinchers. Again, there's no need to remove all the rubber.

I hope these ideas give you something to try if inclined and hope you will share your thoughts on these and any other 'mods' you might try.