Maxxis Ardent Tire - Clincher - 2008

I bought 2 sets of these (2.25 and 2.4).

26 x 2.25:
Rolling - rolls very good because of the center tread blocks being closely placed.
Climbing - climbs good for what I was doing, not a whole lot of climbing done on these.
Cornering- on loose to moderately loose sandy soil over hard pack they were not confidence inspiring. You have to be on top of them, the give point is much sooner than I would have expected. I did not ride them in wet conditions since we have none in socal. But I would imagine them being inadequate for wet.
Overall: I heard good things about these tires and wanted to try them. The bigger volume had more downside than upside. Comfortable ride, but think monster truck tires for a second -- not really designed to corner going fast? They're a good tire for those who like to get into terrain but aren't planning on railing turns. Basically the big volume is like riding a beach cruiser with a fat seat. It's good to absorb a lot of vibration beyond that it just holds air.

26 x 2.4:
The rolling and climbing characteristics are good as the 2.25 size (again I don't climb so I'm not worried about that).
Cornering - The Ardents are better at the 2.4 size... not sure why a 2.25 was even made TBH. Riding slopestyle and bermed tracks this tire did okay (I'm back to Minions now). I still did not feel confident and I could feel the bike sliding when other tires (minions) would continue to rail.
Weight - for the size, these are pretty light and was my main reason for trying them.
Overall: I got rid of these soon after the 2.25s. These tires are good for those who do not intend to ride aggressively. On certain bikes, these tires would rub the front deraileurs -- so the higher volume is hit or miss, depending on your set up.

Side note: I'm on minions DHF 2.5 ST and DHR 2.5 3C. They are heavy but the tradeoff is well worth it as these tires feel like they stick to the ground. Night and Day difference.