Tires Goodyear or Maxxis

I just put some 2.25" Maxxis Ardent TR EXOs on my Trek 29er and they have been awesome so far. Tons of grip compared to the bontragers I had (cheaper ones that came with my bike).

Maxxis all the way. Seem to be the best combo of grip, price, durability, and weight.

Your trails sound pretty similar to what I ride. I have a set of Ardent 2.25s that I really like.

I love my aggressor on the rear, rolls and grips well.

Continental Extreme Contact for winter and Goodyear Eagle Sport all season. Was expecting to remove the seasonal tires but have not done so in last 2 years. Seventy percent highway/ thirty city. Very good tire in snow and ice. Was not expecting that. Benefits: gas mileage up about 50km per tank, better handling on pavement (less mushy on highway) due to less sipes in tread. Great handling less body roll, crisp cornering.

I also have a minion DHF for downhill and "rowdy" trail or wet/sandy conditions. It rolls a lot better than I expected for such tall knobs

I have Firestone Winterforce tires on 15" Forester wheels for the winter set and Goodyear Assurance all seasons on 16" impreza wheels for summer tires.

just mounted a few pairs of maxxis tires, dhf, hr2, a dhr, and an ardent exo casings, all done by hand, found them quite easy to mount beads poped right on.

Ardent rolls well but is lacking in traction. If you want to take corners fast, I would stay away from Ardent in the front - there is a dead zone between the middle and side knobs that will feel vague especially when cornering.

Reviews for that tire at TireRack aren't exactly stellar. Great tire in the rain, in fact VERY high traction in wet conditions. Almost to the point that it's a technological marvel. But...it gives up so much in the dry that it feels like a sloppy truck truck tire with 10psi. It corners terribly in the dry, the steering response is horrible and wanders all over the road.