I need some help with mountain bike tire selection and pressure as well as some general advice.

I have a aluminum hard-tail Specialized 29er with XTR and Specialized tubeless-ready wheels. I’m running Maxxis Ignitors (29 x 2.1) front and back. The pressure recommendation range noted on the sidewall is 35 – 65 psi with tubes. I presume 65 psi the max and like road tires, it is meant to be an upper limit not a recommendation. So, even with all the talk about running low pressure to increase traction, Maxxis says 35 psi the very minimum? Seems odd to me.

I took a ride over the weekend with 30 psi in the front and 33 psi in the rear and it felt a little too firm on the trails, yet squishy on the short road ride the trails. On the other hand, I converted them to tubeless last season and ran them with pressure in the mid-20s. The traction was incredible, but the bike squirmed and simply didn’t feel right.

Meanwhile, I read all sorts of contradictory advice. Some say the Ignitors do better at higher pressured when using tubes due to their narrowish width. Others say that running them tubeless with low (20s) pressure is the ticket.

I want a good tire for trails in the Southeastern USA and I generally avoid muddy conditions. Traction and puncture resistance are more important than raw speed, so do I need to scrap the Ignitors for UST or tubeless ready? Will they feel squishy at low pressure?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Well, I am one to air of the side of lower pressure on a tubeless setup. The pressures that your running now would make handling a bit too squirrely for me. I have been running Conti Mountain Kings tubeless and running them in the mid/low 20s range (for the front), rear is high 20s.
For me, that seem to be a good balance of traction and speed, all though I do live in a place where most of the trails are as smooth as sidewalks.

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My bike is an epic 29er, I'm 170lb, ride in the mid-Atlantic, pressures are 24front, 26rear. Forget the recommended pressures on the side. On mountain bikes, especially tubeless, they are no longer realistic.
I think Hutchinson and maybe Michelin had almost-reasonable pressure ratings on their UST tires originally. It was 28psi recommended, aka 2.0bar.

The pressure is not unconnected according to your weight.
Alhoa