I just put on a Schwalbe Magic Mary radial 29x2.5 Trail Pro Ultra Soft Tubeless on the front of my bike. I've only ridden it once with the new tire on it, but so far I'm really impressed! Contact area is definitely increased and it seems to swallow up small rocks and roots on the trail. You can really tell a difference by just pushing on the with your thumbs, that flexibility is more localized. I feel so good about it that I'm trying to figure out what radial tire I can get for the rear to replace my almost new Big Betty Super Gravity in Soft compound. I don't see a Big Betty Radial yet
I'm sold on Schwalbe Radials!