Off to Ciclo Montana on thursday – will I be OK with Dr Sludge slime tubes? anyone got any experiences??
will I end up with loads of flats!

Spain's a big place; whereabouts do they ride? I have ridden in the Sierra Nevada twice – 10 days riding or so – and only got one puncture. Even that was a snake bite from a rather heavy landing. I was running Halo Choir masters 2.35 and tubes, so nothing special really.

I don't mean to sound rude, but are Spanish punctures any different from British ones?

a lot more spiky plants/weeds in Spain than there are here. Hence the tubes, personally I used tubeless with Stans sealant and was fine.

Mark and his guides ride tubeless, but the other year i just stuck with the tried and tested maxxis double ply minion front high roller rear with a dh tube in the back and normal in the front. Bloomin' heavy but no puctures and you can run silly low pressures for loads of grip. Bit of a slog on the way up though 😀 every evening just pull out all the little thorns which couldn't managed to get through the extra rubber!!

thanks, have some DH tubes so will take them as well.

Yes KINGTUT, Spanish punctures are different – they have HUGE thorns out there. Mark rides with Stans no tubes and this would be the best setup. But otherwise just some good solid tyres and plenty of tubes. The swimming pool is very good for finding holes in tubes…
Enjoy it, Ciclo holidays are brilliant!

Been out there (Bubion) 5 times and first four times have used Stans, had one puncture in 4 trips that tore the tire so had to put a tube in there, went out again about 3 weeks ago with normal tubes and got multiple punctures every day (went through 2 puncture repair kits and a sh1t load of tubes). Next time out its going to be Stans.

If you going out with Ciclo Montana (same area) there seems to be a lot more thorns on the trails (dont forget to stop off and sample El Rays pizza)

brill – proper excited now!

Been out with Ciclo Montana twice.

First year – Panaracer Fire XC Pros and had probably 1 puncture per day, with a couple of 'flat come the next morning' type punctures too.

This year I was prepared. I took some supposedly tougher tyres – Specialized Enduro with the Flak Jacket protection & seeing as those thorns definitely weren't gonna stop me I got some of those green slime tyre liners too, just to make sure.
Punctured more than last yr – at least once/day with the worst being 3x in a day. It was quite demoralising!

They all run tubeless out there & never seem to puncture so it does seem like the way forward. I would consider it in future.

Mark recommends Maxxis Larsen TT 2.3s (or maybe 2.35s) and a friend of mine used them. I don't think he had 1 puncture all week. Last yr I think he had at least as many as me. Probably too late to get some though it you are going on Thursday.

Just take loads of spare tubes and be prepared to sit with a beer by the pool at the end of the day repairing any ready for the next day.

Have a great time – I am not at all jealous!!

Theres only one asnswer – tubeless with lots of latex. The thorns are brutal – last time out with Freeride Spain Simon had over 100(!) thorn stumps that had sealed with latex in his tyres that would have been certain punctures with tubes.

Yep – the thorns are brutal!! Try not to ride 'off-piste' as the flora all seems to have large thorns.

I can also recommend not falling off into thorny bushes, as I seemed to on a daily basis.
Also, don't forget to take your gloves as you leave Chez Ciclo as I did one day, the first yr I was out there!

And best to check your tyres over when you stop for lunch or whatever. There's nothing worse than eating a huge lunch, waddling outside and finding you've got a flat!! ANd do it as well when you get back at the end of the day.

Thing is…..none of this will matter. Regardless of how many punctures you get, you'll still have a great time! It'll just be another thing to laugh about over cafe con leche, or a dinner time glass of red.

Perhaps Ciclo should start a puncture league table!?!