Yes I know – choose either ROBUST or XC TYRE

Heading out to Trans Nepal in a week and a bits time – thinking the Mud X I’ve currently got on won’t be suitable 😮

Had thought about running a Racing Ralph/Rocket Ron combo but given their fragility, I’m wondering how wise an idea this is.

So whats the current consensus of a reasonably quick rolling xc tyre, with a side wall constructed of more than tissue paper.

The Rocket Ron now comes in a snakeskin version (only in a 2.25 size though). Struggled to find any in the UK when I was looking but they came fairly cheaply from actionsports.de.

Racing Ralph Double Defence?

A Protection spec Continental tyre – maybe X-King?? Their UST models are also pretty tough. If you go down the Conti route certainly don’t use RS or Supersonic Spec!!

I’m liking Specialized GC’s I fitted two S-Works tubeless and they work well.

However as a few have mentioned the sidewalls are very thing and get what I grazed one (on the rear) enough to deflate the tyre…

I am repacing it with a non- S-Works version which apparently have thicker/protected side walls.

IME Schwalbes with snakeskin are more or less as puncture resistant as everyone else’s non-puncture-resistant tyres. Tolerable but not tough. Almost every puncture I’ve had in the last 2 years was on a snakeskin now I think of it, and all the “just riding along” flats were.

S-works are generally pretty thin, though it does vary. Control likewise are generally tougher but the control XC tyres are thinner than the control trail tyres so it’s not that easy to know what you’re getting unless you’ve already had a poke at one. I rather like the Captain Control, but to be fair they do have exposed sidewalls because of the lack of protruding knobs.

…and on that theme, I might have thought of recommending a smallblock on the rear and a slant 6 on the front, but they also have sticky-out sidewalls which make them a bit exposed. They’re not flimsy but they get hit more than some tyres so I’d be wary of them in rocky/jaggy terrain. (bang on for my local trails)

Sorry, I’ve got more unrecommends than recommends!

Schwalbe Snakeskins get a thumbs up from me. Used them all around the World and in some extremely rough terrain and have been great.

Thanks for the recommendations so far.

Trans Nepal is essentially the first 4 days of the Yak Attack, so I’ve been trying to dig through any race reports from the Yak Attack to work out what bike setups people have ran in the past, but so far haven’t turned up much info.

I’ve actually got some Maxxis Crossmarks which came with the bike, never really got on with them given they always felt a bit vague in the wet. Half wondering whether to run one on the back and something with a bit more bite on the front.