Going to spain (sierra nevada) in a few weeks with ciclo montana…

Just wondering what tyres would anyone, thats done some riding over there, recommend?
I’ve recently just upgraded to tubeless/crest rims, so hopefully that should stop all the thorns ruining the riding. I’m running advantage exception series tyres at the minute tho and a little worried i’m going to tear the (rather thin) sidewalls..?

Any recommendations or stick with advantages?

😀

I did it with freeride spain and used my panaracer xc 2.1 they are fine. Its mainly dry hard pack however there are some great rocky downhills to be had too. enjoy

Ardents

I reckon 2.25 Ardents with the EXO sidewall would work nicely there – they convert well to tubeless too. High Rollers are grippy but slow rolling ime, something like a super tacky High Roller on the front with an Ardent on the back would be a good compromise, but it’s all quite personal. Or a Minion DHF, the 2.5 is brilliant and not as big as it sounds, on the front and an Ardent on the back again.

The sidewalls on the Exceptions scare me.

Mark was using Maxxis Larsens last time I was out, which was unfortunatly far too long ago, but we was liking them. I used High rollers and they worked ok. Something strong and use stans is the general recommendation.

Marco @ Ciclo Montana swears by Larsen TT’s – I think you can get them in dual ply 2.35.

I think a lot of people use High Roller’s too.
It’s pretty grippy over there, so your main concerns as you say are thorn punctures & ripping sidewalls. The tubeless conversion should sort the thorns, just get something with a sturdy sidewall too.

Make sure you take some sealant with you, just in case you need to top it up.

Thanks for the replies.

Yes the sidewalls are very thin on the exception series aren’t they.

I’ve got some used (regular, non exo) 2.25 ardents I can stick on, might just go with those rather than buy any more?
It’s just they come up a little larger than I’d like, more like a 2.5 high roller in size really…

I’ve been there a lot; since changing to dual ply high rollers I haven’t had a puncture. Bit weighty, but worth it for not having to stop on the fine descents.

Its mainly dry hard pack

I know Switchbacks & believe Ciclo Montana go for more of the rocky descents than Freeride Spain so I’d definately go for puncture protection.

From what I was told ciclo were more XC than GNRARRRRRRR so I’d avoid what I took (switchbacks is 50/50 uplift/self propelled).

I took some 205 supertacky dual ply high rollers to switchbacks,

1) rear tyre lasted a week
2) they hurt uphill, I always made it but always at the back.
3) they rock downhill, the weight means theye just roll through stuff, and chunk sidewalls give you the confidence to let them, and the grip is phenomenal, nothing like standard XC/Trail tyres, you could (given enough nerve probably) scrape your inside pedal on the floor before they ran out of grip on some sections!
4) no punctures all week using skiny XC tubes.

As others have said, tubeless for the thorns, strong carcass for the rocks.

I had a bit of a ‘mare two years ago and went through three tyres (all different, one Bonty lasted about an hour!) – all slits to carcass. Ended up on single ply DH tyres set up tubeless last year but that was total overkill.

This time I used High Roller front (2.35 LUST) and Crossmark rear (2.25 LUST) – that seemed to work well.

Marco does loves his Larsens though (but if you have same tyres as him, that’s one excuse gone!). Enjoy anyway.

EDIT: Ardents would be good as well. If you have them, might as well use them. That’s what I say.

For the past few years I’ve taken kenda nevegal/blue groove 2.3.
Take some tyre boots/tubes as well,I’ve witnessed a few ripped sidewalls over there.

I went out to Switchback and I used single ply High Rollers front and rear, the super tacky ones. Amazing grip through the rock gardens but think I was lucky to get away with only one snakebite. I was on a hardtail though.

TINAS – your idea of XC must be quite a lot different to mine! 😀

“It’s all XC really….”

Marco was going to get that put on stickers.

rear tyre lasted a week

My rear tyre has no knobblies in the center tread anymore, but still grips fine on Spanish rock 🙂

I went for a week last October with Ciclo, 2.35 High Roller 60a downhill tyre on the rear, 2.35 Minion super tacky downhill tyre on the front. They weren’t tubeless specific tyres, but I put them on my Mavic Crossmax’s without tubes in, & used them all week. The only issue was that they were a bit heavy for all the uphills, so when I went for a week in April, Kenda Nevegal 2.1 ( which are more like a 2.3 i’d say ) tubeless was what used, & they were fine.

Oh, & when Marco says the the next section of trail is a ‘traverse’, it almost invariably means UPHILL… 😉

Well more climbing, they’re in the same area and ride the same trails, but from the guides description Ciclo would happlily do a 12hour ride with no uplift. Where out rides were <6hour ~30miles, with 50% uplift.

When I was out guiding with Ciclo last year I used Nevagals / single ply High Rollers which did a good job. You definitely need some kind of sealant system – I just ran tubes with removeable valve cores with a bit of Stans in them which worked well (well, until after 5 weeks I eventually pinched mucking about on the steps in Granada and had to spend a good 20 mins picking old thorns out of the tyre before I could replace the tube).
Yes, take something to patch-up torn sidewalls, a spare mech hanger and pads (brake and protective!).

MtbRoutes – Member
When I was out guiding with Ciclo last year I used Nevagals / single ply High Rollers which did a good job. You definitely need some kind of sealant system – I just ran tubes with removeable valve cores with a bit of Stans in them which worked well (well, until after 5 weeks I eventually pinched mucking about on the steps in Granada and had to spend a good 20 mins picking old thorns out of the tyre before I could replace the tube).

Hmmmmm, yes, I remember that!! 😀 It was a nice place to have a mess around though, while you sorted your tyre!!

Bought some skinny Schwalbe tubes recently for my road wheels (26″ on the hardtail with slicks for road/commute stuff) and realised they have removable cores. I might see if I can get some fatter ones and try your ‘sealed’ technique.

thisisnotaspoon – 12 hours is a gross exaggeration. Ciclo normally head off at 10, back late afternoon, with a morning coffee and menu of the day for lunch. Most days have a van somewhere in them (we’ve only had a downlift once, despite the threats…!).

Sounds like Ciclo they do climb more than Switchbacks, but you can’t drive to the top of all the best descents so plenty of quality payback for your effort.

I had a week out there and got one puncture and even that was a pinch flat on the very last day due to some rather *ahem* clumsy riding. I had Halo Choir Master Lite tyres and nowt special tube wise. I didn’t find it any more puncture-prone out there than anywhere else I’ve been. Yes, it’s rocky, but no more so than some of the Lake District. My worry would be dinging those XC rims of yours 😉

It’s not so much the rocks as the thorns!
I never used sealants in years gone by and didn’t do too badly on the whole I guess, but with regular single-ply tyres you’re definitely riding your luck.
Ciclo rides probably average 10am – 6pm with an ample lunch and a couple of coffee stops. Some days will be longer, some shorter, many with an uplift to start the day, some riding from the house, and if you’re lucky downhill day with multiple uplifts and DH runs.
Of course if you arrive on ‘training week’ all bets are off 🙂

Just a quick update.

Got back last week from an amazing week with ciclo montana 😉

Went for folding single ply 2.35 larsens (f+r) in the end with 2 cups of stans sealant in.
The perfect tyre (pattern wise) for out there i’d say, fast rolling yet grippy. I did manage to put a small rip in the sidewall of the rear tyre though on the next to last day (on the run down from the big bull on the way to granada, awesome trail 8) ) which the sealant wouldn’t seal so just stuck a slime tube in and all was well.

The next time I go out there (which I’m sure I definitely will) I’ll still opt for the larsen’s but with a dual ply rear (as mark does) for some added protection.

Oh and the crest’s were fine over there too.

All in all, an amazing week with some top riding, top banter and excellent beer and food…

Got back last week from an amazing week with ciclo montana

Jealous!

Been out there with CM for the last couple of years and always have a great time – Wish I was going out this year but trying Les Arcs this year for comparison (much less pedalling 😀 )

jackal, sorry to backtrack a bit….prior to spain how did you find running the Advantage Exception tyres tubeless? What rough pressure did you run etc.

cheers.

(I currently have some tubed and are thinking of converting them).

Fat small block 8’s for me. Tubless though otherwise you will run out of tubes!