Nearly got my new bike sorted for this years TransAlp (fitness has ot a long way to go) but am trying to work out my tyre selection. Can i get away with something really light, fast rolling but fragile (racing ralph, speed king etc) or do I need something more robust, grippy and heavy?

can i expect it to be dry or muddy, flinty and rocky or gravely?

anyone got any experience of what i should expect?

ta
woody

What do you normally ride?

in wet conditions (most of the year!) i've been using bonty mud-x's that are good but dont roll as fast as something like a racing ralph (my current summer tyre). i havent tried speed kings but hear extreme views (some love them some hate them) and some good things about race kings and kenda small block 8s. basically i want to go as light and as fast as possible while not having to repair torn and ripped tyres

I did it last year on Bonty Revolt Super X tubeless-ready with Stans sealant.

They were perfect apart from one incident when the rear tyre exploded (!) on a tarmac climb. This was caused by sealant delaminating the tyre BUT to be fair it was an old tyre. A tyre boot and a tube sorted it and we were on our way. If I was to do it again, I'd use the same tyres because they provide plenty grip, seem pretty robust and roll well on all the surfaces we encountered. These varied from tarmac to gravel to baby-head rocks to grass meadows to dusty, rooty singletrack to flinty rocks to greasy boulders and just about everything inbetween (except mud!).

Almost without exception, the Europeans will run Schwalbe or Continental tyres.

Some photos here will give you an idea of what to expect (though the route will be different this year).

Enjoy it – it's a real odyssey!

Continental seem to be liked by people who run reletivly high presures (me) while schwalbe tend to suit those who run lower presures.

Do you need to run the same tyres for the whole race, or do you have a chance to change them acording to the daily forecast?

I would say race king or racing ralph rear and nobby nick or mountain king front would be a good mix for a race thats likely to have some pretty technical descending (assuming it is technical, I have no doubt it will be a physicly grueling event, but am not sure how technical it is).

stuartie – thanks, I'll try my best to enjoy it.

MSP – I want to avoid changing every day and also run hard tyres. have you got experience of speed king? some of the reviews are that it is light but doesnt grip aswell as race king. Also do you have any views on standard conti's versus supersonic and protection?

There are plenty of tech descents on steep, loose surfaces which go on for miles. Arm pump becomes a real issue! You'll find yourself barging through hundreds of tanned Europeans walking their bikes down anything that is remotely steep or loose.

I tried some Conti tyres beforehand and didn't trust them – felt like the front was breaking away far too easily. Not sure if the were Speed Kings or Mountain Kings but they had quite tall triangular side knobs which were too widely spaced for my liking.

Whatever you choose, make sure you are 100% familiar with them and you can predict how they will behave on any surface. 80km/h on a gravel road is no place to discover the break-away limit!

This pretty much goes for everything on the bike – get used to it and make all the changes well in advance of the race so that it is all totally familiar and trustworthy.

Not Transalp but Trans Rockies

I used a Nobby Nic Racing Ralph Combo. As I saw it the advantages were:
Decent sizes (I used a 2.25)
Still very light
Minimal rolling resistance
Rideable when it got muddy (the NN up front gives you all the bite you'll ever need).

Regardless of which tyre you choose weight and rolling resistance MUST be the 2 critical factors as the percentage of tricky, rocky, technical Singletrack will be tiny compared to the amount of wider (Land rover or bigger) roads/tracks.

I haven't tried the speed kings, I have also heared the bad reviews and would avoid it. I use the ust versions of race/mountain king which are the black chilli grippy rubber and love them. I would again avoid the cheaper versions which are made under license in the far east, same tread pattern cheap horrible rubber.

i've got some racing ralphs so will prob get a nobby nick and a race king and try a few different combinations.