My two biggest fears for the Mega are crashing hard and punctured tires. Schwalbe tells how we can reduce the chance at both.
I called the Schwalbe office in the Netherlands and asked which tire they would recommend for a race like this.
‘The Megavalanche is mainly a downhill parkour, but the race does contain parts that require a lot of pedaling and even climbing’, Bas Leibbrand of Schwalbe Netherlands says. ‘That’s why we would advice to put a downhill tire at the front for grip and an enduro tire at the rear for pedaling efficiency.’
Translated in Schwalbe tires that means a Magic Mary at the front and a Hans Dampf at the rear.
Another factor that’s important in the choice of a tire is the compound the tire is made of.
‘For downhill tires we use our softer compounds (TrailStar or VertStar compound) because they offer more grip’, Leibbrand says. ‘The performance of these tires however, decreases in cold weather conditions because the cold hardens the compound. As a result of this grip is lost because the tire won’t stick to the ground as much.’ A harder compound that will perform better in cold weather is Schwalbe’s PaceStar compound, but downhill tires are not available in this compound. Enduro tire Hans Dampf is though.
‘But for the Megavalanche we would recommend the softer compounds for both tires because the snowy start only covers a small part of the race”, Leibbrand says.
Now let’s talk about tubes.
You can ride the Mega either with tubes or tubeless. This is largely just a preference of the rider. But there is a third option, and that’s the one Schwalbe recommends.
‘We recommend the Schwalbe Procore system. This is a system with a high pressurized inner tube (4 to 6 bars) and a lower pressurized tubeless tire (0.8 to 1.5 bar). What makes this system so great is that it prevents the tire from burping, protects against snakebites and allows you to ride with lower pressurized tires, meaning you’ll have more grip.’
Burping is the tire slipping off the rim causing air to escape the tire, something that happens to tubeless riders. Snakebites are two small incisions in the tube caused by the tube smashing between the rim and an object. Something that happens to riders with tubes, obviously.
A tire system that prevents all that and offers more grip sounds great, but of course does come with a price tag. A Procore set for two tires will cost you 179 euros.
If you rather use a less expensive solution you can either go tubeless or use downhill tubes, whichever you prefer. In this case Schwalbe does recommend not to let the air pressure get below 1.6 bars.
Personally, I haven’t made my choice yet but most riders I’ve spoken with recommend tubeless tires.
Disclaimer: There are other tire manufacturers as well, such as Maxxis and Continental. They also have great tires. I just picked Schwalbe for the interview because my Nerve has Nobby Nics on ’em.
Riding The Megavalanche 
Hi Tobias. My biggest fear is only to crash actually :-). In my 2 megas I always used Maxxis High Rollers dual ply. Last time I went with a harder compound. I used these because that’s what I had at that time.
On my second mega I used them tubeless. Only punctured 1 time on the rear (a big cut on a rock) so I stayed with a tube at the rear for the rest of the week. I think that with a set of 2 good DH tires you will be fine for the whole week, tubed or tubeless.
Keep going!!
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Hi Miguel, that’s really good to hear! I think I’ll try the Magic Mary/ Hans Dampf combo and bring an extra MM tire in case the Hans Dampf rips or punctures. Not sure about the tubes/tubeless choice yet. I hear a lot of people talking about Maxxis High Roller, is that in your experience better than the Magic Mary? Thanks!
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