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'the greatest mountain bike guidebooks known to man'.

Wow. That's some acolade, especially coming from the greatest mountain bike magazine. Here's what Dirt Mag had to say after a sneaky look at our new Southern Spain guidebook.

"Bikefax has rapidly established themselves as the greatest guidebooks known to man, because not only do they feature the best trails in a given area, but they are also well written and contain loads of other useful information aside from the obvious trail info".

"This latest guide of theirs on Andalucia in Southern Spain covers 27 different routes of varying difficulty, along with useful info on where to stay, local bike shops, an even some handy translations for things like brake pads, spokes and 'oh shit'. If you fancy riding somewhere a bit different this year, then get one of these guides, it's almost as good as having a local guide (of the human type) in your pocket, and its a darn site cheaper too."

Kona becomes the official bike sponsors of Bikefax.

Many people will have noticed a fair number of Kona bikes appearing in the photographs in recent guidebooks and may have wondered what the connection was. With helpful loans of bikes and kit, most recently for our new Spanish guidebook, Kona have always been really supportive.

Now its official, from this year, Kona becomes our official sponsors and very generously have supplied us with shiny new bikes and kit, so we can get out there and produce even more quality guidebooks. 
Weve all ridden a fair number of bikes over the years and when youre out on your bike most days, you need a reliable, versatile steed. Sue Savege, Editor in chief of the Bikefax guides says, The Dawg is the perfect workhorse bike for me. You can take it anywhere from the technical singletrack of the 7stanes to the DH chaos of Morzine. Its a very nimble bike and totally versatile.

Bikefax have been producing high quality mountain bike guides since 2005, and now with a series of guides covering both Europe and the UK, Bikefax have established themselves as the greatest guidebooks known to man (Dirt Magazine).

Ben Gaby (European Marketing Manager) of Kona says, Its great to be associated with such a quality product as Bikefax.

Look out for more Bikefax guides for South Wales and Europe to be published later this year.

One of the longest running debates in the Bikefax office has been what tyres work best on North Wales slate, everyone has their own opinion and choice, but I still wasn’t sure, but then after a call and a couple of emails our friends at Continental Tyres sent me a pair of Continental Mountain King tyres to try.

The Mountain King is a fairly new addition to the Continental family, available in two sizes 2.2 XC and 2.4 Enduro, and boasts the new Black Chilli Compound which has been specially developed using nano carbon particles which in simple rider terms means that the tyre compound is softer and more flexible than other tyres on the market but without sacrificing on wear.

I had the chance to try the folding 2.2 version with added protection version, and out of the box the tyres look very impressive, but I must admit I did have my doubts, as the tread on the tyres did look very soft which would surely affect the durability, wouldn’t it?? And how would they deal with the infamous wet Welsh slate, even though the guys at Continental assured me they would be fine.

When I first tried the Mountain King we had experienced a few days of heavy rain and wind, and generally the mountains were soaked, so this would be a real test for the tyres with sticky rain soaked mud, slippy roots and greasy slate. The first thing I noticed when riding the lengthy road section to my chosen route over the Carneddau Mountain range, was that the low profile design reduced the amount of drag normally created by chunkier tyres, and then when I stepped off road the low profile still impressed by clearing the tyre allowing maximum grip at all time, then came the time to test the Black Chilli Rubber when I reached a large section of technical climbing which in true North Wales style was made up mostly of wet, wheel spinning Slate and with my gear chosen, and my arse firmly clamped to my saddle I attacked the climb not really knowing what was in stall, but to my surprise the Continental Guys were right the tyres gripped and gripped well, with every pedal stroke the confidence grew and I even turned around and rode down to do the climb again just in case it was a fluke but again the tyres performed flawlessly.

Since that first ride the Continental Mountain King has endured a mixture of terrains from hard packed fire road to technical Singletrack and they have performed effortlessly over all these terrains, and I have also been very surprised at the durability for such a soft tyre. For anyone looking for a tyre that will deal with anything you throw at it from short man made trails to epic marathon races these tyres will out perform most tyres on the market, making it a must for any mountain bike all rounder.

For more info on Continental Tyres visit www.conti-tyres.co.uk
Written by Neil Halcrow (Bikefax team rider)