Cheap Tyres in Andorra? Bike accessories in France/Spain?

[chris]

Hi
I'll be riding my Transalp through France to Spain this summer. I'll leave the bike near Malaga at the end of August in preparation for a trip over to Morocco at Christmas.

1. I will need to buy new tyres (tkc80s or mt21s, or possibly Deserts) en route. Andorra is allegedly cheaper than anywhere else. Can anybody recommend reliable shops in Andorra (Name, number, web-adress?), where I could preorder now them and collect when I pass through?

2. Also can anybody advise the names of bike accessory retailers/ chains of retailers in France and Spain where, when needed, I can buy chain/sprockets/other expendibles en route. Like MandP in the UK for example.

I recon it won't be difficult to get stuff, because every man and their dog is on a Transalp in France. Would be easier when searching yellow pages though if I knew the names in advance.

Thanks for any help.

Cheers
ChrisB

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[vincent danna]

CARDY is supposed to be cheap in france, they have around 20 shops in france, look here : http://www.cardy.fr/pages/index.php

have a good trip

[JonStobbs]

Regarding tyres in Andora,a friend riding a Yam TDM had to replace his rear tyre on his way through Andora-de-ville,and just stopped at a bike dealer that he came accross.Not only did they have just about the biggest choice for makes he'd ever seen,in that size but he only had a 10 minute wait while they fitted it. And the best bit was the whole lot cost about 60% what it would have here in UK....fitting was included in the price too!Apparently this is the norm of most bike shops in Andora,as they know the French and Spaniards will travel there for new rubber.

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Just going for a short ride on my bike....

[seanh]

I hear you can buy cheap zip ties in Spain. Great for holding a Transalp together.
Sean

[slim161]

I was just in Andorra about two weeks ago. You will have no problems finding tire or tire shop to choose from, quite the opposite too many. Like was mentioned above Andorra Le Vella is the place to go and just drive downt the main street and you will find a ton of shops.
I bought some boots there for about 1/2 of what I have seen them in other places.

[PanEuropean]

I've been through Andorra a couple of times, and to be honest, the place didn't impress me. There were zillions of bikes, and zillions of bike shops everywhere, but the whole place kind of gave me the impression that it was one big discount mall.

I try to plan to buy my tires in Portugal. I've done that a few times, and been quite happy with the prices. The labour prices in particular are very low, and the technicians at the shops are generally quite well experienced and take their time, making sure they do a very good, very careful job.

For me (and I do realize this is very much a personal opinion), I would rather go into a shop in Portugal, and have someone take two hours to change the tires, making sure that they are greasing everything properly, and inspecting everything else that they can see, rather than getting really fast '10 minute' service from a place that sells in bulk at the lowest price.

Michael

[chris]

Bought a 90 90 21 Bridgestone TW101 front tyre fitted for 71 euros. A bit cheaper than the UK I suppose, but overall IMHO Andorra is a horrid, dirty, overpriced placed. Nothing was particularly cheap, except for the fuel. Most things can be sourced as expensively or a lot less via mailorder/ebay/BMF Rally in Peterborough. General outdoor gear is cheaper at home too, IMHO.

If you´re riding the Spanish Pyrenees, stick to the N260 road. Superb.
ChrisB

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