diff --git a/vtm-playground/src/org/oscim/test/TileRenderTest.java b/vtm-playground/src/org/oscim/test/TileRenderTest.java
index 38b5c1f4..e834965a 100644
--- a/vtm-playground/src/org/oscim/test/TileRenderTest.java
+++ b/vtm-playground/src/org/oscim/test/TileRenderTest.java
@@ -82,8 +82,7 @@ public class TileRenderTest extends GdxMap {
 		final VectorTileLoader[] tileLoader = { null };
 
 		VectorTileLayer l = new VectorTileLayer(mMap, tileManager,
-		                                        new VectorTileRenderer(), 1) {
-
+		                                        new VectorTileRenderer()) {
 			protected TileLoader createLoader() {
 				tileLoader[0] = new VectorTileLoader(this) {
 
diff --git a/vtm/src/org/oscim/layers/tile/TileLayer.java b/vtm/src/org/oscim/layers/tile/TileLayer.java
index 4dfa8299..b3a37b0d 100644
--- a/vtm/src/org/oscim/layers/tile/TileLayer.java
+++ b/vtm/src/org/oscim/layers/tile/TileLayer.java
@@ -24,10 +24,15 @@ import org.oscim.map.Map.UpdateListener;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
+/**
+ * TODO - add a TileLayer.Builder
+ */
 public abstract class TileLayer extends Layer implements UpdateListener {
 
 	static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(TileLayer.class);
 
+	private static final int NUM_LOADERS = 4;
+
 	/**
 	 * TileManager responsible for adding visible tiles
 	 * to load queue and managing in-memory tile cache.
@@ -60,11 +65,18 @@ public abstract class TileLayer extends Layer implements UpdateListener {
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Override to set number of loader threads. Default is 4.
+	 */
+	protected int getNumLoaders() {
+		return NUM_LOADERS;
+	}
+
 	@Override
 	public void onMapEvent(Event event, MapPosition mapPosition) {
 
 		if (event == Map.CLEAR_EVENT) {
-			// sync with TileRenderer
+			/* sync with TileRenderer */
 			synchronized (mRenderer) {
 				tileRenderer().clearTiles();
 				mTileManager.init();
diff --git a/vtm/src/org/oscim/layers/tile/bitmap/BitmapTileLayer.java b/vtm/src/org/oscim/layers/tile/bitmap/BitmapTileLayer.java
index fca6b19e..18523309 100644
--- a/vtm/src/org/oscim/layers/tile/bitmap/BitmapTileLayer.java
+++ b/vtm/src/org/oscim/layers/tile/bitmap/BitmapTileLayer.java
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ public class BitmapTileLayer extends TileLayer {
 		      new VectorTileRenderer());
 
 		mTileSource = tileSource;
-		initLoader(4);
+		initLoader(getNumLoaders());
 	}
 
 	@Override
diff --git a/vtm/src/org/oscim/layers/tile/vector/VectorTileLayer.java b/vtm/src/org/oscim/layers/tile/vector/VectorTileLayer.java
index 611daca9..ce9ef8fc 100644
--- a/vtm/src/org/oscim/layers/tile/vector/VectorTileLayer.java
+++ b/vtm/src/org/oscim/layers/tile/vector/VectorTileLayer.java
@@ -46,21 +46,21 @@ public class VectorTileLayer extends TileLayer {
 		                          tileSource.getZoomLevelMin(),
 		                          tileSource.getZoomLevelMax(),
 		                          100),
-		     new VectorTileRenderer(), 2);
+		     new VectorTileRenderer());
 
 		setTileSource(tileSource);
 	}
 
 	public VectorTileLayer(Map map, int minZoom, int maxZoom, int cacheLimit) {
 		this(map, new TileManager(map, minZoom, maxZoom, cacheLimit),
-		     new VectorTileRenderer(), 4);
+		     new VectorTileRenderer());
 	}
 
 	public VectorTileLayer(Map map, TileManager tileManager,
-	        VectorTileRenderer renderer, int numLoaders) {
+	        VectorTileRenderer renderer) {
 		super(map, tileManager, renderer);
 
-		initLoader(numLoaders);
+		initLoader(getNumLoaders());
 	}
 
 	@Override