Change basemap before map rendered?

[ghost]

Is it possible to change the basemap tiles before calling render on the map? Defining the base map tile layer under layers in the .mapOptions accessor doesn't seem to work and results in a blank map with no basemap or geojson data.

[jeanatpi]

Some years later but maybe can others too.
You can use .tiles method like this :

.tiles(function(map){
            L.tileLayer('https://api.tiles.mapbox.com/v4/{id}/{z}/{x}/{y}.png?access_token={accessToken}', {
                attribution: 'Map data &copy; <a href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/">OpenStreetMap</a> contributors, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC-BY-SA</a>, Imagery © <a href="https://www.mapbox.com/">Mapbox</a>',
                maxZoom: 18,
                id: 'mapbox.streets',
                accessToken: '<AccessToken>'
            }).addTo(map);
        })