Recently Michelin switched their bike tire factory to Thailand. The Krylions, which had previously been made in France are now made in thailand. I was wondering what people's experiences are with the new Thailand-made Krylions.

My experience is that they're not even half as good. The original Krylions consistently gave me 3000+ miles without a single flat. The new ones are currently averaging about 320 miles per flat (4 flats so far, and one tire was ripped all the way through the "kevlar" - and thus was tossed).

If you're no longer happy, what other tire are you trying out?

I've been riding Krylion for the rear tire after I had a flat with the Pro2Race. No problems so far. Wear is a slight issue but I find these to be more durable and "go anywhere".

Overall, Krylions are a good tire, but the quality control of Michelins has always been kind of crappy. I've had pairs of Krylions that flatted every ride from tiny punctures, and others that never flatted. Unless they redesigned the tire, the Asian manufactured Krylions are fundamentally the same and constructed with the same methods (and probably same equipment). Being made in Asia doesn't magically make them an inferior tire. Your luck may relate to the same quality control issue that has plagued Krylions all along.

BTW, I'm talking out of my ass since I haven't yet tried the new Krylions. I'm still working my way through a surplus of Krylions that I bought a few years ago.

During the shortage I gave up on Michelin and switched to Conti 4000s....and could not be more pleased. Sorry that does not answer your question directly, but if you are not pleased with the current crop I suggest you follow my lead.

Oh, I'm not blaming the Thailand factory - I'm sure they do exactly what Michelin tells them to do. I was just mentioning it so you can tell whether you have the new ones (they say in VERY small raised-print on the tire "Made in Thailand") or the old ones.

Michelin's quality control might have always been shoddy, but I'd lived through 4 of the France-made ones and not a single one made it less than 3000 miles. I've had 3 new ones and two are already crap and the non-crap one is on the front wheel.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'm actually trying Specialized Armadillos but if they don't work, I'll try the conti 4000's. Any reason why you chose those instead of the conti gatorskins?

Smart man.

New ones are noticeably "softer". I thought it was just my imagination at first...

Gatorskins and Armadillos are great tires for puncture protection.

Their ride and cornering ability leaves something to be desired. If you're commuting on the tires, then flat protection is paramount, but if you're training and racing on them, then perhaps you want something a little more supple.

Correct. I personally feel that the GP4000S have "good enough" flat protection and excellent performance. It's a tradeoff beteween road feel and flat protection, if you need excellent flat protection and "good enough" performance get the gatorskins.

All the European tire manufacturers have switched production to the Far East. Continental for example, only makes the top of the line tires in Germany. The rest come from Asia. From a quality standpoint, it doesn't affect the tires. I'm happy with my Michelin Krylion Carbon on my FG bike.

I used to really like Vittoria Rubino Pros. Last summer I had a few flats in a few days, on relatively new tires. I think they had recently switched to Thailand.

I stopped using them. I now using Continental GP 4000 or 4000S. As others have said, I also find these to be an excellent all-around tire. Fast, hold well, not many punctures at all and can be had at a nice price when on sale.

I have some Michelin Pro Race2s on my "around town" bike. They haven't had flat issues, but they have worn/dry rotted in the sidewall faster than I'd like and the bead seam is starting to come apart. They are a few years old, but don't get near the mileage of my road bikes.

Conti GPs are the nicest tire I've ridden.

I have the new ones and they have been fine. Recently I wore out the rear tire I purchased in March. I suspect the durability is not quite as long as gatorskins but they ride better IMHO.
My experiences with GP4000s are not quite as positive as the other posters in this thread.

https://www.competitivecyclist.com/za...ODE=&BRAND.ID=

Makes sense, but with the way the roads are here, I think I'd be better off with the gatorskins and sacrificing some ride quality.

My made in thailand ones have about 2k on them, go from trainer, to road, to races all on the same tire. No flats so far

I've got the old Kryliums. My only complaint is that they cut way too easily. I've never cut another tire riding where I live. After purchasing two Kryliums, within one year, both have cuts, one which will eventually kill the tire before it wears out.
If the new Kryliums are softer and cut more easily, I'm not sure I want to try another set.

What I dont understand is if there's no difference in manufacture between Europe and Far-East, then why would Conti still make it's top-of-the-line tire in Germany ?

As an aside, the time when Krylions became limited in supply, I moved to Gatorskins as I started commuting. They're way more flat resistant than Krylions around town but ride a lot harsher and certainly do not corner as well as the softer tires. Since I have no interest in entering races, I'll be sticking with Gatorskins because their sole advantage far outweighs the disadvantages.

I really love my Krylions and it is going to be hard to make a switch if I don't have good luck with the new version.

Either the government or the involved labor Unions might be requiring that a percentage of production is still maintained in the country if any outsourcing is to be done by the comapany. It happens all the time. The company just looks at it as a neccessary loss that can be offset anyway by the drastically cheaper labor and materials cost they deal with in countries like Thailand.
Please note that it makes a lot of sense too that most tires be produced in countries like Thailand because......most of the rubber in the world comes from there.......
Technology, engineering and equipment can be sent anywhere these days in miminal time anyway.

Chombi
84 Peugeot PSV

Maybe but there could be two other reasons:

1. It is better quality at the germany factory
2. There's a public perception/nationalism that the germany one is better

I purchased 3 of the newer Krylion tires 700X23C (No origin of manufacturer on sidewall) within the last week.
I did some measurements of older Carbons which was a new spare which I mount on rim and inflated to 110lbs pressure. Took height (rim inner surface to top of tire) and width (where no raised writing). Then did the same for the new Krylion.

Here what I found:

Older Michelin Carbon Width Height
------------- ---------------
2.4mm 4mm
New Krylion 2.3mm 4mm

So results show the newer tires are now a bit narrower than older version, which I am not happy to discover. I have not ridden the new tires yet and plan to return them and look for alternatives.

I feel like flat resistance is totally subjective. I switched from PR3s to GP4000s and got like 2 flats right away. I hated the tires, felt ripped off. Booted the tire (big cut) and kept riding it. Got another like 2k miles into it before I hit another sliver of broken beer bottle.

It's random, I say.

Yeah, and that little 12 year old better not complain about working 19 hours a day. They do give him one meal a day and he can sleep at his work station.

first off, you mean cm not mm. second, they claim to be 23mm(2.3 cm) tires, i dont know why you would be unhappy with the product being exactly what they claim to be.