On Elsewhere I answered the same sort of thread with a direct quote from Kidjambo - as follows:
I can confirm that the Krylion Carbon range HAS NOT been discontinued and I though I should offer an explanation why this popular range is not currently available.
In June of last year we internally discussed the launch of the new Pro3 range which was originally planned for January 2008. Consequently, the production of the Pro2 was due to be stopped in July which coincided with the closure of a production facility in France and the movement of the production of these top-end road tyres (plus the Krylion Carbon) to a new outlet. We realised that we might have a couple of months of shortage but we did not think that this would be a problem with all of the residual stock in the system.
Unfortunately, we had a problem with the HDPP fabric in the Pro3 - this was manufactured externally and the company went out of business so we quickly had to find a replacement, test and homologate. It was quickly realised that this would mean we would not have the range to launch at the start of 2008 as planned. At this time we discussed several options but realised that we could not be without a premium road tyre for a prolonged period of time so the decision was made to restart production of the Pro2 to create enough stock to cover this gap. Unfortunately, the Pro2 and Krylion Carbon are made on the same machine and it was an either/or situation. Now the Pro out-sells the Krylion Carbon by about 20 to 1 so it was a real "no-brainer". This machinery stopped making the Pro2 at the end of 2007 and is in the process of being shipped to the new production facility. Whilst this is a relatively simple procedure - dismantle the machinery, ship it, reassemble, test, recalibrate and restart production - it can take anything from 6 months onwards. If we had stopped using the machine in July as planned then it would have been shipped at that time and production would have restarted in around March this year and we would probably have had enough stock to cover this period. As it was not shipped until January it means that production will no restart until around the End of August meaning stock arriving in the UK around a month later in late September/early October.
On the subject of the Pro3 range, we had originally planned to wait until we had sufficient stock of all colours/sizes/versions to launch in full but we decided that a compromise of a staggered launch would be best. This has meant that the Dark Grey 23mm version was launched a couple of months ago and is already receiving rave reviews in the cycling press. Several base colours (Digital Blue, Dark Blue, Red and Yellow) in 23mm launched at the start of June and should be in the shops now. More colours (Black, Ivory, Yellow Flash, Orange Signal) in 23mm, a 25mm and a 650C version in Dark Grey, the Pro3 Light in Digital Blue, the Pro3 Grip in Dark Grey plus several limited edition colour options (Cement/Orange Signal and Tobacco/Digital Blue) will launch around the time of Eurobike at the start of September. There will also be a Light Grey in 23mm and a 20mm version, probably in Dark Grey, launched towards the end of the year or possibly into 2009. For more information visit
Michelin - Tyre, tyres, car tyre, 4x4 tyres, buy tyres, travel guide, car tyres uk and click on the Pro3 link at the bottom of the page!
I hope that this goes some way to explain the current situation which is far from ideal as we realise but somewhat beyond our control. If the information changes on these tyres then I'll try and post to let everyone know. In the meantime, if anyone has any other questions, comments, feedback or suggestions then they can post on here or mail me directly at andy.james@uk.michelin.com! Happy cycling!"
