Ok! so I’ve recently bought a road bike and am enjoying putting in the miles (km’s over here. T’he things is I need to get some new tyres and face the prospect of totally showing myself up when in the LBS. the wheels are mavic ‘ksyrium equipe’ so do these take clinchers? I understand the physical difference and opperation of clinchers/tubulars and i am assuming they need specific rims.Is this right? are there any other types. I’m looking at conti’s 4 season, it’s getting wet over here now and the current michelins are sliding all over the place any experiences with these?.

$120 each it’s cheaper to get them from CRC and have them sent here (nz) by $60 btw. that’s outrageous.

take the tyres off, if they’re clinchers replace like with like.

no idea re: the conti’s..

Yes they’ll be clinchers (and no there aren’t other types besides clinchers and tubulars, open tubulars are just a fancy name for clinchers). Each type does need a specific rim.
Conti 4 seasons are well rated training tyres, personally I use Schwalbe Ultremo R’s (don’t worry about having a tread pattern on the tyre for wet conditions, it makes no difference and slicks with a softish compound are as good as anything in the wet, just drop the pressure down a bit).

Another good tyre for wet and poor road conditions are vittoria open pave ( best tyre I have ever used for these conditions),you often see them used on Paris Roubaix. These are clinchers and will fit on your ksyriums.

Hey Royston, I’m in NZ, well, Auckland at least. I use Conti UltraGatorskin (folding version -kevlar bead), and they hold up well on the coasre chip surface you see a lot of here. Good in the wet too, and very puncture resistant. Cost about $110NZD, so like you say, cheaper SHIPPED from CRC. Crazy.

4-seasons have a much better ride quality and more grip than gatorskins (a higher tpi carcass) will wear slightly quicker though.
worth paying the extra for them imho.

Another Conti 4-Season fan – they really do deliver exactly as claimed – fast, light, decent puncture resistance (use plenty of pressure though, to avoid pinches), plus very good all-conditions grip. I live in the sticks and the roads are quite broken up and dirty with gravel and debris – so I use 25mm which makes a big difference for no discernible reduction in speed.

get michelin pro race 3s

GP4 Season are a good compromise – I commute on thses – 2 years 3 months so far (5000 miles a year)