In my humble opinion, tubeless is the only way to fly, and not just for mountain bike wheels. Yes, it can be a little more difficult to install a road tubeless tire with the stiff bead, and pumping them up requires finesse. But....it is so worth it. A smooth ride and virtually no flat tires (knock on wood that I did not just jinx things). I used the Fusion 3 for several years and now the Hutchison Fusion 5. I cannot recommend them enough, and I will keep buying them. I generally ride the 28's, as I have grown to enjoy the comfort. I don't understand why more roadies don't ride tubeless, but to each his own. All I know is I am happy with these tires.
Easy to mount tubeless. I bought 2 of these and both had to be replaced within 150 miles because of bubbles developing in the outer casing. BD exchanged them quickly without any problems. I also experienced a lot of punctures-all sealed with sealant-but it punctures easily. They have a very comfortable ride, as close to a latex tubed clincher as I've experienced with a tubeless, and quite grippy. (I've ridden just about every tubeless road tire on the market for over 10 years of tubeless road riding). I won't be buying these again.
I have used these tires on two road bikes now for an extended period of time. They have proved to be durable to punctures as well as having a good road feel. Other comparable tubeless tires I have used include several iterations of Schwalbe tires (great road feel, but not durable and do not seal punctures well), Hutchinson Fusion 3, Hutchinson Secteur, Maxxis padrone. These have a similar durability to the Padrone but subjectively better road feel. Finally, these are much easier than many other tires to mount without tools.
First, I don't have miles or even a few inches ridden on these tires yet (forgive me, I'm still recovering from my last ride). If my assumption that they'll be excellent is wrong even a little bit, I'll come back and amend my review.
My five star praise has to do with the stunning ease with which I was able to fit them on my Stan's No Tubes Grail rims.
Here's the process
1. Prop your thoroughly cleaned rims against a wall or other sturdy support.
2. Take these tires out of their package, carefully take the folds and kinks out, lob them in the general direction of the rims ... they'll pop on like they were meant to be there.
Okay, I jest a wee bit, but the point is, they did go on with next to no effort. Very nice.
I've used nearly every brand of tire under the sun, these are my first Hutchinsons. Based on what I've read and my initial experience with these, I just might become a life time fan. Time, miles will tell.
This is a very fast tire and handles nice as well.
I have about 1000 miles on my first pair .
The 700 x 25 mm version measure 27.3 mm on my Zipp 303 NSW rim brake wheels that have an inner bead to bead width of 19mm.
They mount with no tools and inflate with a hand pump, you need to sponge soapy water on the bead to make it easy to snap into the rim bead seat. ( this is on my Zipp 303 NSWs ).
I have weighed 3 of these at 238 - 245 grams .
Hutchinson have finally got a tire that competes on all levels with the best tubed clincher Tires.
Im on my second one after developing a bubble in the sidewall after 1800 miles. Was still pretty happy with the longevity (rear tire) and they feel great. I did a tour recently where we rode over a section of small sharp gravel that lasted maybe a mile and there were absolutely no cuts in the tread at all.
The positive part is that the tire mounted easily and seemed to perform quite well. That is, until it developed blisters along the tread (not the first time I have seen this on a Hutchinson tubeless tire). For my part, I will stay away from any Hutchinson tire in the future.
These were much easier to install than previous Fusion tubeless tires (looking at you Fusion 3) and comparable to other modern tubeless ready models. They have been durable and resistant to cuts and punctures (Utah roads are notorious) and have a nice supple smooth rolling feel similar to the Schwalbe One Pro that many of us like the ride but give up because of innumerable hard to seal punctures. I have put them on my road bikes as well as my wife's bike.
