The 700 by 25's are closer to 700 by 23's. The side walls on these tires are excellent. I had no flats for over 1,000 miles on my rear and front tires. I just changed the back tire, because it was getting a flat spot, but again no flats. I added some sealant after a few months of use thinking that it must have evaporated, but found when I removed the sealant that most of it was still in the tire. I reused the sealant on the new rear tire.
I am really pleased with how nice these tires feel while riding. Tubeless road tires are a bit techy, but if you are willing to take the time to get them set up, they ride really well and so far no flats. I can also say I do not miss tubes. Usually when I start to get flats, I have two or three before I change the tire. Over a year, I wind up with 15 or 20 bad tubes.
I have been using Hutchinson's tubeless road tires on my road bike for a couple of years now. I haven't got a flat in months and I'm very happy with their performance. I don't plan on ever going back to tubes again!
I have mounted the tires on Dura Ace road tubeless rims and use with Caffelatex sealant. The tires are used year-round in Seattle on wet, dirty roads and they have performed well over 3,000 miles and still have many miles left before replacement. You can see small cuts and debris embedded in the tire and no flats or leaks. I run the tires at 95 psi according to the manufacturer's specifications.
Ride notes I have these set up tubeless on Dura-ace 7850's, 2 oz of Stan's sealant, and PSI 80lbs, Any higher and the ride is quite harsh and grip suffers. I weigh 175lbs
When it comes to tires, there are always two things in tension Durability vs Comfort. You can usually get one or the other, but not both. These tires are durable, but they ride fairly harsh compared with the other Hutchinson tubeless offerings. If you are flatting with the Atom's or Fusion 3's, then come on in...the water is fine. But I ran the Atoms all year without one flat, and they feel softer, grippier, and of course snappier. I purchased these because the Atoms were out of stock, and now I wish I would have waited...I miss the ride more than I value the extra durability.
4 stars because the tire targets durability, and they hit the mark. They are extremely difficult to mount. Flats are non existent, however, if I flatted I would seriously consider calling the wife for a dust off before I broke out the tire levers...
I converted a Mavic Open Pro rim to tubeless using an Intensive tire, Stan's No-Tubes rim tape and their valve stem. I put 2 oz of Stan's sealant in the tire.
Seems to work great so far. I don't have that many miles yet to make any profound declarations.
I've ridden the Fusion 2's and now Fusion 3's for three years now for races and special events and now I think I'm going all tubeless, using these Intensives for regular street use. I'll be converting more of my wheels to tubeless as it comes time to change tires.
As a 200 lb rider I normally get 1,500 miles at the most with a Continental 4000S with the black chili compound. On the Intensive I got 3,000 miles. This in spite of on the first ride catching the edge of a chuckhole and patching the sidewall using the Hutchinson road tubeless patch kit. A couple of maonth later another hole developed even higher on the sidewall, in the same spot which appeared to be coincidence. I patched it also and both patches held for the duration. I normally use sealant but I was in a hurry to install the tire so I don't know if Stan's would have sealed the hole. I would rather patch it anyway. No problem removing and reinstalling the tire on the road.
I've been using this tire for a few months now and my rear is almost worn down to the casing, yet I haven't flatted. I also hit huge angular potholes on two different occassions that I would have expected to blow out the front tire yet it worked without fail. These are great tires and well worth the price. Only negative is that they aren't any wider than the 23mm Fusion 2 model.
This is my 1 winter training tire. Used tubeless, with sealant, I do not get flats anymore, and when conditions are bad with road trash and gravel and pushy drivers, these hold up. Using 95psi under my 170, very comfortable and sure footed in the wet. Get 'em on sale when you can find 'em.
