HutchinsonSector Tubeless Road Tire(Return to Product Page)

I've been riding the Sector tires on a Stans Grail wheelset, with excellent results, on both tarmac and gravel. This is not a heavy-duty tire, but I've only experienced 1 flat, from big, fat, roofing nail that jammed into tire, on a filthy & wet road.

I was able to successfully patch the inside of the puncture area, once home, with a regular bike tube patch. Don't buff the puncture area. Instead, scrupulously clean the inner area to be patched with automotive brake clean or acetone, before applying the glue.

Not surprisingly, the Sector's rolling resistance feels higher than a full-chat racing tire, such as the 25c Continental 4000S, but the Sector's speed is certainly quite good for a 28c tire. Great traction, on wet, cold, tarmac, and surprisingly good on gravel, as well. Both tires were under 290 grams, on my scale.

I've used pressures ranging from 55-80 psi, depending on terrain, with no problems. Typically, I run 70-75 psi, which seems a good compromise between comfort and rolling resistance.

Overall, a great tubeless tire.

In the last month I've done a Gran Fondo (105 miles) and the BWR - San Diego (135 miles, 30 on dirt), plus commuting every day and a ton of training rides in between, all on my cross bike on these tires. In particular the performance of these tires on the BWR, where we were on some of the rankest dirt roads, rocky MTB trails, climbing ridiculous hills (like 26%), sand, gravel, you name it - nary a cut or flat, I was passing people on descents (coasting), had surprising traction on the loose stuff, AND these tires are still looking new. That was 900 miles in a month. I'm running them tubeless with the Hutchinson sealant. The rear tire loses a couple psi a day, the front maybe 10, too lazy to stick in more sealant.

The ride of these tires...it's a dream when you dial in the right pressure (I'm running 82psi, weigh 180lbs). They allow me to descend on the road with great speed and confidence. These are the best feeling tires I've ever ridden and I've raced and trained on many many brands/types. And contrary to folks who say the tire is slow - when inflated to the right pressure, I'm MEASURING 1-2 mph faster on the same exact descents as my other fast tires. My normal racing tire is the Schwalbe ZX, it is the fastest, just barely, but a much harsher ride than the Sector.

Between the reliability and ride comfort, the performance and low rolling resistance, AND the low weight, it's hard to imagine another tire displacing this one as my go to tire for the road.

I had two of these now - the first one held 6000km (sidewall puncture - not the tires' fault) and the second one made it 7200km (all the way down to the fabric). These tires are well worth their money and wear really well. Right now I am trying out a Schwalbe One and can't tell a difference in handling and feel between the two brands. The Hutchinson went on my Enve's easier, but the Schwalbe held pressure immediately, while the Sector needed a few rides to seal.

Bought a new bike and decided to go tubeless since I upgraded to tubeless rims(HED Ardennes Plus SL Disc Clincher Wheelset ShimanoSRAM). I did a lot of research and decided on these tires. These tires seem to wear faster than the standard Conti Gaterskins I've used. With about 600 miles the front picked up glass and punctured in two spots. Sealer came spraying out but sealed with about 35lbs of pressure left. That was kind of impressive. I decided to ride home(20miles) on that tire pressure to see how they held up. They held up and after filling back to 95lbs they seem to be holding air just fine.

Now to the cons about going tubeless, on road bikes. Be prepared to spent a lot more for rims, tires, and maintenance. Rims need to be taped properly to be seal. Shops will charge on average $XX a rim to this. I had to go through this twice which ended up costing $XXX to get the rims right. A long story and frustration. Then you have the sealer to mess with, different valve stems, and finally the tires. I would say it cost an extra $XXX to go tubeless. Bottom line this technology is not ready for prime time. Just not worth the hassle and money to get a little lighter and smother ride. And I question how much lighter they end up being after double taping the rims and adding sealer. (be aware HED rims need to be double taped and they only include enough tape to wrap once when you purchase through TiresDirect, this cost an extra $XX, part of the long story).

We have these tires on (3) CX bikes that have seen thousands of miles each on the Amish country gravel roads of central Ohio over the last two years. The tires easily mounted to Bontrager tubeless road rims, Easton tubeless mountain bike rims, and Shimano tubeless mountain bike rims. We were really excited to see that they sealed easily on regular tubeless mountain bike rims preventing us from having to buy road or CX specific tubeless rims.

All three bikes are running the tires tubeless with 2 ounces of sealant and none have experienced any leaks or flats over the last two years.

I have well over 2 K miles on my original ones, and have found them to hold air fine, roll fast, corner like crazy and be super comfy. You might have noticed that I did say my original ones, as mine also showed some separation between the sidewall and the main tread. I emailed a pic to Hutchinson to inquire about this, and they sent two new ones, immediately - no hassle what so ever. Some of the best customer service I have ever had. I originally put them on in the early spring when I thought that I would encounter more junk on the roads, but I loved them so much, that I left them on all season long, including a couple of races.

I currently have these on my cyclocross bike, which I use for road/dirt/gravel road riding, occassional singletrack, and commuting (25 miles of my commute is on a gravel towpath). These are the first tubeless road tires I've used. They're mounted on a Stan's Grail Team wheelset, and the combination works great. They're fairly light and flats are a thing of the past. They're fast on pavement, and great on hard-packed dirt and gravel roads. I've even done some fairly technical singletrack with them without trouble. Their Achilles Heel seems to reveal itself in deeper sections of crushed stone, particularly climbing through it. The traction just isn't there to get you uphill through loose stone. Having said that, there's only been one instance of this that forced me off the bike, so it's an exception - not the rule - in my experience.

Re losing air? I've had no such problems using Stan's sealant. Follow the install instructions, use the right amount of sealant, and they're fine (at least on my wheels). Slow bleed occurs, just as it does with tubes, so I top them off before each ride - but it's certainly not excessive.

The one big issue I've had was 'splitting' of the sidewall along the circumference of the tires (on both sides) between the rim and where the text is printed on the tire. This happened with 300 miles on the set. They still hold air, but I don't think this is typical - especially since there seems to be casing threads unraveling parallel to the rim. I sent a photo to Hutchinson's warranty department, and they've been great. Very prompt attention and they're sending me replacements w no hassle whatsoever. Just wanted to put it out there as something to keep an eye on.

Overall, I'm really pleased with these. Sure, I'm bummed about the sidewall issue - but can't complain at all about the service I've received. Hopefully, the replacements won't have the same issue.

I really like the feel of the road that I get with these tires. I do not run them tubeless, but the larger volume allows me to run lower pressure and not worry about pinch flats, so I get the benefits of better grip on corners, and less vibration that come with lower pressure. They are like suspension on a road bike.

Positives Great ride, good cornering, light, easy to mount, hold air pretty well for tubeless.

Negatives Relatively expensive. Not very puncture resistant, and punctures do not seal, at least when used with Stan's sealant. This is probably a coincidence, but after months without a puncture riding Continentals, I switched to these tires, and had 2 punctures in about 3 weeks.

Punctures will happen when you ride a lot of miles, irrespective of the tire, so this tire still gets a sold 3.5 stars from me. I'm going to switch to the Hutchinson sealant when I run out of Stan's, to see if that makes a difference in the ability to seal on the fly.

These are a very durable and comfortable tire. I have run it both tubeless and with no issues. In the PNW we have a bunch of Kermesse races (mixed gravel and pavement) that are notorious for eating tires. Ran these at three different events with no flats.

Great tires. Lighter than the intensives and much bigger. Similar in size to a large 700x25. Just a great tire than rides really well and holds up even longer. Use one on the front of your bike and you will feel very confident on fast down hills. These tires just feel so good. They are great climbing tires as well. They are a little harder to put on than the intensives. Usually I soap the sides to help seat the tire since I use a floor pump. Get a set of these tires. You will really like the ride.

I've now got several thousand miles on these. Mounted on 25mm OD rims they fit snug and seat in easily. They seem to be a bit porous and require some TLC to get sealant to fully coat and seal the interior, but once done they hold air well. I use tubeless on our tandem at 90 psi under our 350, and at 75psi under my 160 on the single. Great for rough conditions like broken pavement and gravel and dirt as long as there is a hard surface underneath, but deep sand or softer ground demand more tire. Quite the plush ride on smooth roads. Excellent wear and durability, no punctures yet on three wheelsets in six months.

Bought these for an airfield crit series down here after flatting numerous times on my zipp clinchers.

Problem solved.

Wouldn't use them for fast crits or road races, but great for training and other-than-asphalt racing.

Difficult to set up compared to other Hutchinson tubeless or other tubeless tires used. Incredibly slow tire. Ended up putting these on my commuter. Originally purchased for gravel/dirt road riding in Northern Colorado and a couple of early spring races that feature some dirt/gravel but these do not handle any better than a Grand Prix 4000s on the dirt/gravel so I will definitely not race w them.

Purchased a set to ride Cycle Oregon XXVI in southeastern Oregon where the route included lots of of heavy chip seal and some gravel roads. The tire met my high expectations in all respects. The 28mm tire barely fit under the fork on my Moots road bike and looks a bit like a balloon tire but I detected no negative aspects versus the 23MM and 25mm tires I typically use on that bike. The only down side from my perspective is the loss of tire pressure - these tended to lose about between 5 and 10 lbs over a 24 hour period.

Running these on our road tandem (700x32). Seem to roll well. Have twice the miles we obtained with Schwalbe G One Speed (700x30) and still plenty of rubber left. I will continue to use them on our tandem.

This tire wins my best of category for tubeless tires. Although a bit pricey, it has superior wear and durability (I get somewhere around 3,000 mile on a tire). It also resists cuts better than other competitive tubeless tires. If you're looking for a solid, long-lasting tubeless tire that is well made and will give you miles of trouble-free riding, this is the one.

Love the ride quality and general toughness on rough roads and firebreaks, but have had two in a row get a puncture that sealed on the outside but then let air get between an inner layer of rubber and the tread, resulting in tire deformities that made them unridable.

I love thet ride quality, and they don't seem to puncture easily as I've never flatted out on them during a ride, but both tires cracked badly after just barely more than one season. I've only put about 500 miles on them, and if they wouldn't crack, they clearly have many, many more miles in them. Given that they are quite spendy I am very disappointed in their seemingly short lifespan.

I ride over 12k miles a year. I get a lot of flats and go thru a lot of tires. I decided to try out road tubeless to try to lessen the time wasted on the side of the road changing flats. I tried out the Hutchinson Sector 28's and couldn't get my rim tape to seal. I put the Hutchinson's back on the shelf. I purchased a new bike a little while later with tubeless ready rims and installed the Hutchinson Sectors 28's. That was 1,300 miles ago and I haven't had a flat yet! All 1,300 miles have been in winter conditions with a lot of debris, gravel and whatnot on the road. I was 100 miles into a 475 mile ride and the rear tire started spraying sealant when I stopped for lunch. The tire sealed with about 65lbs of pressure remaining. I rode the remaining 375 miles home without issue and without adding air to the tire. No problems at all. When I got home I inflated the tire back to 100 psi and no leaks.

I check my tires for embedded glass and wire after ever ride. The tires show a few very minor cuts - just a few mm across and seem to pick up very little debris (glass). I can't find rolling resistance data, but these tire seem to roll fast - I've had excellent speeds on descents with them. A great tubeless tire feel, smooth and supple. They corner good as well.

The only downside I have found is the price as they are rather expensive.