Hutchinson Fusion 5 Performance Tyre
I’m happy to concede that Sir David Brailsford is no longer looking in my direction … if he ever was. However, whilst speed may have deserted me, experience has given me an insight into good kit, and having ridden on these Hutchinson Fusion 5 Performance tyres for a few weeks, they’re really not bad. Riding last weekend, the heavens opened and a cold wind blew hail and rain directly at me.
The only way to stay warm was to ride fast, and yet the rain lay in large pools waiting to catch a moment’s inattention. Winding corners and rough country roads added to things; you get the picture – ideal tyre testing conditions. Thankfully, my abiding memory is of the water being driven from the road and pluming away in picturesque streams from the Fusion tyres. First point then – they work well in the wet!
And they’re reasonably quick too, especially in the damp!
Hutchinson has spent time developing their new road tyre range, and the Fusion 5 sits at the heart of the development. It has a Kevlar reinforced band to help protect against punctures; and, instead of the Hutchinson HDF 5.1 compound, it’s been given the far gripper HDF 5.2, which certainly benefited me. It’s a lightweight tyre considering in mind its performance, and the folding clincher goes on easily. The tubeless version has a bit of extra rubber, with a thickness on the sidewalls of 1.3mm. I’ve been running them at 100psi and that seems ideal for the soft compound to work at, gripping superbly.
With minimal tread pattern getting in the way, and the multi-compound rubber doing its thing, rolling resistance was good in terms of balancing the need for speed and the need for safety. The improved puncture resistance, overall performance and durability over other tyres in the Hutchinson range make this a good bet where grip and tyre life are a factor.
These tyres have stood the test of time through a few seasons, and have come up trumps in all aspects. Great grip, good rolling resistance, easy to fit and long lasting. There’s no doubting the work that Hutchinson have put into this tyre, and it works really well on the tough Dales lanes, in all weathers; it’s a tyre that we’d be happy to ride with and is worth every penny.
