Tires are not the easiest of cycle accessories to review, the Hutchinson Fusion Air Light Tires are very easy to ride, I would go as far as to say they are a dream to ride, very nice cycle tires, probably the best I've used, they compare favorably to expensive tubulars with their top class performance
Hutchinson (www.hutchinsonrubber.com) is one of the biggest rubber manufacturers in the world, they make a lot of different bicycle tires, road, MTB, City and BMX, they also make motorbike tires, but we are not interested in them.
The tires we are looking at today are the Hutchinson Fusion and more specifically we are reviewing the Air Light version, which is the best one they make.
The Hutchinson Fusion Range
The Hutchinson Fusion range consists of three different tires: - the Fusion Comp comes in three colors, silver, gold and red, also there is the Fusion Long Distance, which is built for hard wearing and there is our tire the Fusion Air Light, which as I've said is the top of the range for competition cycling.
The Air Light
The Air Light comes in only one color and one size, a black casing with light blue stripes on the tread area, the size is a comfortable 700 x 23 which should take most of the bumps out of any road surface, but I wouldn't try much off road work, they are a bit narrow for that!
So what's different with these tires? Well first they are lighter than the Comp, maximizing the design and performance of the tread and the casing does this, this also improves handling and acceleration.
4 Extrusion is the technology used to mix different rubber compounds in the tread increasing grip and performance, this with GMP (granular tread performance) uses reinforced silica to help cornering at speed.
How Do They Ride
Before I tell you how it rides, I can tell you that this is an easy tire to fit on the wheel rim, some are impossible to fit with out the use of tire levers, but these you can push on with your hands, they are tight and secure and when blown up these will not come off under the most severe of conditions.
Talking of blowing them up they advise a pressure of 8.0 bar (115 psi) to a maximum of 8.7 bar (125 psi), I found 8 bar to be hard enough, here the roads are not the smoothest and I would ride at 7.5 bar on most tires, with these I noticed that the tire performed much better at 8, rolling better and cornering felt very safe and secure.
The Fusion Air Lights feel like an expensive tubular, but a lot cheaper, with a latex inner tube the performance was unbelievable and the sound the tire makes on smooth road brings back memories of riding time trials on my best wheels and tubs, there is a certain hum or whoosh you hear that makes you feel fast even if you are not.
I did find I was breaking going into tight bends as I was defiantly going faster or it felt like it anyway!
What Do We Think
you could do a lot worse than getting a pair of these Hutchinson Fusion tires, personally I would rate them higher than Michelins and Continentals, very responsive, fast and they have lasted well over the months that I've been testing them, no punctures, a few cuts on the tread and the rear tire has worn on the middle section, but I haven't noticed any ill affect on the performance.
Very nice tires indeed and not too expensive.
8/10 Highly Recommended
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