Hutchinson

Intensive 700x25 Tubeless Tire

Feel qualified now to write review. I've used Hutchinson Intensive Tubeless now front/rear on my Dura-Ace WH-7850 wheelset now for 5 months total. The tires have 2500 miles on them. About 2000 miles the rear tire started showing some threads through the casing, but I kept it going to 2500 without any flats or problems. Front looks like it will go to 7000 or beyond. I would say I am a road tubeless convert after this time. So far zero flats with these and I usually run them 85lbs. I can go faster on them on technical descents on bad pot-holed roads and have set some PRs I wouldn't have felt capable of achieving before. The weight was within a few grams of the former tires I ran (Vredestein Fortezza) with tubes. Cornering grip does not seem so great on them compared to others on smooth roads. In fact had my first road crash in 28,000 mi. on a switchback corner that I was doing a bit slower than my normal speed. I fully expected the tires to grip, but they didn't compared to what I was used to previously. I do have to have to mount them by putting them on with a regular tube, inflate to lock the beads, release air, unlock bead on one side and remove tube and install tubeless valve stem, add Caffelatex sealant, hook up the bead and then use my floor pump to inflate. I was worried I would need an air compressor to pump up the tires and so I held off for a long time, but this method works fine and I don't mind the extra work since the tires will be on there at least 2500 miles barring disaster.

I really like the smoothness and ride of this tire. This is due to the tubeless design plus larger size. This seems to ride higher then other 25mm tires, if that makes sense, it's not as round as say a pro race 3 25mm. I use this on allot of club/training rides and it's plenty fast enough to keep up with the lead group while at the same time being more comfortable then the skinny tires. Most of my riding on this tire is my 17 mile commute. So far, no flats after about 1500 miles of use. I suggest using it with sealant otherwise it will lose air overnight. Downsides include mounting, tubeless are hard to mount. The other downside is if you use with sealant, you have to change out the sealant about every 3-4 months.