Life In The Saddle

For me, the gravel bike is everything. My skinny tyre road bike has been hung up for over a year, and my gravel bike is used for road based commuting, weekend blasts, shopping trips and bikepacking adventures. I have two gravel bikes: the Kona Private Jake and the Kona Sutra Ltd. The Private Jake is now my commuting rig, and I have been hunting for a tubeless tyre that offers speed, stability and all weather grip, both on the asphalt and for occasional off-road riding. In the Hutchinson Caracal tyre, I think I have found it. The Caracal is a 'fast' gravel tyre. It has a slick central strip, with small side knobs for added grip when cornering. The central strip allows you to roll quickly on light gravel and road based rides, and when you do lean the bike over, especially loaded, the lugs provide respectable grip. Venture offroad in wet conditions and you might be looking for more grip, but for fast summer trails without too many rocks, the Caracal is ideal. Hutchins...

Hutchinson bicycle tyres have taken me across continents, to the podiums of mountain bike races in the Italian Dolomites, and now it seems they are set to conquer the gravel scene… " Touareg " means ' free folk '—it is the name of a nomadic tribe in the Sahara Desert. The French brand Hutchinson Tires selected that name for this tubeless gravel tyre because of its special ability on rugged (mostly dry) off-road trails. This is a gravel bike tyre for back-of-beyond adventures. Hutchinson Tires maintain a build quality level that from my experience is second-to-none. They were one of the pioneers of tubeless bicycle tyre technology, way before it became mainstream; over the years they have perfected the balance of protection, weight, grip and immaculate fit that is sought after in all tubeless set-ups. The Touareg tyres are a mixed-surface gravel tyre, intended to be used primarily on dry and loose terrain. The tread pattern is a file-style arrow pattern that strikes...

Hutchinson Tires were a pioneer of tubeless tyre technology—creating some of the first tubeless road and mountain bike tyres in the industry. They have continued the strong brand position with an ongoing range of superb tubeless road, gravel, and MTB tyres. Now, they have branched out into an accompanying range of tubeless kits and accessories—to complete the offering. Many riders are cautious about making the switch to tubeless, having heard about tight tolerances that can make tyres a challenge to fit and seal, the setup being a messy process, and the difficulty to repair a tubeless tyre mid-ride. Keen to address each of the above concerns, Hutchinson Cycling has developed a new range of tubeless tool kits and accessories. Hutchinson Tubeless Valves and Tubeless Rim Tape Hutchinson have released a new tubeless rim tape in 20, 25 and 40 mm widths, as well as universally compatible black conical tubeless valves with the option of 20 mm and 40 mm valve extenders. The rim tape and valve...

I have a fond association with the Hutchinson Tires brand; in 2014 I spent a week in Provence with the product development team testing their Toro and Squale MTB tyres . The French brand has evolved their range significantly over the last few years, and the release of the new Overide gravel-specific bike tyre promised to be an interesting and (from past experience) superb mixed-surface bicycle tyre. Hutchinson Tires were the pioneers of tubeless technology and designed some of the world's first tubeless road tyres; capable of taking the high pressures required for asphalt riding. Tubeless tyres have really come into their own with the growth of 'Gravel' riding though; because of their inability to pinch-flat, and the dramatically increased grip and comfort that can be achieved even on low volume tyres. I have been testing the Hutchinson Overide 38c gravel tyre on my 3T Exploro for the last few months, and they are proving to be a superb summer gravel riding option. ...