Hutchinson Fusion Comp
By James Sharp

We cyclists demand quite a bit from road tires. We want them to be extremely light -- after all, rotational weight is felt the most -- we want them to stick to the ground like pine sap on skin, we want them to last thousands of miles and turn aside anything that could puncture. Oh, and we don't want to pay an arm and a leg for them. Hutchinson has been around for a while -- in fact the present Hutchinson company was set up in 1898 -- and have been involved in bicycle racing for many years. In fact, they've sponsored the US Postal Team and it's successor, the Discovery Channel team, along with the Quick Step team. When they sent us their Fusion Comp racing tire, I couldn't wait to try it out.

The Fusion Comp uses Hutchinson's 4 Extrusion technology to place different durometer rubber in different locations to maximize cornering grip. The rubber is mixed with silica and Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) to decrease rolling resistance and increase durability. The tire comes in 650x23C, 700x20C and 700x23C (tested). The tires we received weighed a hair under the 210 grams claimed.

These tires roll fast and grip well. There is an off-camber 90 degree corner that has a speed limit of 10mph near my home. This is my favorite corner to test tires and wheels because it is the worst possible scenario. Not only is it a tight corner at the bottom of a downhill, it's off camber. My personal best is with this tire... 27mph. The only limitation was me, I chickened out, or I could have gone a little faster. Grip is not something that this tire lacks.

During the duration of this test, I have not flatted either. The worst thing you can do with a race tire is commute on it, and commute I did -- over rough pavement, broken glass and other debris. There were times when I thought I'd flat and there are cuts in the tread where I might have flatted, but I didn't flat once.

On the other hand, the tire is showing quite a bit of wear after about 700 miles. Front is all right, but the rear tread is very much flattening out over the crown of the tire. I wouldn't expect much more than 1000 miles out of the tire. Fine, I suppose, for a race only tire, but I'd expect double or triple that from a tire that I'd use daily.

Summary: At a price of $50, the Fusion Comps are right up there with any high end race tire. The tread life isn't anything to write home about, but the cornering grip, coupled with a lively feel make this a nice race day tire. It doesn't hurt that it seems pretty flat resistant. If only it had a longer tread life...

James Sharp is a contributing editor for GearReview.com; more of his ramblings and a look at upcoming reviews can be found at his blog -- Lactic Acid Threshold.

For more information, contact:
Hutchinson Tires
E-mail: marketing.cycle@hutchinson.fr