Fusion 5 Performance Tubeless Ready Road Tire
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Total rating
Summary
High quality 127tpi tires. Works extremely well
Product Tested: 700×25 Front & Rear
Price: BEST DEAL > $110.00 Kit (includes 2 tires, sealant, tubeless valve stems, 2 rim strips)
Source: Bike shops, websites
Made In: France
Features: Lightweight Tubeless tire for racing, training and endurance rides. Comes in 3 widths 23, 25, 28. Two other models available.
How obtained: Sample from company
Pros
- Racing or Training
- Comes in 700×23/25/28
- 11STORM: a new compound that increases performance of
the tire with respect to rolling, grip and mileage - KIT price is a great deal
- 127 TPI
Cons
- UNIDIRECTIONAL – hard to locate small arrow shows correct direction
- No Butvl liner – cannot patch inside of tire like a tubeless (i.e., use sealant and carry a spare tube)
User Review
( votes)Part 1 – Hutchinson Fusion5 Road Tubeless-ready Tire
This review will be in 2 parts, (a) Understanding what a tubeless ready is, and testing how easy it is to install, (b) how did they ride, how long did they last?
Hutchinson currently (9/2018) offers 6 FUSION 5 road tires; 3 Tubeless Ready and 3 Tube-type. For this review, we will be looking at their FUSION 5 tubeless ready PERFORMANCE tire.
The table below includes all 3 FUSION 5 tubeless ready tires currently offered. For comparison, WEIGHT shown on first row are Tubeless Ready, second row is the weight of the Tubeless.
| Fusion 5 | Size | Perform | Lightness | Puncture Resistance | Comfort | Grip | Durability | TPI | Weight 700×25 |
| GALACTIK 11STORM | 700×23/25 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 | 127 | 240g 285g |
| PERFORMANCE 11STORM | 700×23/25/28 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 127 | 255g 315g |
| ALL SEASON 11STORM | 700×23/25/28 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 127 | 260g 325g |
But, before we get too far ahead …
When putting this article together, I had several questions for Hutchinson.
| 1 | What is the difference between a TUBELESS “READY” road tire and a TUBELESS road tire? |
Great question. Below are the advantages and disadvantagesTUBELESSPros
Cons
TUBELESS “READY”Pros
Cons
| |
| 2 | What is 11STORM® (ElevenSTORM®)? |
| ElevenSTORM® is a new exclusive performance compound that increases performance of the tire with respect to rolling, grip and mileage. | |
| 3 | What is difference between HARDSKIN, KEVLAR PRO TECH and REINFORCED? |
Each flat protection system offers advantages and disadvantages. Since most race courses in the USA are groomed (glass and debris picked up), Hutchinson recommends the following;
| |
| 4 | Do I have to use Hutchinson Protect’Air Max? |
| A compatible latex sealant is mandatory with the TUBELESS READY tires. Protect’Air can block a perforation up to 3mm (0.12” – a little smaller than 1/8”). | |
| 5 | Since TUBELESS READY is definitely different than TUBELESS, what is your recommended process for installing the tire(s)? |
Here is where the “KIT” is the ideal solution.
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Mounting
As you can see from the video, these mounted as easy, if not easier than a standard clincher. This is due to the lack of an additional butyl layer.
When unmounting the tires, I had to use my favorite Pedro’s plastic tire iron. A quick flip of the tire iron and the tire was easy to remove by hand.
So far, a 5 / 5 stars!
Stay tuned for Part 2 where we let you know how they worked.
I have always enjoyed bicycling and, through a series of coincidences, became a Bicycle Industry Consultant and Product Tester. I test prototype products for companies and have published only off the shelf production products on biketestreviews.com.
