Hutchinson has unveiled the new Blackbird Racing Lab road tyres, officially replacing the Fusion 5 and promising to match the performance of the best road bike tires.
New features for the tires include improved Mach Tread 3.0 compound rubber and new carcass technology. According to Hutchinson, the tire's new design features reduce rolling resistance by 10 percent, while a 15 percent wider tread adds extra grip and cornering traction designed to better fit modern wide rims.
Made in France, the Hutchinson Blackbird Lab is currently available in 26 c, 28 c and 30 c, and is priced at £61.99 for the vacuum version and £43.99 for the open-ended version.
The new Blackbird tires are the result of four years of research and development at Hutchinson's Montargis laboratory in the south of Paris. Hutchinson noted that the Blackbird tire's new carcass and wider tread rubber have been carefully designed to allow the tire to form a greater contact surface with the road surface, which can increase grip in cornering and also help reduce rolling resistance.
The brand claims that the new rubber compound of the Blackbird tires reduces rolling resistance by 10% compared to the previous generation of Fusion 5 tires. At the same time, the company also said that the service life of the tire is now more than 4,000 kilometers, which is class-leading.
The vacuum version is designed with the new SwiftEasy 127tpi housing, which is said to be at the heart of reducing rolling resistance. It bonds the outer tire directly to the central polyamide puncture strip instead of overlapping the two layers as in the past. Then there is also a shell that extends from one bead to the other to increase the airtightness of the tire.
It is claimed that the weight of a tire with a width of 28 c is 290 grams. The tire shape has been carefully designed to be U-shaped, which improves compatibility with wider rims. This is similar to the approach Giant uses in its Cadex 50 Ultra Disc wheel system.
The new Mach Tread 3.0 rubber compound compound is claimed to make Blackbird tires faster. Hutchinson says its high rebound and low rolling resistance increase its energy return in contact with the road surface by 25 percent. It is 5% stiffer and 10% more tear resistant than the 11Storm rubber compound used in Fusion 71 tires, improving the tire's cut resistance and longevity without compromising grip.
Blackbird Racing Lab tires with widths of 26 c, 28 c, and 30 c weigh 275 grams, 290 grams, and 310 grams, respectively. Of these, the 26 C and 28 C ones are available in black and tan beads, while the 30 C ones are only available in black. If it is an open version, the 26C weighs 225 grams, the 28C 245 grams, and the 30C 265 grams.
Editor: Yao