Hutchinson has launched the Blackbird, calling the new road bike tyre its fastest ever.
The French brand also claims the Blackbird is grippier and harder-wearing than the Fusion 5 Performance, which was previously its speediest road tyre.
The tubeless version of the Hutchinson Blackbird costs £61.99 / €69.99, while the tube-type model costs £43.99 / €49.99.
Both tyres are available to buy now in three sizes (26mm, 28mm and 30mm) with black or tan sidewalls. The 28mm and 30mm sizes are hookless compatible.
10 per cent lower rolling resistance
The release of the Blackbird marks Hutchinson’s return to the fast road bike tyre market.
The Fusion 5 Performance used to occupy the top spot in Hutchinson’s road bike range, but hadn’t been updated since we last reviewed it in 2021.
Hutchinson says the Blackbird uses a new, more supple casing called SwiftEasy.
It claims this reduces rolling resistance by a tenth, while improving comfort and reducing weight.
In the SwiftEasy design, Hutchinson wraps the tyre casing around the bead and directly adheres it to a polyamide puncture protection belt.
Usually, these layers overlap, so this reduces the number of layers required from three to two.
The second layer of 127 TPI casing stretches from bead to bead, to improve air retention, according to Hutchinson.
The brand hasn’t supplied any data to support its claims.
However, we have a set to test and will report back with our independent review.
The 28mm Blackbird TLR weighs 286g per tyre on our scales, which is competitive with the best road bike tyres such as the Continental GP5000 S TR.
Hutchinson says the tubeless 26mm and 28mm-wide Blackbird weigh 275g and 310g respectively.
4,000km of riding
The brand says the Blackbird is more durable than the Fusion 5, thanks to a new tread compound.
The Mach Tread 3.0 is said to be 10 per cent tougher than the outgoing 11Storm compound.
Due to its increased tear resistance, the Blackbird can last for 4,000km of riding, according to Hutchinson.
The new tread is claimed to be 15 per cent wider than the previous design and optimised for modern, wide rims.
In combination with the more supple SwiftEasy casing, Hutchinson says this puts more tyre in contact with the road to improve cornering grip.
Long live the inner tube
For road riders who are not tubeless converts or only have clincher road bike wheels, there is a tube-type Hutchinson Blackbird.
Hutchinson omits the lightweight SwiftEasy casing from the clincher version and includes an extra layer of casing. This adds the puncture protection required to run inner tubes, according to the brand.
The clincher Blackbird comes with black or tan sidewalls and in 26mm, 28mm and 30mm sizes. These are claimed to weigh 225g, 245g and 265g respectively.
