New products
22 March 2022
New Tundra - Unlimited Gravel
We are proud to introduce the Tundra – a new gravel tyre designed to guide riders through the most challenging of drop bar rides.
Hutchinson’s wealth of experience in mountain biking has been taken full advantage of in the new tread profile which completes the versatile new Tundra. The design of the tread has been studied at length to offer unrivalled traction on soft and greasy ground.
Its large volume of grip allows, among other things, optimum grip on both the flat and in the turns and offers excellent braking performance. All while maintaining a fast rolling central surface for road segments between trails.
Due to its adventurer DNA, this tire’s greatest asset is its Tubeless Ready construction, which optimises grip and comfort at low pressure. In terms of reliability, you are protected from the roughest of trails thanks to the integral Hardskin Hutchinson reinforcement. Weight remains under control with the 700×40 tyre coming in at 490g. While the larger 700×45 is 580g.
We began the Hutchinson gravel range a few years ago with the Overide. The goal then was to develop a rolling tire that allowed you to get off the road.
Over the years, as the discipline has developed so have our tyres. The volumes have increased and the tread profiles have become more aggressive. After the release of the Touareg, the objective when developing the Tundra was to expand the range to cover all facets of gravel; rolling, dry, rocky but also wet, loose or even muddy.
The Tundra is right at home in swampy, greasy, moist environments. It is not however just limited to poor weather conditions.
The design of its tread profile and large volume of grip have been meticulously thought out in order to be able to accompany the rider on the most technical of routes and conditions. Ready to tackle off camber singletrack, roots and loose descents.
The challenge: to develop a tyre offering excellent grip and traction in difficult off-road conditions, while maintaining good performance and a wide range of uses, essential for riding gravel.
Inspired by the profile of our Black Mamba. We kept only the most important blocks and removed the rest to leave space for mud to clear. A crucial element for a tyre designed for loose and muddy conditions.
We then added the remaining elements that make a Hutchinson tyre; the famous central spine for performance as well as our solid side tread blocks.
Off-road safety and assurance
On the central tread we dug one of the cobblestones, which gives us two advantages: to avoid the phenomenon of «sledding» by increasing traction and braking and also to save weight by scraping the cell.
On the lateral knobs, the red surfaces represent the place where we will press during passages in curves, slopes, on significant angles, which will guarantee support.
The design of the Tundra was thought out in several complementary parts.
Inspired by the Black Mamba, on the Tundra we find the tread in a “bee wings” pattern, two oblique knobs that follow each other.
There is also a radial band which crosses the tread from one edge to the other: ensuring traction on one side with a front line which will bite the ground (in green) and braking (in red) on the other side.
We also removed the tread that could hinder traction or braking and looked for empty spaces.
In the center, we can also spot a male side and a female side, which allows interlocking and thus flexibility on the centre of the tread.
Thanks to our mountain biking experience, we have unanimous positive feedback on Hutchinson’s signature side tread. Security when cornering and crossing on slopes, good grip, good deformation, due to the profile of these offset teeth. These are sidewalls that are very familiar to riders of our XC range: tread that we first saw appear on the Cobra, were subsequently optimised on the Skeleton, then taken over to the Kraken. They have been designed to go low on the sides of the tyre and add strength to ensure the rigidity and support, like the buttresses of a cathedral.
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