Hutchinson Sector 28c tubeless tyre

Hutchinson designed the Sector 28 for the pro teams they sponsor, for racing over the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix. As such it's a big tyre that's tough as well as being light, but it's the comfort that really shines through here. Well, that and the fact that you don't get any punctures. They're not even that much of a pain to fit.

Why go tubeless? Well, the main reasons normally cited are less punctures, better comfort and lower rolling resistance.

You can't pinch flat the tube (where you compress the tyre against the rim and it cuts the tube) because there isn't one. And the sealant that you put into the tyre to make it airtight also does a good job of filling up any holes caused by the likes of thorns or glass.

The elimination of pinch flats means you can run the tyres at a lower pressure, making them more comfortable. And because there's not two layers of material (tyre and tube) pressing against each other the carcass can deform more easily, which the manufacturers will tell you makes for lower rolling resistance.

Sounds good? It is, generally, aside from the fact that you'll need a tubeless-ready wheelset and some other gubbins (rim strips, valves, sealant) that ups the overall price. The main other downside is that the tyres are much more labour-intensive to fit. Things are improving though. Tubeless tyres used to be so tight at the bead that it was a Herculean task to actually get them on the rim, requiring some serious tyre levers and swear words. But that's not the case with these Hutchinsons. They went onto a pair of Bontrager Affinity tubeless-ready wheels with a bit of thumb pressure and nothing more.

Once you have a tubeless tyre on the rim you need to inflate it to get the bead in position. Sometimes you can do this with a track pump but I had no joy at all with these, so I resorted to the tried-and-tested method of a C02 cannister to pop them on (you can also use a compressor). Once seated you can deflate them and inflate them with a track pump with no problems.

I had a few issues sealing the Sector 28s but in the end I think I was just being a bit stingy with the sealant. They take at least 40ml of sealant to do properly, more than the 30ml you'd normally assign to a road tyre; that's not surprising given that it's a bigger chamber. Now they're well sealed they're not losing much pressure. Although tubeless tyres do generally deflate quicker than a butyl tube, and it's worth checking them before a ride, these Sectors are better than many and I go weeks without topping them up.

They're really comfy tyres, that's maybe their best feature. Hutchinson recommend a rather high minimum pressure of 87psi; most of the time I ran them about 80 and went as low as 70 with no problems at all. The difference in comfort between these and a 25mm road tyre is immediately noticeable, and welcome. At 295g plus sealant these aren't the lightest tyres out there but you'll save yourself the ~70g of an inner tube, making them competitive, especially for a big tyre. They don't ever feel heavy or slow. Whether a particular tubeless tyre rolls empirically better than a tubed tyre is an argument for the lab, but those gains or losses are normally pretty marginal, whereas the comfort gain is immediately noticeable.

I haven't punctured them either, and that's with plenty of deliberate excursions into hedge clippings and other detritus, and lots of miles on unmade surfaces too. I have pulled a single solitary thorn out of the carcass, and the sealant (I used Effetto Mariposa's Caffelatex) plugged the hole just fine, a bit of fizzing and bubbling and then no more. That's at worst a top-up from the pump, rather than removing the wheel and tyre and replacing or mending the tube. If you manage to put a hole in the tyre big enough that the sealant won't fix it, Hutchinson do a repair kit but the roadside fix is the same as a normal tyre: stick a tyre boot over the inside of the hole and then bung a tube in; you'll still need to carry one, just in case.

Grip straight out of the box is average, but it improves markedly with riding. The harder central section is a bit slippy when it's new. You notice standing up on greasy back-road climbs and it's a bit too easy to lock up the rear under braking. Things improve after a few rides though, and after that they're a very competent all-rounder, with good levels of grip available and especially so when cornering on the softer shoulder sections. You might want to give the central ridge a light going over with the sandpaper before you ride them to accelerate the aging process. They're not always as tenacious as a summer race tyre, but they're better than most winter tyres I've tried, and largely very predictable. You get the benefit of a bigger contact patch, and the lower pressure and reasonably supple casing means they're great on broken-up back-road tarmac.

Overall these are a great set of tyres for most UK riding. They're comfortable, difficult to puncture, comfortable, quick and comfortable. I'm not sure they'd be my first choice for racing (although people do choose them - http://www.averagecyclist.com/2013/08/review-hutchinson-sector-28-tubele...) but for pretty much everything else they're spot on. At £70 (£50 online) an end they're expensive, no getting away from that, and that's assuming you have everything else you need to get them fitted and sealed. But if you've decided to make the switch to tubeless, and you can fit a 28mm tyre in your frame, these are an excellent choice.

Verdict

Very good all-conditions tubeless tyre for UK riding, once you've worn them in (and got over the cost)