Hutchinson Overide 38mm gravel tyre

The new Hutchinson Overide 38mm tyre is fast-rolling on a range of roads from tarmac to gravel, with impressive durability and reliable tubeless compatibility. The low-profile tread design favours dry conditions and hardpack surfaces, but grip through loose corners is compromised in the pursuit of low rolling resistance.

The French tyre company is offering the new tyre in 35 and 38mm widths. My testing of the latter culminated with the recent Dirty Reiver, a 200km gravel event around Kielder Forest. Most of my testing of the tyres was conducted on the new Praxis Works RC21 carbon tubeless wheels, but I tested them on other tubeless rims for good measure. I used tyre pressures from as low as 35psi for the Dirty Reiver and up to 50psi for road rides.

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Getting the tyres inflated and seated on the rim was a cinch. A track pump was sufficient for one set of wheels, but to overcome the quite loose fit of the tyres on the Praxis rims, I turned to a tubeless inflator to deliver the quick burst of air needed. Once installed with a glug of tubeless sealant, the tyres have been running with no issues for several months – no leakage, burping or punctures. It's been plain sailing.

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The tyre is particularly suited to road and hardpack conditions. An almost completely flat centre section, save for very small diamond shaped dimples, sees the Overide rolling very quickly along the road, and up to about 28-30kph (17-18mph) it feels just fine, with little noticeable drag. The weight and aerodynamic disadvantage become a factor if you push on at higher speeds, but that's not what the tyre is really designed for.

Moving away from the centre section, the diamond shapes continue in increasing height all the way to the shoulder knobs. It's a very rounded tyre shape compared with some of the squared profiles of more aggressive treaded gravel tyres. That combination of the rounded profile and small rubber blocks does mean that cornering grip on loose gravel, such as when clipping the apex of a fast fireroad descent, is well down compared with many other gravel tyres.

During the Dirty Reiver, I had many a sketchy moment as the tyres broke traction and slipped out from under me. The conditions were dry and some of the gravel and dirt was quite deep and loose in places, and leaning the bike over into the corners required a cautious approach to avoid completely washing out in a pile of gravel dust.

Hutchinson has used a reasonably soft rubber compound which does give good traction in a range of dry and moist conditions, but tyre wear is noticeable after several hundred miles of testing on a mix of road and off-road rides: the centre section is now completely smooth.

The carcass, on the other hand, is one tough cookie. There are no cuts on the top of the tyre and the Protect Max reinforced sidewalls have withstood anything that's come their way. I've certainly not been kind to the tyres, battering them as hard as possible and not always taking the smoothest line, to ensure they're pushed to their limits.

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Generally, I've been impressed with the new Hutchinson Overide tyres, but while they got me around the 200km Dirty Reiver, I'm not really convinced of their gravel credentials. Compared with most other gravel tyres on the market, these are the slickest designs I've seen, and if you're hoping to get seriously off-road and contend with dirt, mud, gravel and rocks, there are grippier tyres that are going to be a better option, especially if there's any hint of moisture in the air.

If, however, you want a tyre that offers really fast road speed and is surefooted enough on dry and firm dirt paths for mainly dry conditions, the Overide isn't a bad choice. It's more of a road tyre than a gravel tyre really, but if you want fast-rolling, big-volume rubber for smoothing out rough roads and occasional forays onto dirt and gravel, it might be the tyre for you.

Verdict

A fast-rolling and tough tyre with easy tubeless installation