Tire - Hutchinson Kraken

Big knobby trail tire

All-around, good for everything tire that rides way smoother on asphalt than it seems it would be looking at the tread. Impossible not to like. It works great, you’ll like it.

A700c /29-inch x 2.3-inch
Weight: 754g

What’s a Kraken?

kra·ken /ˈkräkən,ˈkrakən/ noun
an enormous mythical sea monster said to appear off the coast of Norway.

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Hutchinson (FRENCH!) Tires

All modern familiar-branded tires are excellent, because tire makers test their competitors’ tires and make sure their own tires land in that ball park. There are no materials or technology secrets. For every patent there’s a workaround. Anyway, ninety percent of rider performance is the rider’s skill and fitness, 8 percent is “other,” and less than 2 percent is tires. (Lance rode Hutchinson tires. Were they an unfair advantage?)

We’re not saying all tires are equal, just that they’re all good enough. We have more tire experience than an online youtube influencer millennial tire reviewer has. Our experience includes tires as original equipment on complete bikes from Taiwan, on bikes we build up from scratch, and on our own bicycles. We’re more objective than sponsored riders are. One of us ride tires until the casing shows or the sidewalls are shot, others change tires every few months for the heck of it, and we’re all impressed. Some of that may be the newness effect, some because they’re French, but in any case, there’s some Hutchinson hubbub here. Here are some things we like:

• They’re actually made in France, and Hutchinson was the first French inflatable (pneumatique!) bicycle tire, in 1890. 

• Hutchinson tires are super quality, a point worth making because in bicycles at least, good style with sketchy materials and executions are French hallmarks, sorry to say. French or not, Hutchinson tires are probably as good as tires get.

• Compared to all other tubeless-compatible (TC) tires on TC rims, these Hutchinsons are far easier to mount. The most challenging tire mounts and removals are with the deadly trifecta of a TC tire and rim, with a tube inside. With some tire-rim combinations, you break tire levers and give up. With Hutchinsons, if your hands are decently strong, they go on without tools. If your hands are weak, use tire levers, and they’re easy.

• They mount straight, first time and seemingly every time. Not all good tires do.

• Most of their decaling is low-key, the quietest logos we’ve seen in decades. There are two exceptions (the KRAKEN), but as loud as the KRAKEN logos are compared to the low-key ones, they’re one of the better boisterous logos. The colors are OK. 

• Of course they ride well. Mark is particular and not particularly effusive, but he, by his own standards, raved about the Caracal.

• They’re lighter by volume than other comparable tires. Even with the super slash-resistant casing, Hutchinsons are lighter than most same-volume tires.  We’re not going to start playing the weight-nut card, but these tires seem to be made by people who care more about tire weight than we do.

When you need a new tire (rear tires wear out faster), consider a Hutchinson. More about the company here. It’s worth reading, and explains why a French company is called Hutchinson, and the role of Charles Goodyear.

https://cycling.hutchinson.com/about-us/