Hutchinson Challenger TLR tyres

The Hutchinson Challenger Tubeless tyre is one of the first in the durable training tubeless road tyre category – and Hutchison calls it the 'perfect all-season road tyre'. Unlike a lot of tubeless tyres that are aimed at competitive riders, these are targeted at those of us who want a fit-and-forget solution that you can use in winter, without the fear that they'll puncture easily.

Our best road bike tyres buyer's guide points you in the direction of our favourite rubber, while our best winter road bike tyres buyer's guide looks at the top tough tyres out there.

> Buy now: Hutchinson Challenger Tubeless Tyre for £54.95 from Tweeks Cycles

As a fan of tubeless road tyres for racing, I've always hankered after a heavy-duty tubeless tyre for the hard months of winter – and with its new Challenger tubeless tyres Hutchinson has done exactly that.

With a claimed life of 10,000km, and high puncture resistance of forces up to 170 Newtons, this should be near the top of the list for those of us looking for the best winter tyres.

Installation

Installing these tyres was a breeze, and even with some older rim brake wheels they went up easily, so you shouldn't have any issues mounting them on newer, tubeless-specific rims. They don't come up particularly wide either, so you don't need to worry about clearance issues with an inflated tyre coming up wider than the stated size.

Hutchinson claims that these 'can be run without sealant', thanks to its air-tight 'AIRSHIELD'. This uses two high-performing sealing compounds on the inside of the tyre to keep everything airtight. That said, I wasn't prepared to go out on Britain's roads in winter without the extra security of having sealant for protection.

Both the 28mm and 32mm options are compatible with hookless rims, which is an added bonus, though as I don't use hookless I wasn't able to put this particular quality to the test.

Ride Feel

Riding these has been an absolute joy – they have a very good ride quality, especially when compared with older all-season tyres such as Continental's Gatorskins. The Hutchinsons have much more grip in both wet and dry conditions and a less harsh ride. They are less comfortable than a super-supple race tyre though not by a great amount, which is an excellent achievement for what is a training-cum-endurance tyre.

I've put in over 1,000km on these so far and have found them comfortable regardless of the length of the ride, which is impressive considering the state of Britain's winter roads. I suffered no punctures or unexpected air loss, though I found I did need to top up the pressure every week or two.

The tyres use a 3x127 TPI [threads per inch] carcass, matched with a new Hutchinson Endurance Bi-Compound, with softer shoulders (53 ShA durometer rating) and a harder central tread (62 Sha). In practice this means the tyre is harder in the middle and softer on the edges, a combination designed to reduce rolling resistance while still retaining good cornering grip.

And the grip is impressive – this was effective to the extent that when I took a slightly off-camber corner a little faster than I'd intended to, I think I might have hit the floor if I'd been using some other winter tyres. No problems with the Challengers. They gave me sufficient grip to keep me upright in what could have been a very hairy moment...

Hutchinson is aiming these tyres at ultra riding and winter training, and while it's early days so far, the way they've held up leads me to believe these might be some of the best tyres out there for these applications. With the puncture-resistant, hard-wearing compound and decent comfort, I'd have no issues on using these for bikepacking adventures or through a winter of tough training on the worst roads Britain can throw at us.

Value

At £54 per tyre these aren't cheap – but they're much less expensive than some of the tyres they're up against. Stu loved the GP5000 All Season TR tyres for their grip and rolling resistance but was less enamoured by their near-ninety quid price. This makes the Hutchinsons an attractive proposition, especially if you get anything like the claimed 10,000km.

A training tyre that comes in at a slightly dearer price than the Hutchinson is the Goodyear Vector 4Seasons tyre, at £64.99. Once again Stu was very impressed, praising them for their toughness and their performance in all conditions.

If you're looking to spend a fair bit less for a tough all-weather tyre the Specialized Roubaix Pro has an RRP of just £35 but you can usually find it for much less. But in spite of the modest price Chris praised it for its excellent all-weather grip. Oh, and the price...

Conclusion

A well-priced tyre with a performance that equals that of its more expensive competitors? Great grip whatever the conditions? Easy to set up as tubeless? Throw in these factors and add a claimed 10,000km lifespan, which my early experience suggests could be accurate, make these one of the top winter trainer-cum endurance tyre you can buy.

Verdict

Ultra-long-lasting tyre with very high puncture resistance and decent comfort and grip