Road Bike Tire Test: Hutchinson Fusion 5 All Season TL 25

The Hutchinson Fusion 5 All Season is optimized to provide the best performance and adhesion in all weather conditions. Unlike most other all season tires, the Fusion 5 All Season is made up of the best materials available to Hutchinson. Just like the more all-round Fusion 5 Performance that I tested last week, the All Season uses a 127 TPI folding casing with a Kevlar anti-puncture layer. The only thing that has changed is the use of a grippier all season rubber compound: HDF 5.3.

Both the very fast Fusion 5 Galactik (read review) and all-round Fusion 5 Performance (read review) surprised me with their excellent performance on the rolling resistance tests. As there aren't a lot of choices available in the all-season category, I was looking forward to testing the All Season as well to see if this would potentially be a good winter tire. After the very disappointing test of the Michelin Power All Season (read review), which for some strange reason uses a low grade 60 TPI casing, it's good to see the Fusion 5 All Season is based on the high quality 127 TPI casing.

Just like I did with the Fusion 5 Galactik and Fusion 5 Performance, I'm testing the tubeless version of the All Season. A lighter, non-tubeless version is available as well. If you're not going to run these tubeless, get the non-tubeless version!

As this is a tubeless tire, it's a bit heavier than most non-tubeless clinchers. My sample of the 25-622 Fusion 5 All Season comes in at 335 grams while the specified weight is 325 grams. On my 17C rim, at an air pressure of 100 psi / 6.8 bars, the measured width is 25 mm and the measured height is 22 mm.

The maximum thickness of the tire at the center of the tread is 3.3 mm. 3.3 mm is a bit thicker than the Fusion 5 Performance which came in at 3.0 mm. Most all-round clinchers have a thickness of 2.5 - 3.0 mm. Because this is the tubeless version of this tire, the sidewalls have a thickness of 1.3 mm to keep the air in at the very high air pressures used in road bike tires. Most non-tubeless clinchers have sidewalls that are much thinner at ~0.5 mm.

Rolling resistance comes in a bit higher when compared to the Fusion 5 Performance (read review), but still very low when compared to other all-season tires. On average, rolling resistance has increased by 1.2 watts when compared to the Fusion 5 Performance which is very similar in construction but uses the more all-round HDF 5.2 compound instead of the all-weather HDF 5.3 compound.

When we compare this tire with the most popular all season road bike tire, which is the Continental Grand Prix 4 Season (read review), performance in the rolling resistance test is much better. At the various air pressures, rolling resistance comes in some 3.0 watts lower when compared to the Conti 4 Season.

While performance in the rolling resistance is excellent, performance in the puncture resistance test, on the other hand, is not that spectacular. With a tread puncture resistance score of just 10 points, the All Season comes in at 1 point less than the Fusion 5 Performance. Because both the Performance and All Season use the same Kevlar anti-puncture layer, I suspect it scores worse in the puncture test because of the much softer all weather rubber which is easier to penetrate.

The low puncture score might not be a big problem for the tubeless version of this tire as the tubeless sealant might be able to seal most small holes. The non-tubeless version doesn't have this advantage and should score close to the same as the tubeless version. When compared to the Continental Grand Prix 4 Season which uses a double layer of Vectran breaker and scored 17 points in our test, puncture resistance of the Fusion 5 All Season is much worse. A double layer of Kevlar on the All Season version of this tire might have been a good idea as puncture resistance is important for an all season tire.

Although rolling resistance of the Hutchinson Fusion 5 All Season is best in its class, it does leave some room on the table for improvement as puncture resistance is low for an all-season tire. This might not be a big problem for the tubeless version because the sealant will seal most small holes. The non-tubeless clincher version of this tire, on the other hand, might be a no-go because of this. If you value puncture resistance in an all-season tire, the Continental Grand Prix 4 Season still seems to be the most well-balanced choice.

Hutchinson did an excellent job with the Fusion 5 range of tires, with the Galactik, Performance, and All Season versions, there's a tire for every condition. Go here to compare all of our data of these tires side by side: Fusion 5 Galactik Vs Fusion 5 Performance Vs Fusion 5 All Season