Hutchinson expands the Blackbird range with new Blackbird Race and All Season tyres

French tyre manufacturer Hutchinson have expanded their range of Blackbird tyres. What was a single tyre is now a trio and sitting at the top is the Blackbird Race. Hutchinson say the Blackbird Race is “designed to satisfy the most demanding riders, whether on the WorldTour or the local crit circuit.“

The Blackbird Race was developed in conjunction with WorldTour team Intermarché-Wanty and Hutchinson’s roster of elite athletes. Hutchinson took the original Blackbird, which had been their fastest ever tyre and refined it. This has created an “exceptionally lightweight, even faster tyre that is amongst the most technologically advanced on the market.” Those improvements showed early promise when a prototype was ridden to a gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics by British triathlete Alex Yee.

Ultraswift casing

The Blackbird Race uses a new casing called Ultraswift, developed from the original Blackbird tyre. Hutchinson say that they pushed “their manufacturing techniques to the limit” with Ultraswift. This enabled them to reduce the weight of the rubberised fabric used in the casing by almost 22%, and reduce the thickness of the central cross section of the tyre by 23%.

A completely airtight tubeless seal is achieved by wrapping the 127TPI Ultraswift casing fabric around the bead. The casing is then bonded directly to the central Polyamide puncture protection strip. This results in three layers on the side of the tyre, but just two in the centre, increasing ride quality and reducing rolling resistance. Hutchinson say that reducing the centre to just two layers “offers huge levels of grip, a supple ride feel and greatly increased sense of speed while riding.“

Mach Tread Ultimate

Sitting on top of the Ultraswift casing is Hutchinson’s Mach Tread Ultimate. This new compound is an evolution of their previous material, Mach Tread 3.0. The new compound promises to further improve rolling resistance and grip.

Blackbird Race claimed improvements

Hutchinson say the these new developments have resulted in their fastest ever tyre. The new tyre is said to offer a 10% gain in watt efficiency over the existing Blackbird. In those tests the 30mm version was found to be even more efficient than the 28mm. Weights are down as well, the 28mm is 17% lighter at 240g, with the 30mm coming in at 255g.

Blackbird Race on Tour!

Apparently the new Blackbird Race will be the tyre of choice for many of Intermarché-Wanty’s races throughout the year. The rough and tumble of WorldTour racing is probably the ultimate test for any road tyre; it will be interesting to see how it fares. We will be testing our samples out on the road, but at races of a slightly less prestigious nature!

Handmade in France, the Blackbird Race sits at the top of the Blackbird range, below it are the Blackbird and the Blackbird All Season. The Blackbird is an all-round tyre that offers a balance of high performance, low rolling resistance and 4000+km lifespan. Meanwhile the Blackbird All Season is your fast year round tyre. It comes with a thicker bi-compound tread and Snakeskin sidewalls for improved cold and wet weather performance.

Prices

The Blackbird Race currently comes in 28 or 30mm with a RRP of €79.99/£69.99. Blackbird All Season comes in 28, 30 and 32mm sizes with pricing starting at €49.99/£43.99 for Tube Type and €69.99/£63.99 for Tubeless.

We are also currently reviewing Hutchinson’s Challenger TLR tyres, see the preview here.