Comments on: Hutchinson Python Tubeless Ready 29″er Tires: First Impressions

By: GreenLightGo

GreenLightGo — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 11:54:00 +0000

Digging into the past to post my impressions of the Python after a racing season using one on the rear of my Sultan w/ Flow rims. First comment – it’s a great tire for what it’s designed to do – period. It rolls like a champ, handles hardpack great and hooks up in the corners (amazingly). It’s not a mud tire and it doesn’t handle the rocky loose over hard as well – but that’s not what it was designed for. Volume is not bad – though it’s narrow, it makes up for that in height. I ran 32 psi just like Capt Bob – perfect for South Florida. Second comment – easy to mount and install on a Flow. It sealed up well and was trouble free. I noticed some accelerated wear until about the 300 mile mark, then it slowed down and wore pretty well. This tire gave me a different experience than the 26×2.3 I ran on my 5×5 trail bike in 07. It performed well enough that I bought two more (for the rear) so I had some back ups. It works, it’s not too heavy and it’s not nearly as expensive as the Racing Ralph. Good things in my opinion.

By: Vic

Vic — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:01:17 +0000

Like Blackbean, I had a pair of Pythons on an NRS, and had only one major complaint, but it was major.

I found that there was no warning before they let go in a corner. They gripped pretty well and then they didn’t grip at all. My current Ignitors will slip a little before they slip a lot and it gives me a chance to change my line or back off before I am forced to bleed all over the trail. I had a couple of surprising crashes with the pythons that I don’t think I would have had on another tire.

I am wondering if the 29er version suffers from the same phenomena, or if it is not an issue with the larger tire and or lower available pressures while run without tubes.

By: Big Dave

Big Dave — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:16:50 +0000

Welcome to the 21st Century Bob. I’m sorry you’ve been “tubed” for so long and I hope you are here to stay. Even with “non-tubeless” tires, the system is MUCH better than tubes despite a tad bit of extra maintenance.

How could you go 2 days without riding your bike?

Thunderlump – The tubeless ready tires are supposed to be running beads that are specific to the mavic tubeless rims….the same beads that came on the original tubeless tires. Tubeless ready tires’ casing and lack of inner rubber coat are the same as a regular non-tubeless tire. UST tubeless tires use the special bead (aramid I think) and the casing has a bit more rubber vulcanized to the inside to seal things up.

The idea behind tubeless ready is to have a lighter tire with the better bead. Since most people run sealant in ALL tires for back up protection, the extra weight of the UST tubeless tires just didn’t or doesn’t make sense.

With a good sealant, most tires can be run tubeless.

By: Thunderlump

Thunderlump — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:07:48 +0000

Hey guys I am curious to see how these hold up especially in the side wall area. At 6′4″ and 205 that seems to be my Achellie’s heel, when it come to running tubeless tires. I have allready had fantastically bad luck with both of the new Bontrager “Tubeless Ready” tires. Im not sire what the difference is between Tubeless ready , and UST, I assume the UST sidewall is thicker/heavier. I have been able to use A maxxis crossmark UST at 35 psi with no sidewall blowouts. Im sure they are trying thinner sidewalls to keep weight down.

Can some one give me clarification on the diference?

By: Race29

Race29 — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 01:08:02 +0000

I raced the new Pythons this past weekend in a very wide variety of Colorado conditions including wet roots, gravel roads, rocky / technical descents, river crossings and technical climbs. I have them mounted to Stan’s 355’s and run Stan’s sealant. They are definitely fast and were surprisingly durable. I was a little worried about durability but they handled the nasty stuff just fine. (Some of the rocky descents were of the “just hang on and let it rip” variety.) The only shortcoming was the lack of prominent side knobs can make wet roots difficult unless the air pressure is really dialed-in, but they still cornered surprisingly well in all conditions.

By: Captain Bob

Captain Bob — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 11:38:18 +0000

GreenLightGo: These tires are not marked as “traction or speed” but they are marked “rear or front”. I started out running them backwards but have swithed to the correct direction. I have not noticed any traction changes but I have not had them in a “real” off road terrain. They roll faster when going in the correct direction.

I’ll post more tonight…..have to get the kids off to school.

By: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 10:56:45 +0000

BlackBean: The sidewalls on our tubeless ready Hutchinsons seem to be a bit on the thin side as well.

GreenLightGo: The Captain is running them as they are marked, so in traction mode I suppose. We are noticing some wear on the tread blocks. More so than with some other tires we have ran. Perhaps Hutchinson’s compounds run a bit on the soft side. These are the first Hutchinsons either of us have run, by the way.

By: GreenLightGo

GreenLightGo — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 10:27:34 +0000

Thanks for the review. Do you know what compound is used? For example – I have the Python UST on the rear of my full squish – MRC Medium (under their Enduro line) tread compound. I’m running it reversed and it does well so far for my 26″ bike. Bob running the rear tire in the ’speed’ or ‘traction’ direction?

By: JimE

JimE — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 19:54:16 +0000

Does anybody know when the next Crooked Cog podcast will be? Its been a long time and I wanna listen. Has pod casting jumped the shark?

By: BlackBean

BlackBean — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 17:21:42 +0000

I have had Hutchinson Pythons on my Giant NRS-1. Absolute rubbish. I got about 10 flats in a period of 6 months and eventually tore the sidewall during a race. Was never really impressed by their grip either. don’t know if these are different or better, but just the name conjures up the image of a biker fixing flats all the time. Don’t know if these will be any better. I’ve switched to WTB’s and will never look back – I get about 2 flats a year riding much rougher/rockier terrain than I ever did with the Pythons.. Also tried a Panaracer Rampage (I believe) on my 29er this weekend. They were awesome in the mudd and would try them out once my current Exiwolfs nears retirment.