Hutchinson first reached out to me a few years ago, during my tenure as a product manager, to offer samples of the then-new Made in France tyres, but at the time, I really only had eyes for WTB. Honestly, Hutchinson wasn’t really on my radar at all, and they surprised me. For the next two years, my Sonder was shod with both the Tourareg, which happens to be one of our best gravel tyres, and the Tundra.
However, they both have similar issues. While they perform well overall, the HardSkin casing suffers from high rolling resistance and lacks compliance. So I wanted to know, by adding ‘Race’ to the title, have Hutchinson managed to reduce rolling resistance? And ultimately mix it with the big names in the gravel tyre arms race?
Construction
The Caracal Race is part of a triptych of tyres under the Caracal umbrella. The aforementioned, which I tested in 45mm, features an all-new SwiftEasy casing. Hutchinson claims this is a “groundbreaking design that redefines the standards of flexibility and high performance”.
This is achieved by using a high TPI (threads per inch) of 127 and, instead of overlapping many layers to create a puncture-resistant, airtight seal, they instead bond the protection strip directly to that casing. The result is a claimed 10% reduction in rolling resistance and “Supreme Comfort and Deformation Capability”.
The Caracal is also offered in a ‘standard’ suffixless version that utilises their HardSkin casing and is also available in 40 & 45mm. To complete the set, there is also the Caracal Allroad, a narrower 35mm version with the same construction as the race, designed for the new breed of fat-tyre road and endurance road bikes.
Returning to the Caracal Race, the SwiftEasy casing is only half the story. The Caracal also now features the Mach Thread 3.0, which first appeared on the Blackbird Road tyres. The Mach Thread compound aims to offer a better balance between durability and speed, with a claimed 25% increase in efficiency.
On my scales, the Caracal Race comes in at 585g/1.28lbs, which is 15g more than the claimed 570g/1.25lbs but well within most brands' +/-8%; in fact, it is less than 3%, which is very good.
Fitting and inflation
Fitting was a breeze compared to the last tyres I tested; no tyre levers required here. The Caracal Race popped on with strong thumbs and good technique, if I do say so myself, and inflated with just a track pump. Once inflated to 30psi on my 25mm internal rims, they read 46mm wide on the verniers.
I must say, while after 500km/300miles I haven’t had any punctures, they do seem to lose air much faster then expected, but I suspect that is due to my laziness and not the tyre, as I didn't replace the rim tape before fitting.
The Ride
Hutchinson has, without a doubt, made the Caracal Race faster; In fact, my maths suggests considerably more than the claimed 10%. While I don’t have the means to do this test myself, a quick visit to my favourite website, bicyclerollingresistance.com, corroborates this. The Caracal Race at low pressure loses you just 16 watts, versus the Specialized Pathfinder (my current go-to-gravel tyre) at 21 watts and the older Toureag in a 40mm, not the 45mm version I previously ran, is nearly double at 29 watts; that is a near 45% decrease in rolling resistance.
That puts the Caracal Race up there with the Schwalbe G-One RS as one of the fastest gravel tyres - Chapeau, Hutchinson, thats quite the transformation. It would appear that, during my time on the Caracal, they have also been able to do all this without reducing grip or durability.
Whilst out on my final ride before penning my thoughts, I suffered a fairly large puncture. One that had to be plugged, and one that is in a particularly tricky spot, close to the shoulder. While this wasn't ride-ending, I was certainly more tentative until I could assess the damage at home. I think this tyre is probably a write-off. Even with a larger, better-fitting plug, I have seen it lose pressure quickly, and because of its position, it gives an uneasy ride characteristic. This doesn't change anything I have said in this review. Whatever caused this puncture was large and sharp, and I believe it would have pierced most tyres. I still think that the Caracal Race is more durable than other 'Race' branded gravel tyres. It does raise the question, though, whether we should consider taking the MTB approach on gravel, mixing and matching tyres and casings to optimise performance?
It is hard to ignore the likeness and similarities between the Caracal and my favourite Pathfinder. Both sit at 46mm on a 25mm rim, both have a slick central strip with smaller knobbles that grow to a large outer block, while the Hutchinson sits just under 600g/1.3lbs, the Specialized sits just over. Despite this, and the reasonably smaller rolling resistance deficit, it’s night and day which is the better tyre. The lower weight and lower rolling resistance make all the difference, with the Caracal feeling livelier and a more rewarding tyre to ride. It can feel almost effortless on any surface.
On the flipside of all this praise, any improvement in compliance from the SwiftEasy casing is not hugely noticeable, especially when on rough or chattery terrain. In fact, the Hardskin is more supportive when hitting large rocks or hard compressions; the SwiftEasy gives way much more quickly, and I can compress it much further. This is good for the hands during the reactive phase, but it could result in a damaged side wall, though no sign of that yet. Some might be okay with this, but I'd rather not ding a rim.
Value and conclusions
Hutchinson has really upped their game with Caracal Race; I have found it hard to fault. Even with the lack of improvement in overall comfort, I'm happy to accept the extra durability, for the other performance gains Hutchinson has found.
And now to the cost, which I have purposely left until now. If what I have said hasn’t already convinced you, then the price will. I mentioned the Schwalbe G-One RS earlier, which is the benchmark for fast gravel tyres and also price, coming in at a hefty £75/$90, really only Rene Hérse and Challenge regularly come in higher. So, at just £55/€59,99 (Hutchinson isn’t widely available in the US, yet, sorry pals) that all but seals the deal for me.
