New tires on the T-Cube.

Tire choice is as important as saddle choice, or shoe choice when it comes to road cycling. A bad selection of either can make a ride miserable with little to no way of avoiding the truth; that you can't trust your bike at full speed in a corner, sit comfortably on the tip of your perch in pace line or pedal without arch cramping or hot spots underfoot.

Tires have always interested me because they are the last variable in the formula of forward propulsion on a road bike. The 2009 Hutchinson Fusion Ultra 2 is the French company's new race tire. I pulled out the digital scale to confirm a weight of 210gr per tire. If you require a higher level of puncture resistance, move to the Hutchinson Intensive, weighing in at 230gr.

Installation of Hutchinson's road tires are surprisingly easy. I was originally running the Intensives on the T-Cube and swapped them over to my wife's Bianchi. Both tire installations were performed easily without tire levers! (note 700cX23c sizes). It's nice to know that I won't need to carry a tire lever on my rides while on the Fusion 2 Ultras; just a tube and Co2.


Yesterday I departed for an evening road ride and a tire shake down. The first thing I noticed with the FU2 is the tire casing profile. It has a round profile like the Michelin Pro Race series. (The previous tire from Hutchinson that I was riding, the Intensive, had what could be best described as a old school MotoGP tire profile; not round but rather rounded shoulders and a peaked/point tire contact patch. This peak gave the tire a lot of top end speed and in my opinion makes it really suitable for fast, sweeping turns.) The FU2 round profile allows for a quicker change of direction on the bike paired with a very soft/high grip compound. The are three zones of tread on the tire. The center tread is black and a firmer-low rolling resistance compound. Mid-shoulder is dark gray with a medium grip and the outer shoulder is light gray with a softer grip for a hard cornering angle.

After 32 miles of rolling terrain, mild climbing and fast cornering through the beautiful landscape of Lancaster, I can say I've found my new tire of choice. Weighing in at 185lbs, I run 115psi on the rear and 110 in the front tire. The Fusion 2 Ultra is fast, has tons of security and grip while cornering and the tire choice of Astana, 'nuff said.

I would also like to mention this is a tire that works well for crit racing...in fact it's supported for such events by the BMW-Bianchi Womens Elite Team. For more information about Hutchinson Tires, listen to the 6/21 TJPodcast featuring Hutchinson Tires main man Dana Carson--good info. Visit the corpo site for more data- Hutchinson Tires.
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Will Mahler

A weekend in the shadows of the Philly Pro Race.

One of my greatest beliefs with any job or any passion is that you should never take more than you give. With that in mind, I latched onto the BMW-Bianchi Elite Team for the weekend of the 2009 TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championship.

Hailing from the southern end of the Mid-Atlantic region, I met up with the team the day before the race at The Bicycle Stable in Philadelphia, Pa. The shop was to be used as a departure point for what would shape up to be a Recon Race Course Ride, led by 2-time US Olympian Jame Carney. Jame is also Erica Allar's cycling coach- Erica has just joined the team near the end of last month.

Also on hand for the ride kick off was Ed Nasjleti from SRAM and his tech guy. They were nice enough to lay some bike porn on us by showing off the 2010 SRAM Force grouppo. This new build kit is receiving trickle down technology from the Red kit; shifter internals, Zero Loss shifting, hardware to better center the brake calipers to the wheel and an improved chainring strength and construction.

(l-r) Chris, Kevin and Derek. The guys that keep Chaz of The Bicycle Stable sane through the week. Notice in the background over Derek's shoulder that the front door to the shop is painted celeste green. That's devotion!

Two things worth mentioning about the SRAMs new Force grouppo is the ease of shifter mechanism replacement and it's value to the performance road bike market. The internals can be removed with two simple pieces of hardware, all while the shifter is still attached to the handlebar. The gear mech slides out and a new one slides back into it's place. Secondly, the new Force kit will give you a sub-2k gram grouppo at a grand less than the new Dura-Ace 7900. Yes, a grand less. Those savings will allow you to buy those Carbon 50s you've wanted for race day.



Dana and Erica waiting to leave. I believe that Erica is practicing 'Two John-ic Law' and verifying that the elastic on her cycling shorts isn't flipped up on her legs. Good job Erica!




The creators of the BMW-Bianchi Elite Team, Laura Weislo and Dana Carson. Dana is now with Hutchinson Tires and provides the team with product for the race course.

note: Dana has been gracious enough to hook me up with a set of Hutchinson Intensives (230gr training/race tire) and a pair of Hutchinson Fusion 2 Ultra tires. I've been logging miles on the Intensives and have now been converted from Continental. The Intensive's 'Moto GP' casing profile have great top end speed and offer great flat protection on long road rides. It's sidewall is reinforced with a rubber that is used on Hutchinson's MTB tires; sidewall slice protection without sacrificing casing suppleness. More on the tires later!



So, after introductions, hand shakes, oogling and potty breaks, we clipped in and rolled out with the owner of the Bicycle Stable, Chaz and his 3 partners in crime, the Team and myself. En route' to meet Jame and the rest of the racers for the Recon Ride.



In the US Olympian jersey, Jame Carney discusses the course and what lies in store for those racing on Sunday. He has done this event numerous times and is aware of every section that may pose as a struggle for those that will be competing for top positioning during this 25 year old race. Kirsten Davis in the foreground, listening to Jame's advice and strategy.



After pre-riding the course, I helped Emory and JK clean and prep the bikes for Sunday's event. Carbon pads were switched out, race hoops installed and final shinning of the bikes was performed.

Race Day:



The women's field was riding as if passing the Men's Field was a preem. In fact, the ladies did catch and pass the men. With this blistering pass, the field was torn apart after Lap 2. Some racers were pulled, IMOP, way too early. Either way, the ladies gave it their best. Erica and her guest teammate made across in the third group.

I really enjoyed working the feed zone and seeing the race unfold throughout the morning. A big thanks again to the Team and all their sponsors. I'll see you at the West Chester Twilight Crit in July!

Ya' bone 'eh!

2009 BMW-Bianchi Elite Racing Team

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Will Mahler