Hutchinson Overide Tires: At The Finish – by Grannygear
It is time to be moving to some new rubber for testing duties, so off with the Overides. ( Previous posts can be seen here.) My thoughts on these have not changed much over time. I mostly used these as an ‘all-road’ tire and never put them into serious dirt. That is due in part to the smaller size, but the 38s were darn near 40mm so really, it was mostly due to the limited traction they provide off road.
I just do not feel that they hook up exceptionally well on dirt paths, although as a mixed surface tire, and on smoother surfaces, they do OK. The strong points of the Overide are what seems to be a long life to the tread and a fast rolling nature.
The weak points are a less then supple feeling casing and perhaps a less than grippy rubber compound. Now that is all subjective, but I just swapped them out for a set of 40c WTB Byways in the 700c size (which are, so far, much smaller than 40mm) and at the same tire pressure of 40psi, the Byways are much more supple and roll just as fast (by the seat of my pants).
I also mounted a set of the 35c Overides on Mrs. Grannygear’s new GT Grade and we used them for some vacation type road riding, exploring the countryside. For that, they are a good choice as I expect the casing stiffness I am feeling is also giving us durability.
I will keep the Overides around for rides where I am mostly on the road with easy dirt on the side, but I do think there might be better choices for gravel use.
So what about that crash? I cannot escape the thought that my crash on the Overides has colored my thoughts on the tire. Would I have crashed if I was on any other tire? Maybe. Hard to say. But it brings out the point that the minimally treaded tires that we are taking into the dirt need to do a lot with very little. The IRC Bokens, for instance, have a smallish diamond pattern of peaky knobs but they feel tenacious off road on hard surfaces. They do that, I think, because of the softer rubber compound they are made from. Yes, they do not last a long time. Can you have both? Perhaps.
Having it all is not easy.
Note: Hutchinson sent the Overide tires for test and review to Riding Gravel at no charge. We are not being paid nor bribed for this review and we strive to give our honest thoughts and views throughout.