off-road.cc

Hutchinson's Toro is an excellent all year round tyre for UK conditions, with the exception of super dry trails and extreme mud. It's tough, reasonably fast rolling and breaks away predictably, making it a solid tyre for conditions that are are often more damp than dry.

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Fitting the tyres and setting them up tubeless was an absolute dream. The rims I used were 30mm, I mounted the tyres by hand, tipped in some of Hutchinson's own tyre sealant and pumped them up using a track pump. It seated easily and there was no loss of pressure the next day, with no visible bubbling from the side walls or bead. Really impressive. 

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There is no getting around the fact that they are no lightweights at 855g, but they are durable and they don’t ride heavy as the tread is close enough that it translates to plenty of forwards movement. This model is aimed for cross-country, enduro and all mountain, so basically general mountain biking. Its 2.25" size makes it more suitable for general trail use rather than gnarly downhill or more ‘enduro’ style riding. Its plenty capable, but the volume would let it down a little here, with the narrower 2.25" being a bit squirmy at lower pressures. The Toro does also come in a 2.35" version as well as even heavier duty casing options should you need.

It can be mounted as a front or rear tyre. I found the rear performance to be better suited to the tread pattern, with a little more width on the front probably improving its steering and grip.  I did find that as a front tyre it wasn’t as confidence inspiring as a Magic Mary or a tyre with similarly aggressively shaped edge lugs. But as a back tyre, its consistency and rolling speed was great - it all shed mud promptly once on harder surfaces, and only struggled in really clay based clag. The tyre also isn’t so soft in compound that it wears too quickly when used on harder surfaces or road sections.

In the general riding conditions I took it though, it remained consistent in all areas. It slid out when expected, and dug in mostly when expected. Like nearly all tyres, roots exposed its lack of grip, but it certainly provided enough to keep things moving forward, as the off centred and space squares prevented the sudden slide that some tyres have when they have a more channelled style grip.

Running it right down at silly pressures, the grip increased but concerns of burping the tyre increased. Getting the right balance is pretty critical here, but the burly sidewalls - which is where some of the weight comes from - helps keep the shape of the tyre in place.

The offset blocks of the tread pattern are prominently and nicely spaced really, making it a genuine all-round capable design. Personally, I’d ride it as my default back tyre for most riding. The Race Riposte compound XC version on test here uses the HardSkin casing to add some reinforcement. As mentioned, it adds a bit of weight but the peace of mind for a fit and forget tyre is a real benefit, especially if you are more relaxed on your home maintenance approaches. The downsides are the weight penalty for a cross country-pitched tyre - but this means super reliable strength, longevity and puncture resistance. I pulled thorns out and a few flint cuts haven’t finished the tyre off.

When riding, the feeling of all-round capability just shows true. It can handle a wide range of terrain, happy in harder, rockier terrain in the dry, and woodland trails in dry and wet. Gripping well in the Autumn conditions of late, where it's not super wet or muddy, but the dry trails of summer are receding. It doesn’t have the pronounced tread of a mud tyre, and its tread pattern isn’t so close set that it gets hung up in any conditions less than dry. It offers a good braking feel and will slide out predictably. I rode the tyre from the dry trails of summer and into the early autumn and it has handled this with a dependability and capability that made me forget the tyre. By being such an all rounder, there are the odd moments where its capabilities are exceeded, but these are often at times where you are thinking that anyway.