Hutchinson Atom Comp X-Light tyre

The Atom Comp X-Light tyre from French manufacturer Hutchinson is a clincher that's designed for racing and other duties where speed is more important than puncture protection. It's light, fast, and (for a tyre of this type) reasonably priced too.

For most cyclists, tyre choice is based on a number factors, including weight and puncture protection, along with durability and rolling resistance, plus of course colour. Generally speaking, lighter tyres help you go faster, but tend to be less resistant to thorns and other road debris. Conversely, puncture-resistant tyres tend to be heavy. The Hutchinson Atom Comp X-Light is firmly in the first camp: extreme light weight but precious little ability to ward off flats.

The tyre itself carries a picture of a feather beside the lettering on the sidewall, and the feather also appears on the packaging. And just in case the message isn't clear, the packaging also carries these words: 'High performance, lightweight, low puncture resistance' and another picture, this time a broken wine glass plus an exclamation mark warning triangle.

So this is a tyre for timetrialists or trithletes, riding on nice clean roads. It ain't for commuters.

The Atom's advertised weight is 160g and was only three grams more than this on the road.cc scales. Compare this to the 200-300g bracket where most clinchers fall. Run these tyres with lightweight inner tubes and you are definitely in tubular territory as far as weight goes.

Note that these Atom Comp X-Lights are clincher tyres, not to be confused with Hutchinson's similarly named tubeless tyres – which in turn are different to tubulars.

When it comes to ride quality, a pair of these Atom Comp X-Light tyres, fitted to my best wheels, with Mavic Open Pro rims, seemed to help me get my bike up to speed quickly and easily. Grip was good on the corners, and the overall 'feel' was responsive. For the record, I had the tyres pumped up to 110psi back, 105psi front, as recommended by the Hutchinson website. (I weigh about 70kg.)

The Atom Comp X-Lights are not the most supple tyres I've ever ridden, but they're pretty comfortable, and totally fine for racing on good roads. With 127 tpi (threads per inch) these tyres come – not surprisingly – about half-way along the scale between other tyres on other bikes: the Bontrager All Weather Hard Cases (60tpi) on my winter bike and the Vittoria Open Corsa Evos (320 tpi) on my sportive bike.

This is a folding tyre, and fitting was very straightforward. Easy to get on and off the rims.

Retail price for the Atom Comp X-Lights is £47, although you can get them for nearer £40 at the usual on-line stores. This puts them towards the upper end of the price band when compared against similar tyres such as the Schwalbe Ultremo ZLX (160g, 127 tpi), Continental GP Supersonic (150g, 330 tpi), Vittoria Diamante (195g, 220 tpi) or Michelin Pro 4 Comp (165g, 150 tpi) that all retail for around £30 to £40, making the Hutchinson Atom Comp X-Lights fair value, but not a bargain.

Verdict

Very light tyre designed for speed, so no puncture protection. Fast, comfortable and fair value.