Having received no response from Hutchinson regarding the failures of their product, I post my experience here, hoping that others may benefit from the information.
I purchased three sets of Fusion 3 25mm tires. One set for my wife's bike on May 14, one set for my bike on May 20th, and a replacement set on May 31 (now on their way back to the retailer). The retailer was very responsive in shipping the product but they haven't been entirely helpful in the problem outlined below and ultimately this is a Hutchinson problem.
My wife and I had been riding the Hutchinson 3 23mm tubeless tires for the past two years. We had one flat (where flat = hole too big for sealant to seal) between the two of us in about 20,000 miles and that was a strange sidewall gash. We are avid cyclists living in Boulder, Colorado. Not that it should matter, but the wheels we are using are Shimano Dura Ace WH-9000 wheels. I am 6'2" and weigh 170 lbs so am not a clydesdale rider (not that there is anything wrong with clydesdales). I typically ride my tires with 85-90 in the front, 90-95 psi in the rear.
This past Saturday, I had a failure of my rear tire after about 250 miles on it. There was no known cause - no nail, screw, whatever sticking out. The sealant failed to seal and gushed through the hole at a fast rate. Once I realized what was happening, I stopped, rotated the tire to save sealant, and after letting air pressure out, I tried to put a little krazy glue on the outside of the tire in the field (you can see residual of this on first picture), hoping to get it to seal enough so the sealant (Stan's) could do its job. I managed to get it to seal enough to limp to the bus stop (at mile 62 of a 92 mile ride) and go home that way. Not wanting to give up on my almost new tire (only 250 miles on it), I decided to patch my tire, using the Hutchinson Rep Air kit made for tubeless road (a waste of time and money as it turns out). Well, the patch went on fine, but the hole was big enough that with riding pressure in the tire it went kaboom and the patch flew through the hole! Okay, bad luck, I thought and ordered another set of tires from the retailer and threw out the first failed tire (but two pictures of the hole are attached below).
Again, this was a strange problem but I thought bad luck. Remember, I had 20,000 miles of experience between my wife and I on your 23mm tires. We were happy customers of Hutchinson's. That is, until the same tire failure happened Tuesday, only three days later.
Tuesday, two miles into a planned 45 mile ride, I had a failure of the front tire under the same mysterious circumstances - no nail, screw, etc. (again, photos below). I was riding a little bit of gravel Tuesday (intentionally, it was a small gravel section of road). Saturday, I was on the shoulder of a road and may have hit some gravel - but it would have been at low speed as I was climbing up a 7% grade. But gravel shouldn't destroy a tire and we'd literally ridden probably 1500 of those 20000 miles on dirt/gravel on the 23mm Fusion 3 tires.
One problem could be considered bad luck; two problems in less than 100 miles on a new set of tires - back luck?? - well, I'm just not that unlucky.
So, now I am left with a set of tires on my wife's bike that I have no confidence in; a set of tires in the mail and two trashed tires. The retailer has agreed I can send back the tires in the mail to us and (probably) the one failed tire. That leaves me with two tires on my wife's bike that I have ZERO confidence in, and one or two trashed (literally or figuratively) tires - that I will not be reimbursed for.
I am, at this point, a VERY disappointed customer of Hutchinson's. In my humble opinion, the 25mm Fusion 3 tires are not ready for prime time. Very sad as we were excited with the true 25mm option in road tubeless on a tire that we had previously had such great experiences on the 23mm version.
I purchased three sets of Fusion 3 25mm tires. One set for my wife's bike on May 14, one set for my bike on May 20th, and a replacement set on May 31 (now on their way back to the retailer). The retailer was very responsive in shipping the product but they haven't been entirely helpful in the problem outlined below and ultimately this is a Hutchinson problem.
My wife and I had been riding the Hutchinson 3 23mm tubeless tires for the past two years. We had one flat (where flat = hole too big for sealant to seal) between the two of us in about 20,000 miles and that was a strange sidewall gash. We are avid cyclists living in Boulder, Colorado. Not that it should matter, but the wheels we are using are Shimano Dura Ace WH-9000 wheels. I am 6'2" and weigh 170 lbs so am not a clydesdale rider (not that there is anything wrong with clydesdales). I typically ride my tires with 85-90 in the front, 90-95 psi in the rear.
This past Saturday, I had a failure of my rear tire after about 250 miles on it. There was no known cause - no nail, screw, whatever sticking out. The sealant failed to seal and gushed through the hole at a fast rate. Once I realized what was happening, I stopped, rotated the tire to save sealant, and after letting air pressure out, I tried to put a little krazy glue on the outside of the tire in the field (you can see residual of this on first picture), hoping to get it to seal enough so the sealant (Stan's) could do its job. I managed to get it to seal enough to limp to the bus stop (at mile 62 of a 92 mile ride) and go home that way. Not wanting to give up on my almost new tire (only 250 miles on it), I decided to patch my tire, using the Hutchinson Rep Air kit made for tubeless road (a waste of time and money as it turns out). Well, the patch went on fine, but the hole was big enough that with riding pressure in the tire it went kaboom and the patch flew through the hole! Okay, bad luck, I thought and ordered another set of tires from the retailer and threw out the first failed tire (but two pictures of the hole are attached below).
Again, this was a strange problem but I thought bad luck. Remember, I had 20,000 miles of experience between my wife and I on your 23mm tires. We were happy customers of Hutchinson's. That is, until the same tire failure happened Tuesday, only three days later.
Tuesday, two miles into a planned 45 mile ride, I had a failure of the front tire under the same mysterious circumstances - no nail, screw, etc. (again, photos below). I was riding a little bit of gravel Tuesday (intentionally, it was a small gravel section of road). Saturday, I was on the shoulder of a road and may have hit some gravel - but it would have been at low speed as I was climbing up a 7% grade. But gravel shouldn't destroy a tire and we'd literally ridden probably 1500 of those 20000 miles on dirt/gravel on the 23mm Fusion 3 tires.
One problem could be considered bad luck; two problems in less than 100 miles on a new set of tires - back luck?? - well, I'm just not that unlucky.
So, now I am left with a set of tires on my wife's bike that I have no confidence in; a set of tires in the mail and two trashed tires. The retailer has agreed I can send back the tires in the mail to us and (probably) the one failed tire. That leaves me with two tires on my wife's bike that I have ZERO confidence in, and one or two trashed (literally or figuratively) tires - that I will not be reimbursed for.
I am, at this point, a VERY disappointed customer of Hutchinson's. In my humble opinion, the 25mm Fusion 3 tires are not ready for prime time. Very sad as we were excited with the true 25mm option in road tubeless on a tire that we had previously had such great experiences on the 23mm version.
. I filled it out and returned it along with a pic of the damaged tire and they have informed me they are sending a warranty replacement. I haven't seen a ship notice or received a tire yet but it appears to be in the works. This would be a good sign to me that they will stand behind the product. 
