17/05/2026
A rare look inside Hutchinson's factory:
About an hour south of Paris, is Montargis. Narrow streets trace the canals, cafés spill onto the pavements and, hidden among them, sits one of cycling’s oldest manufacturers. Hutchinson has been making bicycle tyres here since 1890. Today, Hutchinson has many divisions, from aerospace seals and vibration dampers to the orange gasket inside Kilner-style jars. The company quietly manufactures components used across dozens of industries. Bicycle tyres are only one part of a much larger engineering story at Hutchinson, but one of its oldest.
Its tyres rolled beneath some of the sport’s most recognisable riders, including Raymond Poulidor, Jacques Anquetil and earned gold in Olympic mountain biking.
At the centre of the Hutchinson site stands a building designed by Gustave Eiffel, the engineer better known for the Eiffel Tower. Hutchinson still designs, tests & produces its tyres in France. Staff walk between Eiffel’s century-old building and the factory floor.
Racing feedback turns into prototypes quickly, without crossing continents first.
Now, Hutchinson’s latest innovation is the world’s fastest gravel tyre, and they've just incorporated that technology onto a range of new treads.
Discover more of the factory and Hutchinson history: https://www.condorcycles.com/blogs/journal/still-made-in-france-inside-hutchinson-s-historic-tyre-factory
