Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

review

Lifeline Prime Armour Road Tyre

8
£14.00

VERDICT:

8
10
Capable training tyres with a seriously competitive price tag – recommended
Weight: 
281g

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

What the road.cc scores mean

Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.

  • Exceptional
  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
  • Quite good
  • Average
  • Not so good
  • Poor
  • Bad
  • Appalling

Lifeline's 25mm Prime Armour Road tyres are packed with the sort of features we'd associate with models twice the price: 120tpi casings, Kevlar puncture repelling belts, aramid folding beads, an all-up weight of 281g and operating pressures between 100 and 120psi... Yours for 14 quid a pop!

Their soft 70a 'durometer' rubber compound is another surprise, especially at this price, and bodes very well for wet, slippery conditions. Aside from the channelled shoulder tread, they're essentially slick.

> Buy this online here

Moderately tricky to fit – I resorted to my workshop lever – they'll submit in a couple of minutes with three decent tyre levers and strong thumbs. They also ease out a little after 100 miles or so, meaning roadside removal shouldn't present too many headaches.

Given their asking price, I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of performance, but from the outset they've delivered a brisk, efficient though comfortable ride across most surfaces – even run at their maximum (although it's probably worth mentioning that the test rig in question is based around an old-fashioned steel tubeset and carbon fork, which offers a very compliant ride).

Hammering along my favourite 25-mile loop at a steady 23mph and swooping through the back-to-back doubles, I was grinning from ear to ear while becoming more provocative in my cornering technique, but the tyres held their line admirably – better than the Maxxis Re-Fuses I tested last month. 

In mild to moderate conditions, I'd expect any decent road rubber to display impeccable manners at 25mph plus and descend like a demon. With this in mind, I treated myself to a 1-in-7 on the return leg and let rip. Whizzing along at 33mph, they were willing me faster but I began to feel split second pauses in traction, so backed off, easing down to 25 at the first bends in case diesel spill or similar contaminant lay in wait.

> Check out our guide to the best winter tyres here

Long, steady miles in seasonally typical single figures confirmed a delightful balance of responsiveness and grip, and even roads carpeted in iced dung couldn't cajole a spiteful side. Manhole covers and other ironworks were the closest they came to feeling uncertain, though not obviously worse than the Maxxis when run between 100 and 105psi.

Judging by the prevalence of thorns, shards of glass and other sharps, the puncture-proof belt seems to be up to the mark. Similarly, aside from some very minor nicks, the casings remain in very rude health.

Verdict

Capable training tyres with a seriously competitive price tag – recommended

If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website

road.cc test report

Make and model: Lifeline Prime Armour Road Tyre

Size tested: 700x25, 120TPI casing

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Lifeline says: "Speed, traction and puncture protection for high paced road cycling in challenging conditions."

I would generally agree – capable all-rounders that are hard to fault for £14.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Prime Armour Road tyres feature a fast rolling slick centre tread, lightweight 120TPI casing, a Kevlar breaker and full nylon reinforcement.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
7/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
7/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
7/10
Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
 
8/10

Nice, compliant ride.

Rate the product for value:
 
9/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Overall, the Prime Armour Road tyres have been impeccably mannered in all contexts, delivering a quick, compliant and dependable ride over most surfaces and in the wet. Longterm durability is difficult to comment upon but so far, I'm struggling to find an obvious fault.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Pretty much everything, easily on par with some costing £30 apiece.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Nothing given the design brief and asking price. Being picky, I'd like to see a wider range (literally) of sections - 28, 32mm...

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? For training and general riding, yes.

Use this box to explain your score

Although they haven't scored 8 across the board, taking into account the excellent price and their very good performance, they definitely deserve an 8 overall.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 42  Height: 1m 81cm  Weight: 70kg

I usually ride: Rough stuff tourer based around 4130 Univega mountain bike frameset  My best bike is: 1955 Holdsworth Road Path and several others including cross & traditional road

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo-cross, commuting, touring, fixed/singlespeed, mountain biking

Shaun Audane is a freelance writer/product tester with over twenty-eight years riding experience, the last twelve (120,000 miles) spent putting bikes and kit through their paces for a variety of publications. Previous generations of his family worked at manufacturing's sharp end, thus Shaun can weld, has a sound understanding of frame building practice and a preference for steel or titanium framesets.
Citing Richard Ballantine and an Au pair as his earliest cycling influences, he is presently writing a cycling book with particular focus upon women, families and disabled audiences (Having been a registered care manager and coached children at Herne Hill Velodrome in earlier careers)

Add new comment

3 comments

Avatar
systema | 7 years ago
1 like

These tyres are made by Chaoyang, a chinese manufacturer that also manufacturers cheap car tyres (e.g. Westlake). The Lifeline Prime Race is the H-486, which is the Chaoyang Flyfish. I am not sure about the Prime Armour, but it appears to be a custom design for Wiggle as it shares the same casing and tread patterns as the Flyfish but also has bead to bead puncture protection (Chaoyang only had the bead to bead protected FlyFish in 60tpi casing (E311012) in their catalogue). See here for details:
http://chaoyangtire.com/index.php/pro/pro-details/1/170?type=Road&name=F...

The other Lifeline tyres also seems to be rebadged Chaoyangs, the Essential Armour Commuter is a variant of the Chaoyang Sprint (with folding bead insteado of wirebead):
http://chaoyangtire.com/index.php/pro/pro-details/8/219?type=CITY/URBAN&...

The Essential Commuters are variants of the Chaoyang Krestel with Kevlar breakers instead of the rubber breakers:
http://chaoyangtire.com/index.php/pro/pro-details/8/221?type=CITY/URBAN&...

Not sure which model the Essential Road Tyre is, but I would speculate that they will be sourced from Chaoyang as well.
 

Avatar
timtak replied to systema | 2 years ago
0 likes

Thanks Systema. I will look out for the Chaoyangs on aliexpress. 

I like this tyre but they are slicks and the first I have used in a while. I went over a thin (only 6cm approx) drain in the rain at an angle and sliped on the drain cover. Fortuantely there was no car behind me. They have good grip on wet and dry tarmac but no grip on wet metal, of course. But I think that my lifeline commuters slightly roughed up surface does have a little bit of  traction on wet metal.

I have had a bit of difficulty putting one on in the road. I broke off the tip of my lever this morning. I am not sure what to do. Metal levers? My long Allen key with a sort ball or dodecahedron at one end worked  instead.

Avatar
amazon22 | 8 years ago
0 likes

Interesting - very often 'own brand' is of lesser quality, but clearly not the case here, and suprising for something as technical as a tyre. Be interesting to know who actually makes them.

Latest Comments