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review
£14.00
VERDICT:
Great all-round tyres that are quick enough to race on, at an exceptional price
Weight:
232g
Contact:
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 meanGood 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
The Lifeline Prime Race tyres offer an excellent all-round package for a very minimal outlay. If you want decent grip, low rolling resistance and high levels of durability then put them on your shopping list.
Lifeline is an in-house accessory brand of online retailer Wiggle, and of all its products I've tried so far, none has disappointed – and that doesn't change here with the Prime Race.
For starters their 120tpi (threads per inch) casing gives a much more supple ride than I expected, which means comfort is fine even at the maximum recommended pressure of 110psi. On that subject, if you like to run things soft then it's worth noting that the recommended minimum pressure of the Primes is 90psi.
The real star of the show, though, is the rubber compound. Lifeline says that these tyres are "inspired by cyclists sprinting for 'primes' (pronounced 'preems') in criterium races", and that they are "designed for high speeds, tight bends and the pursuit of victory". That's exactly what you get, a tyre compound that is great for fast riding and racing, with very good grip levels in the wet and dry. Really bank the bike over, for a large roundabout, say, and the grip starts to break away ever so slightly but it quickly regains traction so it's easily controlled. It certainly didn't affect my confidence as I knew what was going to happen, and it did this consistently.
As far as weight goes, the Lifelines also score well here at just 232g for the tested 25mm models, which benefits acceleration and climbing.
On the road the Primes feel fast, so I wouldn't expect there to be a whole lot of rolling resistance, and they are definitely quick enough to race on.
Durability is often the big deal breaker with tyres. You want to find that compromise between puncture resistance and overall wear against grip levels and weight. The Prime Races are a well-rounded package using a Kevlar belt for puncture resistance and this does its job well. It's hedge-cutting season around here, which, paired with the rain, makes for increased puncture risk, but I haven't had a single issue with these, not even a cut or mark.
> Read our guide to road cycling tyres and 14 of the best, here
Should you puncture, you might find the Primes a bit of a faff to fit, depending on your rims. I tried to get them on a set of DT Swiss RR21s and basically gave up – if I'd managed to get them on I wasn't going to be getting them off again – and although they fitted okay to some Superstar Components Pave 28s and Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels, they were noticeably tighter than a lot of other tyres.
Overall, Lifeline is on to a bit of a winner with this package and that's before you take the price into consideration. Just £14 a tyre is pretty impressive, especially against the opposition.
Running them on a Verenti test bike, I swapped out the similarly priced Continental Ultra Sports and the difference was marked, even though the Conti is no slouch, and found the same up against Michelin Lithions, another well respected training tyre.
Verdict
Great all-round tyres that are quick enough to race on, at an exceptional price
road.cc test report
Make and model: LifeLine Prime Race Road Tyre
Size tested: 700 x 25mm
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?
Wiggle/Lifeline says: "Inspired by cyclists sprinting for 'primes' (pronounced 'preems') in criterium races, LifeLine prime race tyres are designed for high speeds, tight bends and the pursuit of victory."
They certainly offer good levels of grip and low rolling resistance.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Fast rolling slick centre tread
Channelled shoulder tread for wet weather cornering traction
Kevlar breaker for effective puncture protection
Lightweight 120 TPI Casing
60a rubber compound for superior traction (68a / 62a on coloured options)
Aramid folding bead
Available in various colour options
Specification
Sizes: 700 x 23c/25c
TPI: 120
PSI: 90-110
Rate the product for quality of construction:
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
8/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
8/10
Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
8/10
There feels like there is a bit of give in the sidewalls even at the upper recommended pressures.
Rate the product for value:
9/10
At £14 they offer excellent value for money against the opposition when you take into account the performance.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Fast-rolling tyres that offer decent levels of grip and durability.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
The price.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
A bit tight to get on and off.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your score
Very good high performance tyres at an entry-level price point.
About the tester
Age: 37
I usually ride: This month's test bike My best bike is: Mason Definition
I've been riding for: 10-20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed
Since writing his first bike review for road.cc back in early 2009 senior product reviewer Stu has tested more than a thousand pieces of kit, and hundreds of bikes.
With an HND in mechanical engineering and previous roles as a CNC programmer/machinist, draughtsman and development engineer (working in new product design) Stu understands what it takes to bring a product to market. A mix of that knowledge combined with his love of road and gravel cycling puts him in the ideal position to put the latest kit through its paces.
He first made the switch to road cycling in 1999, primarily for fitness, but it didn’t take long for his competitive side to take over which led to around ten years as a time triallist and some pretty decent results. These days though riding is more about escapism, keeping the weight off and just enjoying the fact that he gets to ride the latest technology as part of his day job.
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12 comments
However, giving up on fitting them does seem a major drawback.they are only good value for money if you can use them.
Guys, it may be only £14 but we don't know how fast/slow it really is unless someone actually tests it against competition on steel drums.
You can get branded tyres from as little as £12-15, e.g. Vittoria Zafirro Rubino etc...
There's plenty of choice.
Indeed there is, but none that attract such glowing reviews.
The Lifeline tyres will be made by one of the big brands, probably a superseded model.
Just because these are cheaper than big brands doesn't mean that the latter are necessarily overpriced. Otherwise B'twin and Planet X would be the only bike brands that get a look in and you would drive pre-registered Kias, sagely shaking your wise old heads at those fools who buy anything costing more.
This tyre is a badge engineered version of the Chaoyang Flyfish: http://chaoyangtire.com/index.php/pro/pro-details/1/170?type=Road&name=F...
Not what I would consider a premium brand and I would rank them behind Maxxis or Kenda. Chaoyang also manufacture s car tyres using brands such as Westlake and etc.
OK dry grip but poor wet grip. The two tyres of the same model that I have seemed to be too easy to fit on the rims compared to my Schwalbe previously. Considering the reviewer's tyres were difficult to fit, it sounded like the build quality isn't that great with such big range of tolerance.
i use Schwalbe duranos all year round and they are usually around £20 and they are excellent. I agree with the post that said the above tyre is how much bike tires should cost, especially if you consider the money to mileage ratio in bike tires are a lot worse than car tires.
Not if you are aftering something with a high tpi casing and a decent puncture protection belt, sadly...
Ever so slightly more, but I use these: Rubino Pro Tech, they're 150tpi and have a puncture protector.
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/700x25-rubino-pro-tech-road-bike-tyre-id_8314...
Been running them for over three years and 2000km now. That's 2000km on London roads, across the chippings and canal towpaths of the Olympic Park, round Ride London twice, and occasionally along gravel paths in the forest. The P fairy has never visited. Not once. And they're comfy, grippy even in the wet, what's not to love. They're getting superseded by their new graphene range soon, so I've just picked up another set.
this is how much a bike tyre should cost. many tyres now are getting on for the price of mid range car tyres! plus needing replacing three times more often...
Sadly completely out of stock at present- may well stick a couple of these on the fast bike see how we get on.
All of which makes you wonder about the profit margins on better known rubber.
Second that. List price for GP 4000s £50!