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Vittoria has been making tyres for bicycles since 1953, and currently sponsors both the Women’s and Men’s Jumbo Visma cycling teams. Other than a series of major wins, with the likes of Jonas Vingegard, the brand is possibly best known in recent years for its use of Graphene infused compounds.
The RideArmor TLR tyre is Vittoria’s toughest all-season road tyre, developed with high puncture resistance for the worst road conditions. As such it’s not a lightweight racing tyre, but still, we’d expect it to have a decent amount of grip and show a good turn of speed.
Construction
(Image credit: Andy Turner)
The Vittoria RideArmor TLR tyres are available in sizes 26, 28, 30 and 32mm, with all but the 26mm being Hookless rim compatible. The 28mm tyres on test are advertised as 375g but came in at 366g actual for each tyre.
The main casing of the tyres is a 100 TPI nylon with the outer rubber tread made up of Vittoria’s mix of Graphene and Silica 2C, which is designed to simultaneously reduce rolling resistance, improve cornering grip, and reduce the chance of cuts. Within the nylon casing there is a Kevlar belt running from bead to bead, the same material used in bulletproof vests. There is also the Bead Shield, a final inner layer to further reduce the chance of punctures.
Vittoria’s sidewall protection system for this tyre is named ArmorSkin. It’s a polyamide fabric with a copper colouring that protects the sidewalls from any impacts or abrasions. All in all, Vittoria designed this tyre to be their most resilient and durable road tyre available, yet not sacrifice rolling resistance, grip and speed.
The ride
The first thing I did, after unboxing, was to fit the tyres to Shimano’s WH-RS170 wheels (which have an internal width of 17mm) with some Lifeline inner tubes. This was done easily enough without tyre levers, by ensuring the bead sat in the central canal of the rims so that I could ease the final part of the tyre on. Seating wasn’t quite as easy, with about 120 psi required and then leaving them for a couple of hours before they sat uniformly across the rim. Just be sure to fit them the correct way round, as they are directional. Measuring the tyres, the 28mm actually came out at 26mm wide on these wheels, and looked noticeably narrower than other 28mm tyres that I’ve used.
Out riding, I usually find it quite easy to get a feel for if a tyre is sluggish or faster. Comparing these tyres to Continental’s Gatorskin hardshell, a similarly rugged tyre meant to be highly puncture resistant, the RideArmor TLR does appear to roll faster. Across a range of rides with the same bike and wheels, but different tyres, in different conditions and comparing the power to the speed, generally the RideArmor TLR averages about 1.5-2 kph faster than the Gatorskin. They are also noticeably more grippy in the corners, especially in wet conditions. The RideArmor TLR is not quite as fast as some of the more speed orientated four season tyres such as the Specialized Mondo 2Bliss or Continental GP5000 AS TR. However, both of those lack the level of puncture protection that the RideArmor TLR offers. The Pirelli Cinturato Velo are similar tyres in terms of offering high levels of puncture protection, while rolling faster than most rugged tyres. However, I haven’t ridden these so can’t really compare.
When it comes to puncture protection, I did try and throw everything I could at these tyres. Finding some of the filthiest lanes possible with floods, and various shrapnel on the roads, as well as riding in the gutter in towns over patches of broken glass, and even venturing onto some soft gravel riding, I was impressed that there were no punctures. I did experience some cuts on the tyres, most likely due to glass and some sharp stones, but nothing that penetrated any of the various puncture protection belts in the tyre. In terms of wear life, it’s hard to say, but after a good few hundred kilometres there is no noticeable sign of wear anywhere on the tread of the tyre.
Value
(Image credit: Andy Turner)
Coming in at £59.99 a tyre, the RideArmor TLR are a fair bit more expensive than the likes of the Continental Gatorskin (£44.99) but cheaper than the similarly designed Pirelli Cinturato Velo tyres (£71.00). If you want a tyre that offers very high levels of puncture protection, while also providing greater levels of grip and lower rolling resistance than most all weather tyres, the Vittoria RideArmor TLR is a good value option.
Conclusion
The Vittoria RideArmor TLR tyres offer some of the best and most comprehensive puncture protection available in a road tyre, no matter what you throw at them. There are cheaper options, but they are not as fast, likewise, there are faster options, but they don’t offer the same level of protection. For an all-season tyre, these perform brilliantly. However, they do come up a bit narrow.
Specs
£59.99/$79.99
26, 28, 30 and 32mm options
375g claimed weight for 28mm (366g actual)
TSS Hookless compatible (except the 26mm)
Tubeless-ready
100 TPI Nylon Casing
Graphene + Silica 2C Compound
Designed to be suitable for all weather but remain grippy and comfortable
ArmorSkin Sidewall Layer
Kevlar® Bead-to-Bead Protection Layer
Inner Shield Protection Layer
Bead Shield Protection Layer
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