Bicycle Mechanics - Are inexpensive Chinese tires bad?

Normally I would say buy a good brand name such as Michelin, Goodyear, etc. (I have NO idea if these companies even make bike tires). But it seems to me that since the Chinese population routinely uses their bicycles for daily transportation that the tires made in the Far East may actually be pretty good. After all, the majority of their population depends on them every day. And the fact that these tires can be bought at Walmart for $10.00 or so makes them that much more appealing. What does everyone else think?
Glen

Michelin certainly makes bike tires and lots of them. None of the American manufactures (Firestone, Goodyear, Goodrich, General, etc.) make them.

There are several Taiwanese and mainland Chinese makers and some of their tires are sold here. Cheng Shin is one Taiwanese maker whose tires Nashbar sells under their house-brand name. They are inexpensive but I've had very good service from them on my rain/beater bikes.

Typically, Chinese tires sold here are utilitarian rather than cutting edge performance tires.

My experience with Cheng Shin tires was not good.

I bought a set of their "hybrid" tires for my MTB -- smooth tread with knobbies only on the edge -- and at first I was pleased. My speed improved thanks to the lower rolling resistance. At $10 each they seemed a great bargain. But soon I had several flats within a few weeks and realized the cheap rubber was just too thin to offer any protection against road debris like glass. Then I paid about $20 each for a set of Continental Town & Country tires and I haven't had a single flat since. Tough tires are definitely worth the extra money in my opinion.

when our local distributor started carrying cheng shin tires, we had a run of 27" tires
blowing out sidewalls. but that was a while ago and was probably a fluke. they are basic, but probably no worse than say basic kenda or IRCs.

My beater runs on cheap-ass wallyworld commie chinese tires.
My Raleigh is on Hutchenson non-commie chinese tires.
Haven't decided what to put on the Miyata yet, but I'm leaning towards Michlein or Panaracer, whereever they're made.
FWIT, the wallyworld tires have held up just fine over a couple of years.
Top

my ironhorse came with chin shing tires. Super soft, they blew up disintergated lasted about 800 miles(wnet through 4 tubes in the last 100) Here in the netherlands, I see them a lot, in 700x 35c, and they seem pretty rugged and reliable, but the ones that came stock on my road bike 700x 23 were total junk.

I noticed that the aftermarket chin shings are marketed as CST. Drying to shed the cheap chinese image?

I put pannaracers on the road, and haven't had a single flat. I think they are made in Japan.

I have no problem with these tires, until they are sold at a wal-mart store. With bike parts, you usually get what you pay for, like everfything in life.

Have to read the 'fine print' on some of the tires: China, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam of some of the supposedly 'good' name tires.

Some of the best road tires I have had were an Italian brand(Vittoria) made in Thailand and I purchased them from a bike shop in Derry northern Ireland who sent them FedEx to me in Tennessee. Go figure!!!!!

Some of the best road tires I have had were an Italian brand(Vittoria) made in Thailand and I purchased them from a bike shop in Derry northern Ireland who sent them FedEx to me in Tennessee. Go figure!!!!!

I have some excellent Made in Thailand Geax Street Runners on my mountain bike. They wear like iron, roll like crazy, and haven't flatted in 2 years.

I'd rather see Asian tires than watch G W Bush turn over our ports to the United Arab Emirates.

The latest Schwalbe Marathon tyres are made in Indonesia. The design and materials are more importatnt than the location of the factory.
Tyres are the last place to economise and the most effective way to spend any money on an upgrade.

Apples and oranges, mate. If you want a cheap tire, they fit the bill. If you want to race crits, I'd go with a high end hunk of rubber. Most things in life fall into the "you get what you pay for" category.

i run kenda tires down here in florida most of the year. whether it is a $10 kenda or a $40 michelin the hot roads down here just melt the tire threads away so i would rather pocket the savings. i have had good success with kenda tires. usually get them on sale at nashbar for about $10. i don't race but just train so i am not that concerned with performance but rather durability. very rarely get a flat.

Well, given that most of the worlds rubber comes from south east asia, does it not make sense to make the tyres there? My Schwalbe tyres (Marathon) are from Indonesia. I guess that in this case, we needn't worry about the extra miles that the parts travelled, because in this case, the added mileage is 0.
Dave

I noticed that the aftermarket chin shings are marketed as CST. Drying to shed the cheap chinese image?

Cheng shin also market their tyres as maxxis.

I have a set of cheap contis ($17 ea) on the hybrid, so far no problems at all. The built up rolling layers seem to be thicker than most similar tires on it's class. The only complain is the wire bead makes them heavier than the foldable type but again ygwypf.
Made in Indonesia also.

i am very fond of michelin's silca knobbies. sometimes you just have to read the beveled print on the sidewall to find out who really makes a sprawl-mart tire. i picked up some 26ers last year and while they had a 'Bell' tag on them, the sidewall said kenda. but, they were still thin, flatted often, heavy, and maybe was old stock beacuse the tread was waaayy too hard for any real traction.

even michelin and conti have their cheapie tires made in asia. iguess it just depends on what you are doing. if your just running around, any round tire will work. but i think if i was in a race or something i would get some nice tires.

i think i only have one bike with matching tires. michelin transworld or something,10 bucks at nashbar. made in indonesia.. and i love em.

Some of the best road tires I have had were an Italian brand(Vittoria) made in Thailand and I purchased them from a bike shop in Derry northern Ireland who sent them FedEx to me in Tennessee. Go figure!!!!!

It's all a part of our global economy!