I've gotten good use out of $8 27 x 1 1/4 Cheng Shin tires (mine have the yellowish "gumwall" color on the sidewalls, they have performed all right and I like that they had a somewhat uniform thickness from bead to bead instead of just being thick in the thread area. I don't really go for the "paper" thin sidewalls (in relation to the thread thickness) for use on my back wheel (though I did find some Panaracer Pasela with Tourguard tires on sell that are pretty light and maybe a bit thin-skinned on the sidewalls in relation to the thread and they have been good tires).

Anyway, my Cheng Shin tires have a healthy amount of bead-to-bead nylon thickness (the performance and weight-obsessed need not apply). The feel and weight of them makes me think of them as a bit-lighter version of an Armadillo tire (I know the Armadillos are probably much tougher tires, I've only held an Armadillo tire in my hand and I know they are supposed to have a lot of flat-fighting technology stuff in their construction). I've ridden a mixed-up assortment of bikes and tires over the last three years so I can't really comment on the Cheng Shins durability over many miles.