Anyone have experience with Cheng Shin C186 trials tires?

At a local store these are available for $15 to $25 depending on size. I'm trying one out on the front of my trail bike (Honda XR250), but only have a few miles so far.

These appear to run small. The 3.00 on my XR is narrower than the 2.75 Michelins on my Scorpas. But I haven't looked at it closely - could be the rim is a different width.

I don't have any accurate way of comparing the hardness of the rubber, but by feel it is similar to Michelin.

The Cheng Shin's have about the same knob pattern as Michelin. However, each knob has one, two or three cuts in the direction of travel.

The local shop has a wide selection of these tires, but no tubeless. And a Google search produces no tubeless versions.

Edited January 18, 200422 yr by Scott

Hi Scott,,

How bizarre....I suppose those are from China...and I've never heard of them here in Hong KOng. My mate has a few bikes (ex military etc.) that he bought from China and I'm sure he'll know....so I will ask him if there are any tubeless ones.

I guess things could change, but my past experience with Cheng Shin is that you get what you pay for.

I've seen many come from JC Whitney. The rubber was always so hard that they were very frustrating and dangerous to the owner.

Although...if they have a modern trials tire, I have not seen it.