Anyone Tried CST Tires?

arw45 said:

Looking to get some cheap decent tires. I heard that the cst tires are pretty much maxxis. Anyone tried these out yet?

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CST and Maxxis are owned by the same company. Made in different plants to different spec.

CST tires are good but made as a "budget" choice. Long wearing, descent performance. They work well in most conditions for most riders. May not be so good in the wet as the rubber compounds tend to be a bit harder for durability rather than grip.

I bought a set of their road tires, they were pain to get on my rims. Once they were on they rode great.

I had a pair on my road bike...lasted forever and NEVER punctured.

I bought a pair of Cheyenne last summer and I'm impressed. As shiggy noted, they are an all-round tire (I liken them to Panaracers). Good performance, but not spectacular. Definitely good value for money.

CST = Cheng Shin Tire. They used to be the biggest piles of crap in the 80's and 90's would dry rot in a season just sitting in a garage. I don't know how they are now, maybe they've churched them up a bit? The Maxxis line seems to be of good quality.

Norris_Hanna said:

CST = Cheng Shin Tire. They used to be the biggest piles of crap in the 80's and 90's would dry rot in a season just sitting in a garage. I don't know how they are now, maybe they've churched them up a bit? The Maxxis line seems to be of good quality.

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"Churched"?

Cheng Shin still makes all sorts and all levels of tires. The CST label is being pushed into the low-cost performance market. The quality is way above the generic mass-market tires. Cheng Shin has been, and still is, the manufacturer of high-end tires for many major tire brands (from Germany, USA, UK...)

Shiggy's assessment matches my experience. I run the CST Cabbellero 29'er on the back of my RIP. It does most everything well. It was "greasy" feeling on the back with a week of riding in the rain on granite up at Downieville the first weekend of June. Manageable, but I would not have wanted it for a front tire in those conditions. It wears like iron... I have about 1000 miles on the rear of one tire, and it still has tread left. It's pretty good for everything we have here in So Cal year round, it's pretty dry around here. YMMV, but for the price, nothing I've ridden lasts like it or does as well as it does, or offers such value in a tire. Don't get me wrong, I love Schwalbe Big Betty's and Fat Alberts, they are very high performance tires, but they are more for racing and taking things to the edge of the envelope when riding. They stick, they are soft compound, and soft compound can wear quickly.

I put on a set of Caballero's and they worked well in the rocky and sandy trails we have in my area. I missed the volume of my Kenda's and went back to them. The price can't be beat though.