Comparison of few 14 inch tires

[xebeche]

EDIT:

As promised I added two more tires to the comparison – 5. Chao Yang H-5167 and 6. CST E-Bike PRO. You can find the description, video, scores and final conclusion below.

 

As some of you may know from my first post in Inmotion thread, I have recently bought my first wheel - Inmotion V5F+.
After learning how to ride the wheel, I started using it for daily commute to work and going around the city. I am absolutely thrilled by the wheel, but after few hundred kilometers and some strange and unexpected behaviour I started to doubt the tire that came with it. Therefore I bought 3 other 14 inch tires and made this little comparison that I would like to share with all that might be interested and could find it useful:

 

DESCRIPTION:

1. Hota Tyre

Slick, soft rubber tire, with very simple and shallow tread. This was the tire that came with my wheel and quite soon after learning to ride I became suspicious that this might not be very good tire. It could be a good tire but only for asphalt without any surface imperfections.
Pros: very manoeuvrable and has a really good grip on good asphalt surface. Not bumpy when jumping down from reasonable heights. Low roll resistance.
Cons: it REALY (!) likes to misbehave when you have any vertical lines or deformations along your route, you are immediately “railed”. This might be because when it warms up it gets “mushy” and the slick surface probably seeps into the deformations on the road. Uncomfortable when bumping into curbs. Before I tried other tires I thought that I maybe don't know how to handle the curbs because my knees sometimes hurt after longer rides. Now I know that is not the case because I never experienced this with other tires. For some reason this tire was also unable to hold the pressure above 40psi. I would pump it to 45psi and after few kilometers it would be back to 40. I used the same inner tube on all tires I tested.
 

2. CST Rhino King

This is new model from CST with “puncture protection” and the most expensive electric bike tire I could find on Alibaba/Aliexpress/Taobao, so I thought it might be good. It is by far the most hard / rigid tire of the whole bunch, with relatively complex and very pronounced tread. This would be a very good tire if not for one fatal flaw.
Pros: Stable during straight riding, good grip both on asphalt and gravel, quite comfortable when bumping into curbs, has puncture protection.
Cons: Well this tire has one fatal combination for the EUC – it is very hard and it has such a steep fall-off on the tread that it is almost unreasonably difficult to control during leaning left or right. When you ride straight with only small left or right course changes it is perfect, but when you need to make any little bit more aggressive turn or lean into one side, you really have to work to keep the wheel from falling down :-( 
 

3. Schwalbe Big Apple

So called “balloon” tire, from well known Schwalbe brand. Simple and shallow but dense tread on soft and almost slick rubber surface. This tire has different construction from the other tires, with soft, paper thin side walls from different material (think its kevlar reinforced?) and is very deformable when not inflated. Many sources say that it has to be inflated to minimum of 55psi when used on EUC or otherwise you risk damage to the side walls, so I tested it both on 45psi (like other tires) and on 55psi. This is the only tire with slightly lower width – 14x2.0 (others are 14x2.125)
Pros: Best tire for bumping into curbs and amortising any kind of bumps, especially when inflated to 45psi, but even on 55psi it’s still the best in this regard. Very good grip on asphalt. Relatively good directional stability, especially considering the shallow tread and soft surface. Low rolling resistance.
Cons: Bit bumpy when jumping down from curbs, not the best grip on gravel. There is also potential damage to side walls (as reported by dmethwin on Firewheel thread). I travelled 80km on this tire and even after this low mileage there was some black dusty “residue” coming off the side walls when I dismounted the tire from the wheel. Not certain how this would influence safety in the long run.
 

4. Chao Yang H-5146

Tire from harder rubber, but not like CST Rhino King, about half as hard. Pronounced and complex tread.
Pros: Most stable tire of all tested on any surface, it just goes where you want it to go without any unexpected surprises. Inmotion V5F+ is a very agile small wheel, which sometimes represented a challenge for relatively inexperienced driver like me (total of 800km in 45 days) when faced with nasty road anomalies , but this tire gives it another dimension in stability without compromising manoeuvrability! Very good directional stability and handling of vertical anomalies on the asphalt surfaces. Good grip both on asphalt and gravel.
Cons: Could be better when bumping into curbs, but this is not a real con, only wishful thinking after being spoiled by bump amortisation performance of the Schwalbe Big Apple, which is the only tire out of the tested ones that is better in this regard.
This tire has quite pronounced grip and therefore two slick tires have a little bit lower rolling resistance.
 

5. Chao Yang H-5167

Medium soft tire with added puncture protection layer. Very complex and relatively pronounced tread.
Pros: This tire forced me to rethink the score table. I expected something quite similar to Chao Yang H-5146 just with added puncture protection, and although these two tires share many good characteristics, this is in some aspects entirely different beast. In one word – SPEED – this thing rolls like crazy, I was actually convinced that my V5F+ somehow restored to the lower speed limit after the tire change because I have never before reached 25km/h speed limit and tiltback so easily. And the best thing is that it manages to maintain almost all of that wonderful control and stability that H-5146 exhibits. Great handling of anomalies on the road, good impact absorption when bumping into curbs, not bumpy while jumping… and on top all of that it has additional puncture protection layer.
Cons: Slightly less (5-10%) controllable than H-5146, probably due to crazy good rolling resistance

 

6. CST E-Bike Pro

If I am not mistaken, this is the tire that usually comes with Kingsong and Gotway wheels (although I can't say how it behaves in sizes other than 14 inch !). Medium soft rubber, pronounced tread. I just had to test at least one more CST tire to have something from another serious manufacturer as a reference to compare to the two Chao-Yang’s.  This tire is made of different rubber compound, it’s not super soft but it sticks like crazy, reminds me of the winter car tires. It is also the only one of the tested tires that screeches on the glossy surfaces like marble tiles and those surfaces in shopping mall garages.
Pros: Good rolling resistance, great grip on asphalt and good on gravel, fabulous handling of curbs and jumps (very close to Schwalbe Big Abble, and that is a balloon tire -could be that rubber compound?)
Cons: Slightly sharper fall-off from the center of the tread to the sides – not nearly as unusable like on the CST Rhino King, but you can still feel it, especially when compared to the Chao-Yang’s. This makes it bit less controllable and sometimes “jerky”.  Although it has good grip on the gravel, you have to work more due to that fall-off to keep it under control when wheel bumps around on the uneven surface. I am probably just spoiled by Chao-Yangs by now…

 

VISUAL COMPARISON:

 

SCORE:

Tire brand / type	Hota Tyre	CST Rhino King	Schwalbe Big Apple	Chao Yang H-5146	Chao Yang  H-5167	CST E-Bike Pro
Size	14x2.125	14x2.125	14x2.00	14x2.125	14x2.125	14x2.125
Ride Comfort	8	8	10	10	10	10
Control	10	2	9	10	9	7
Grip Asphalt	10	8	8	10	10	10
Grip Gravel	4	8	6	8	8	8
Impact absorption	5	8	10	9	9	10
Directional stability	2	10	8	10	10	10
Temperature stability	4	10	10	10	10	10
Rolling resistance	9	8	10	8	10	9
TOTAL:	52	62	71	75	76	74

I am not expert on tires and all of the above are only my personal impressions and conclusions after using these tires on my EUC.
All of the tires are tested on the same Inmotion V5F+ and with the same inner tube (Tube brand is Chao Yang).
I tried each of the tires for at least 80km.
 

CONCLUSION:

Chao-Yang H-5167 is the tire that stays on my wheel. It’s simply best overall and checks practically all important “boxes”.
H-5146 would be best beginners tire, it’s so controllable, relaxed and forgiving.
Both CST tires have great rubber compound, but the tread has this pronounced center section and then somewhat steep fall-off, which results in less smooth experience and requires more work to control the wheel.

 

 

 

Edited November 18, 2016 by xebeche

[houseofjob]

@xebeche Excellent review! (if I could give you more rep on there, I would) So is the Chao Yang or the Schwalbe the one that will stay on your V5F+?

Also, can you post some links of where you purchased these tires? (The Chao Yang and the Schwalbe in particular) Thanks!

 

[xebeche]

@houseofjob Thanks  Chao Yang will stay on the wheel, it's simply best overall - until I find better one . 

Would be nice to have Schwalbe for specific rides, but unfortunately this business of swapping the tires still takes at least 30-45 minutes and requires dismantling 80% of the wheel.

I got Chao Yang H-5146 from @Jason McNeil

Schwalbe Big Apple: http://www.tyres-and-tubes.co.uk/tires-c-3/14-schwalbe-big-apple-tire-p-15

CST Rhino King: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/160163-Free-shipping-Is-a-new-electric-car-tire-14-16-18-22-24-2-125/32586841774.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.Vzm2Ok

Hota Tyre came with the wheel, but I'we also seen it here: http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Ninebot-One-S2-A1-14x2-125-tire-and-inner-tire-tyre-Electric-Scooter-Unicycle-Accessory-free/2347056_32713565364.html

[Jason McNeil]

4 hours ago, xebeche said:

I got Chao Yang H-5146 from @Jason McNeil

Amazing review, thanks for sharing. I'd like to take credit for exhaustively conducting tests with different brand tires & deriving at the Chao Yang, but if I'm honest, it was pure blind luck of IPS sending us these in our parts order.

Edited October 15, 2016 by Jason McNeil

[houseofjob]

@Jason McNeil Please stock Chao Yang 16" x 2.125" tires, I will be first in line and spread the word to the many Ninebot One / ACM / KS16 owners in NYC!!

Edited October 15, 2016 by houseofjob

[xebeche]

To have a more definite conclusion I would like to test at least one more tire from CST. I have seen their tires on many EUC photos and videos, and like Chao Yang they are also huge company which should ensure reasonable quality level of their products.

CST (turnover for 2014. - 4.4 billion $) - http://www.csttires.eu/en/about-us/company.html
Chao Yang (turnover for 2014. - 5.4 billion $) - http://www.chaoyangtire.com/index.php/company

Setting only the highest price as indication when looking for the CST tire, I have obviously chosen wrong type which is made out of too hard rubber (puncture protection), which is not flexible enough and has unsuitable thread shape for EUC. Therefore I will look for another CST tire, more suitable for EUC use, and add it to the comparison when I test it.

It is unfortunate that western companies (Continental, Michelin, Schwalbe...) don't yet find it financially viable to make tires specific for EUC use. Looking at the construction differences of the tires I have, it is not difficult to conclude that bicycle tires like Schwalbe Big Apple are not really made to have loads which can easily exceed 90kg (EUC + rider) on only one small tire.

 

[HEC]

On ‎15‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 1:05 AM, xebeche said:

Cons: it REALY (!) likes to misbehave when you have any vertical lines or deformations along your route, you are immediately “railed”.

This is EXACTLY the same issue / main complain about Kenda stock tire on V8! It simply "snaps" into the grooves (almost) parallel with direction of your ride and I find the highly uncomfortable, even dangerous. I also plan to test a few tires starting with a spare I've purchased for KS-16 and indeed if @Jason McNeil would have any other models for comparison more the merrier.

[Chris Westland]

xebeche, where were you able to buy the 14" Chao Yang H-5146?  Anyplace online.  Alibaba seems to want an 800 minimum order size.

Edited October 18, 2016 by Chris Westland

[HEC]

On ‎15‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 11:07 AM, xebeche said:

I got Chao Yang H-5146 from @Jason McNeil

 

13 minutes ago, Chris Westland said:

xebeche, where were you able to buy the 14" Chao Yang H-5146?  Anyplace online.  Alibaba seems to want an 800 minimum order size.

 

[Chris Westland]

Got it! Thanks!

[xebeche]

1 hour ago, Chris Westland said:

xebeche, where were you able to buy the 14" Chao Yang H-5146?  Anyplace online.  Alibaba seems to want an 800 minimum order size.

Hi Chris, Alibaba is wholesale, b2b orientated, Aliexpress is for small / single quantity purchases. As @HEC already wrote I bought Chao Yang from @Jason McNeil. I doubt you would save any money ordering the tire directly from China, and with Jason you can be sure what you are getting.

[Chris Westland]

Thanks xebeche.  I'm new to the community so don't really know the members, but saw that  @Jason McNeil = eWheels ... 

[UKJ]

Hello all,

I ride a Kenda 2.125 x 14 stock KS14c tire, only further info on tire is 54-254.

Any one have any thoughts reviews on this tire, thanks!

I have found that pressure is vital to performance and like 3.5 bar best.

U K J

[xebeche]

UPDATE: I've added two more tires to the comparison - check the first post for details.

[nomad]

Ok I just upgraded my V5F+, it took me 3 hours from start to finish lol although next time I could do it in half the time but still.. I salute you for testing all these tires!

Got a flat a couple of weeks ago and came across this thread. I have the first version that came with the thinner 1.95" tire. Instead of just changing the tube I decided to contact @Jason McNeil to see if he could fix me up with a better tire.. I told him about this thread and requested the H-5146, he checked for me and arranged to send out both that tire and an inner tube, excellent service as expected!

The H-5167 is slick in the middle, as you start to lean it has some slits. But then if you lean more it becomes slick again, albeit with grooves so not like the middle.. Then finally in extreme leaning you get to the gritty pattern. So it seems not to progress like usual from slick to more grooves, slits or grit, but instead kind of switches back and forth somewhat between slick and nonslick down the side.. That might explain why control might feel a tad more erratic or something? Just speculating I'm no tire expert.

The CST tires are probably the best for offroad being deeply grooved and long lasting durable rubber. From my experience with the 18" Msuper v3 the E-Bike Pro is a very stable tire in that size at least. You quickly get a feel for how much leaning can be done, because it really starts to resist leaning as you approach the edge. Not like some other tires you can just keep leaning more and more and you keep feeling grip all the way, then suddenly it slides away... Yes I did that once long ago on dry asphalt with my V5F+ man I was leaning! (that 'crash', more of a slide really, was just a very short fall with such low angle to the ground, so no hard impact or anything serious).

The bigger wheels already have bigger turn radius and higher speed so extreme leaning is less useful. Making tight lower speed turns on the Msuper, you have to actively twist the shell with your legs anyway, instead of just more leaning. So I can see why they picked that tire. Making tight turns on the V5F+ feels amazing because you can really lean a lot with the high oval pedals together with the hard response riding mode. I think the E-Bike Pro would spoil maybe too much agility for this wheel..

I'll keep this very nice H-5146 on, for this nimble wheel it still seems like the best compromise overall. You gave it 10 points both for control and asphalt grip (which are needed all the time) while retaining great gravel grip as well (which is also often needed). The H-5167 seems great too.

Thanks for all the info really appreciate it!

[nomad]

Just came back from a long ride with the new tire.. What a difference, now I'm actually happy I got a flat! I understand why you'd go through the effort trying out these many tires  On such a small wheel different tires probably have even more effect than on larger wheels too, because of the smaller contact area with the ground? At least between my old spongy feeling  1.95" that also loved to misbehave and "rail" me regularly any chance it got, and now this the improvement is huge! Threw the old tire in the trash along with the leaking tube, not putting that on again.

By the way, looking at your scores I'd probably raise the gravel grip score for the CST tires as they should be a tad better than the rest there? I notice you handed out 10's for every category except gravel, so to make the score table consistent you need to adjust that for one or more of the tires.. But I think while the V5F+ can handle a fair share of offroading, on this wheel gravel grip is probably less of a priority for most riders overall, still important though. Maybe you didn't put as much testing into that so your gravel scores didn't reach 10 for any tire?

[xebeche]

1 hour ago, nomad said:

Just came back from a long ride with the new tire.. What a difference, now I'm actually happy I got a flat! I understand why you'd go through the effort trying out these many tires  On such a small wheel different tires probably have even more effect than on larger wheels too, because of the smaller contact area with the ground? At least between my old spongy feeling  1.95" that also loved to misbehave and "rail" me regularly any chance it got, and now this the improvement is huge! Threw the old tire in the trash along with the leaking tube, not putting that on again.

Glad you like the new tire  That was exactly my point and why I considered trying different tires is important - this small patch of rubber is all that connects EUC and rider with the surface and therefore it can influence so many different aspects of the whole experience. It is also the only significant part on the wheel that can be relatively easily exchanged by the user.

1 hour ago, nomad said:

By the way, looking at your scores I'd probably raise the gravel grip score for the CST tires as they should be a tad better than the rest there? I notice you handed out 10's for every category except gravel, so to make the score table consistent you need to adjust that for one or more of the tires.. But I think while the V5F+ can handle a fair share of offroading, on this wheel gravel grip is probably less of a priority for most riders overall, still important though. Maybe you didn't put as much testing into that so your gravel scores didn't reach 10 for any tire?

When you just look at the CST E-Bike Pro tire, it is easy to conclude that it has the most pronounced and probably most suitable tread for the gravel. It really does grip very well on the outer edges of the tire, but from my experience this is negatively offset with the fall-off from center tread to the sides. This often forces you to correct it's behaviour to stay straight, especially on the uneven surface like gravel where the tire is one second griping more with the center section and another second it is gripping with edges on one or the other side. That is why I think that CST tire does not deserve more than Chao Yangs in the "Gravel grip" category, they do not grip so good on the edges but make up for that with more predictable and consistent ride over the whole tire surface on the gravel. For the gravel grip testing I used 10 kilometers long river bank which has mostly fine gravel, some dirt / mud and some rocky patches - so roughly 20km in both directions. None of these tires are suitable for mud, they all slip quite fast. I guess something like Schwalbe Mad Mike would probably deserve 10 points on gravel, but as much as I know that tire exist only in 16+ diameters. Again - all of the above is just my experience / opinion and only for the 14 inch tires. I have no idea how these tire models would behave on larger wheels. 

[andress]

I think I found the Chao Yeng tire on aliexpress. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Tire-14-X-2-125-54-254-fits-Many-Gas-Electric-Scooters-and-e-Bike/32755340154.html?ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_2_10065_10068_10084_10083_10080_10082_10081_10060_10061_10062_10056_10055_10037_10054_10059_10032_10099_10078_10079_10077_10073_10100_10096_10070_10052_423_10050_424_10051,searchweb201603_9&btsid=d32ea4c9-f03f-46ab-98e6-160db71e1738&aff_platform=link-c-tool&sk=uR7uBY3Rz%3A&cpt=1479743861752&af=DPlnKr2ATnM&afref=&cn&cv=90001&dp=wNyx83MDEM&aff_trace_key=c01645e36b0046f0b1f7d8b709b64302-1479743861752-01654-uR7uBY3Rz

[Smoother]

@xebeche that's an incredible amount of work you did. Thanks for detailing your findings and sharing them with us. I own a 14, so I'm very interested in your conclusions.  

Question. Why no Kenda?  I see them on lots of things. My ks14c has one.  

[xebeche]

16 hours ago, andress said:

I think I found the Chao Yeng tire on aliexpress. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Tire-14-X-2-125-54-254-fits-Many-Gas-Electric-Scooters-and-e-Bike/32755340154.html?ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_2_10065_10068_10084_10083_10080_10082_10081_10060_10061_10062_10056_10055_10037_10054_10059_10032_10099_10078_10079_10077_10073_10100_10096_10070_10052_423_10050_424_10051,searchweb201603_9&btsid=d32ea4c9-f03f-46ab-98e6-160db71e1738&aff_platform=link-c-tool&sk=uR7uBY3Rz%3A&cpt=1479743861752&af=DPlnKr2ATnM&afref=&cn&cv=90001&dp=wNyx83MDEM&aff_trace_key=c01645e36b0046f0b1f7d8b709b64302-1479743861752-01654-uR7uBY3Rz

I ordered mine from here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/14-2-125-Tire-Cover-Wheels-Tyre-Electric-Unicycle-Scooter-Electric-Bicycle-/162259377939?hash=item25c7699f13

[xebeche]

1 hour ago, Smoother said:

@xebeche that's an incredible amount of work you did. Thanks for detailing your findings and sharing them with us. I own a 14, so I'm very interested in your conclusions.  

Thank you 

1 hour ago, Smoother said:

Question. Why no Kenda?  I see them on lots of things. My ks14c has one.  

I had the Kenda on my list and already found where to buy it locally, but then @HEC mentioned in his post (check posts above), that he had very similar issue with Kenda tire on his V8 like I had with Hota on my V5.  

[Smoother]

On 17 October 2016 at 0:18 PM, HEC said:

This is EXACTLY the same issue / main complain about Kenda stock tire on V8! It simply "snaps" into the grooves (almost) parallel with direction of your ride and I find the highly uncomfortable, even dangerous. I also plan to test a few tires starting with a spare I've purchased for KS-16 and indeed if @Jason McNeil would have any other models for comparison more the merrier.

That effect is called " tram-lining"? I believe I.e. If your tire gets too close to a tram-line going in about the same direction, it will snap into the grove and follow it, often with disastrous results,. Cyclist and motorcyclist learn early, or the hard way, to cross deep groves at an obtuse angle, to avoid tram-lining, and face plants.  Here at my beach there are walkways that cross the main promenade.  They are a series of wooden planks, with sizeable gaps in between, that run parallel to my direction.  It's like 40 tram-lines 15 to 20cm apart.  Being aware of the dangers of tram-lining, I used to cross at an angle.  But as I got better, I discovered that my Kenda is quite resistant to the effect.   Sounds odd, especially as I always thought tram-lining was independent of tire brand. I now cross at any angle I feel ike, even slaloming across them.  Maybe they will be the subject of my next face plant.?

[HEC]

1 hour ago, Smoother said:

That effect is called " tram-lining"? I believe I.e. If your tire gets too close to a tram-line going in about the same direction, it will snap into the grove and follow it, often with disastrous results,. Cyclist and motorcyclist learn early, or the hard way, to cross deep groves at an obtuse angle, to avoid tram-lining, and face plants.  Here at my beach there are walkways that cross the main promenade.  They are a series of wooden planks, with sizeable gaps in between, that run parallel to my direction.  It's like 40 tram-lines 15 to 20cm apart.  Being aware of the dangers of tram-lining, I used to cross at an angle.  But as I got better, I discovered that my Kenda is quite resistant to the effect.   Sounds odd, especially as I always thought tram-lining was independent of tire brand. I now cross at any angle I feel ike, even slaloming across them.  Maybe they will be the subject of my next face plant.?

The problem is that I ride over the same areas with 4 another EUCs with different tires and it's only V8 with supplied Kenda tire which does this. So this is definitely depending on the type / model of the tire.

[xebeche]

1 hour ago, Smoother said:

That effect is called " tram-lining"? I believe I.e. If your tire gets too close to a tram-line going in about the same direction, it will snap into the grove and follow it, often with disastrous results,. Cyclist and motorcyclist learn early, or the hard way, to cross deep groves at an obtuse angle, to avoid tram-lining, and face plants.  Here at my beach there are walkways that cross the main promenade.  They are a series of wooden planks, with sizeable gaps in between, that run parallel to my direction.  It's like 40 tram-lines 15 to 20cm apart.  Being aware of the dangers of tram-lining, I used to cross at an angle.  But as I got better, I discovered that my Kenda is quite resistant to the effect.   Sounds odd, especially as I always thought tram-lining was independent of tire brand. I now cross at any angle I feel ike, even slaloming across them.  Maybe they will be the subject of my next face plant.?

That is one serious obstacle you are talking about, I would always be careful when crossing those planks and not only because of the tire.

HEC and I had a problem with smaller and much more common gaps / cracks / uneven surfaces, like these:

 

Better tires (Chao Yang, CST...) handle these without any problems, while Hota could seriously derail you even on the small ones.

[Smoother]

Took some photos trying to uploaded them here

 

That's a 2€ coin in a gap