Shinko 505 Hybrid Cheater Review

Words & Photos by Rob Dunnet

With over 70 years of manufacturing tires in Japan and South Korea, Shinko Tires have been eating up the trails and competition on enduro bikes up and down the Pacific Northwest. To many, the Shinko Cheater is the last tire they’ll ever buy, to others it creates a bit of skepticism. After riding dozens of different tires from the lush rain forests of British Columbia to the deserts of central Oregon, I’m excited to report my verdict of the Shinko 505 Cheater tire.

THE LAB
Shinko bought Yokohama’s motorcycle tire technology and molds back in 1998. Since then Shinko has been working on delivering affordable tires to riders who are looking for budget, performance rubbers.

The Shinko 505 Hybrid Cheater tire was designed to bridge the gap between a trials tire and a traditional off-road tire. Blending the soft, sticky rubber from a trials tire and the sidewall and tread pattern of an off-road tire, Shinko’s goal was to create a tire that finds traction in the most extreme conditions.

Shinko offers the 505 Cheater in four different sizes: 110/100-18, 120/100-18, 110/90-19 and 120/90-19. Althought it isn’t the widest tire available in the enduro market, Shinko claims the compound and tread design will deliver traction when you need it most.

For my testing I paired the 505 Cheater with the Shinko MX216 Fat Tyre up front. The MX216 front tire is available in three different sizes: 80/100-21, 90/90-21, 90/100-21. Shinko also offers the tire and as a rear tire as well.

THE DIRT
Last October I ordered the 505 Hybrid Cheater in the 120/100-18 profile and paired it with a Shinko MX216 Fat Tyre in 90/100-21 up front. After mounting up the 216 I noticed that it seemed a lot wider than my previous tire of the same size. My previous rear tire was a little bit wider than the Cheater and after riding such a wide tire I was skeptical about the traction I would get from a visibly narrower tire.

Installation of both the front and rear tires required the normal amount of effort from a standard tire iron set. I also used a bead buddy and a generous amount of PalmOlive. A rider with proper tools, a minimal amount of mechanical aptitude and a little bit of time on their hands should be able to do the install of these tires and save themselves a little bit of money.

My first ride on the 505 Cheater was in the rain on a trail that I had never ridden before. The opening move was right off the fire road and consisted of going through a short steep ditch into a steep incline with a rain-soaked, mossy off camber rock face. I didn’t feel comfortable going into it and I thought I would have to take a couple of runs at it to make it work.

Surprisingly, the sticky rubber of the 505 Cheater hooked up well and rather than slipping sideways and getting tossed off the bike, I rocketed forward up to the next rock face. The 505 Cheater propelled me and my bike up wet rock face after wet rock face without a hiccup. My skeptical frown was instantly turned into a smile, bordering disbelief. Once I reached the top of the climb I turned around to assess what I had just ridden up. Curious to see how the tire would handle brake input and traction on the way down, I decided to point the front tire back down the rocks and see if I could keep it upright. Under braking I found that the Cheater worked almost as well as it did while climbing. After my virgin exploration, it was time to hit some of my more regular test trails.

Most of the trails that I ride have a mixture of hard packed dirt, gravel, sand, rocks and loam. My riding zone is steep and tight and the only time I find 4th gear is on a fire road or sections of double track. The 505 Cheater is designed to be ridden in these conditions. Somehow this narrow tire finds grip in places where other tires spin out. The soft, sticky rubber finds traction on rock faces, slick roots and loose sections.

The tire accelerates well and puts power down and forward on whatever it comes in contact with. Almost equally impressive, the Shinko 505 Hybrid Cheater offers lots of control on steep slow descents. Even in wet conditions, it gave me confidence on downhills that I usually find intimidating. When I did get to open the bike up and reach higher speeds, the Cheater slows down well and offers plenty of bite.

The Shinko 505 Cheater also performs well on gravel roads but it will chunk out quickly when ridden aggressively. The soft rubber is not designed for quick starts on pavement and gravel roads or being heavy on the throttle. I have tried my best to go easy on the throttle while riding gravel roads or pavement sections so I can try to save the tread for what it was built for.

Although I am quite impressed with many of the tire’s characteristics there are times where I found that the Shinko 505 Hybrid Cheater fell a little bit short. It is not the best at slower speeds in deep sand or deep loam. Instead of pushing forward, it tends to dig down and sink a bit. I found that I really had to give it a lot of throttle to get it moving or had to carry a lot of speed into those sections. Depending on your local terrain that could be a major issue.

While the rear tire was the standout of the review, the MX216 is pretty impressive in its own right. It is a beefy front tire. The MX216 looks much wider than tires of similar width and Fat Tyre is the perfect name for this tire. The split tread pattern keeps the tire clear of mud and debris giving the tire loads of traction, even if the conditions are messy. There was never a time where I felt that the front end wasn’t going to hold a line or slide out. Despite my best attempts I don’t think I’ll ever be able to lean the bike over enough to use all of the side lugs on the MX216.

The Wolf’s Last Word

I have ridden the Shinko 505 Hybrid Cheater and MX216 from Squamish to Bend. They are a great tire combination that provides more than enough traction on the rock faces, roots and dirt of the PNW. There hasn’t been a time where I was let down by these tires. The 505 Cheater is probably not the right tire for someone who rides a lot of sand or soft terrain. And the 505 is also not the tire for someone who spends a lot of time on gravel roads as it will chunk out rather quickly.

The Shinko 505 Cheater shines where it was designed to work. It excels on dry dirt or harder conditions. The grippy rubber sticks to rock faces, finds traction on roots and creates grip out of nothing. If you are looking for a tire for soft of intermediate terrain you may want to try the 525 Hybrid Cheater. After comparing the tread patterns of the two, I think it will be my next rear tire and we’ll update this review with a comparison of the two. Until then I will keep searching for the perfect PNW trail tire, but until then I will keep buying Shinko Cheaters.

Price: $89.95 – $102.95
Sizes: 110/100-18, 110/90-19, 120/90-19 & 120/100-18
Website: Shinkotireusa.com

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