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01-17-11, 07:57 AM

#103

scoatw

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Bikes: 96 gary fisher 'utopia' : 99 Softride 'Norwester'(for sale), 1972 Raleigh Twenty. Surly 1x1 converted to 1x8, 96 Turner Burner

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RESULTS OF MY OWN DIY STUDDED TIRE

First of all, a big thanks to Sixty Fiver for the thread, And also to wpryan for the idea of mounting the hex head screws directly in the outer lug. I did that at first to a pair of WTB Prowlers MX 2.5’s and it worked out good. I liked that at first, because you don’t have to remove the tire or use a tire liner. And then I saw Fred’s idea of mounting the set screws and I thought that that looked real nice. So I added those to the hex head method to give myself what I think is a beefy studded winter tire that should handle just about anything that I ride across. We’ll see how the 2.5’s handle the loose stuff you find after a heavy snowfall.
I used the link provided by Fred to purchase the studs. The studs were 3/16” long.
This project takes a lot more time than the 2 or 3 hours that Fred mentioned. First you have to figure out a pattern to use and how many studs you’ll need. At $20 a box, you don’t want to buy too many. If your short a box it’s no big deal, the tire will still have enough to give you traction on ice. Then you have to take the time to drill out each lug.
When designing the tread pattern I just taped off ¼ of the tire, this way I didn’t have to count the entire tire to see how many studs I had. You just multiply the total by 4. I drew the stud pattern on paper and figured out the best pattern to use. I went in groups of 4 skipping one and then another group of 4, etc. I kept the two center rows studless, I studded the two middle rows and kept the outer row as it was since I had previously installed the hex screws there. I ended up with roughly 224 studs in the tire. The total time to install the studs was roughly 2.5 hours. I split the time up over a 3 day period. Keith’s (65ver) method of drilling the screws in is a lot faster, cheaper and less labor intensive I would imagine. But I liked the look of the set screws and the fact that you don’t need a tire liner to protect the tube, these tires are heavy enough and I didn’t want to add on any weight that I didn’t need.
You want to be careful drilling out the lugs, take your time to get the drill bit centered just right. I missed a few and had to re-drill them as I came upon them. I wanted them just right because once you mount the tire you don’t want to have to remove it if you discover later that you got one or two of them off.
I had gone to the hardware store to get a Allen key to fit the studs. I bought the same screws that Fred had and they used a 1/16” key. I used a 5/64 drill bit. I spent $8 on an Allen key set that folds out rather than a separate Allen key. This will give you more leverage when you push the screw into the hole to start it. I used White Out to mark the holes and also to mark the inside of the tire when I had had enough for that day. As I said, I split the time up over three days, I wasn’t in a hurry to get it done in a day and you’ll discover that these little things are rough on the fingertips after awhile.
Final notes;
1. I wished I had seen those Continental Mountain Kings before I bought the WTB Prowlers. They have a better tread pattern, more like the Nokians. But it was too late. The WTB’s still make for a awesome winter tire.
2. I wish they had a 5/16” screw to give me more length inside the tire. They’re still in there pretty stable. And as Fred mentioned when he skidded on them he didn’t lose any studs. I’m just curious as to how long the points will remain sharp over time. We’ll find out and let you know..

I ride on a lot of plowed streets that will be bare pavement so we’ll see how these measure up to the Nokian Extreme 294’s that I have on the other bike. The Nokians are going on their third winter season and those studs are still holding good and should last a few more seasons. I’m hoping with the $$ I spent on the set screws that these will last at least three seasons. That would be good if they do. Talking about the labor involved. Like Fred, I didn’t mind sitting down and doing this. I like doing little DIY projects like this. And since they don’t manufacture a big studded tire the gamble was worth it. If it turns out that the set screws only last me one season and turn out to be a bust and I wasted $60, oh well. I’ve wasted money before. Lesson learned. So you can look forward to another review next year or so. But with the front tire completed it makes for one bad-ass winter tire. When I do the rear tire I anticipate the time to be quicker now that I know what I’m doing. Would I do this again? Most definitely, I was wanting a bigger studded tire, the Nokian does good in about 4” of snow. But squirreled out in that big deep loose stuff (ex. mashed potatoes) that you’ll see riding thru an intersection. I’m figuring the 2.5’s will do a better job of that. We’ll see.
Short of going out and buying a Pugsley, I was wanting a fat tire bike. So I went the poor man’s route and bought a Surly 1x1 on eBay for real cheap and converted it into what I think is a pretty nice winter/trail bike. We’ve got some nice MTB trails near home and the bigger tires, to me, ride better on the rough single track we have. Not to mention how they chew up tree roots and spit em’ out.

The finished project. Probably not as good a picture as what Fred had. But his idea worked to a T, and I accomplished my goal of turning the Trail bike into a second heavy-duty winter bike

Mounted to this

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