Alt Bike Culture - homemade studded tires

HI,
I'm new here and am looking for some good information on studding my own tires, I know alot of you think it's probably a waste of time and tires, but I'm thrifty by nature and have a spare set of 26 inch knobby tires. So if anyone has some good pointers or a website for me to look at send it.

Thanks,
Scott

Also I don't want the studs to touch the ground when they're fully inflated, kind of like some of the sommercial designs for combination studded tires.

HI,
I'm new here and am looking for some good information on studding my own tires, I know alot of you think it's probably a waste of time and tires, but I'm thrifty by nature and have a spare set of 26 inch knobby tires. So if anyone has some good pointers or a website for me to look at send it.

Thanks,
Scott

Also I don't want the studs to touch the ground when they're fully inflated, kind of like some of the sommercial designs for combination studded tires.


http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=494562

it is easier to take the knobby tire and some screws and put the screws therew the knobby side tread so the head of the screw in on the inside and the pointy part is stickin outward, the screw head will work well for traction on ice, eventually these will rip out of the tread but it will work for a few months of the winter

Friend of mine used pop rivets instead of screws...not sure if better or not...just another idea.

I've built some. It's a great idea- and a perfect use for your old tires. And it's so much more fun than spending all that money on Nokians.

Go to Home Depot and find some FLAT HEAD sheet metal screws that are just long enough to protrude the knobs. Something in the 3/8 range. You don't want a whole bunch of screw sticking out or you risk bending them over.

Next, examine the tread design on your tire. (Some tread patterns lend themselves to studding- some don't- some are better for front vs. rear studding and vv). Think of where you'd like the studs to be. Maybe on the outer knobs and some of the mid/outer knobs. Try staggering the studs to minimize the paddling/bumpy effect. You probably shouldn't stud the centerline- unless you're riding on pure ice all the time. Otherwise, it'll be a bumpy ride. You could mark which knobs you're gonna screw with a pen or something- like every third knob or some such. Then simply drive the screw thru the knob from the inside out.

I guess if you put really short studs on only the outer or mid/outer knobs they would not dig in unless the tire was deflated some- which would be ideal in snow and ice anyway. Jack the psi up, rounding the tire out, and suspending the side studs...? Theoretically anyway.. never done it.

Next you'll need to find a way to prevent the screw heads (on the inside of the tire) from ripping holes in your inner-tube. You can fillet an old innertube and line your tire with it-- then insert good tube and inflate. Heavy, but works. Or you could just use a DH tube that's super thick to begin with. I'm sure there are other ways of solving this problem..

Studded tires are a lot of fun to make- and a lot of fun to ride. Good luck! Let us know how it goes. I'm making some now.. will post pics when i'm done.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=494562It looks like this person inserted screws INTO the tire- as opposed to OUT OF the tire. I guess the screw head is better traction than a rubber knob- but I can't figure out how he got around puncturing the innertube. Maybe that's why he only studded the outter knobs.

Yup that's the way I did it when I lived in Cleveland.
Worked great


I've built some. It's a great idea- and a perfect use for your old tires. And it's so much more fun than spending all that money on Nokians.

Go to Home Depot and find some FLAT HEAD sheet metal screws that are just long enough to protrude the knobs. Something in the 3/8 range. You don't want a whole bunch of screw sticking out or you risk bending them over.

Next, examine the tread design on your tire. (Some tread patterns lend themselves to studding- some don't- some are better for front vs. rear studding and vv). Think of where you'd like the studs to be. Maybe on the outer knobs and some of the mid/outer knobs. Try staggering the studs to minimize the paddling/bumpy effect. You probably shouldn't stud the centerline- unless you're riding on pure ice all the time. Otherwise, it'll be a bumpy ride. You could mark which knobs you're gonna screw with a pen or something- like every third knob or some such. Then simply drive the screw thru the knob from the inside out.

I guess if you put really short studs on only the outer or mid/outer knobs they would not dig in unless the tire was deflated some- which would be ideal in snow and ice anyway. Jack the psi up, rounding the tire out, and suspending the side studs...? Theoretically anyway.. never done it.

Next you'll need to find a way to prevent the screw heads (on the inside of the tire) from ripping holes in your inner-tube. You can fillet an old innertube and line your tire with it-- then insert good tube and inflate. Heavy, but works. Or you could just use a DH tube that's super thick to begin with. I'm sure there are other ways of solving this problem..

Studded tires are a lot of fun to make- and a lot of fun to ride. Good luck! Let us know how it goes. I'm making some now.. will post pics when i'm done.

It looks like this person inserted screws INTO the tire- as opposed to OUT OF the tire. I guess the screw head is better traction than a rubber knob- but I can't figure out how he got around puncturing the innertube. Maybe that's why he only studded the outter knobs.

maybe you missed the line where he wrote
"* Use Robertson bit in the drill to drive the screws in the tire from the inside."

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/StuddedTire.jpg

Test

unusual difficulty posting pic

woah thats a really good job on the studding, mine were done while the tire was on the rim and inflated so mine wasa bit less skillful

I actually just wrote a how to on this the other day:
How to make an Ice tire (http://valliecomponents.com/2009020465/how-to-make-an-ice-tire)

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/StuddedTire.jpg
Hotbike, heres that pic. I can tell you the secret. ;)

neat!

I made a set of studded tires this winter. Worked fine. I bought my screws from McMaster-Carr, an industrial supplies warehouse (www. mcmaster.com). I used 1/4" stainless steel sheet metal screws. I bought short ones so that I could screw them in the knobs along the edge from the outside and that they wouldn't poke into my tube. I pre-drilled the holes before putting the screws in. I still lined the tire with a Slime liner. I used about 260 screws between two 26" tires.

My rationale for putting them in from the outside is that the substantial head on a sheet metal screw will keep them from poking any further into the tire. The pressure of riding on the screw will always be borne by the knob and wear will eventually just wear out the head. I don't think you need a point to grip on ice, just something metal that digs into the ice. That's the reason I really don't care about having the point go the other way.

If you screw them in from the inside of the tire, you still have to deal with the abrasion of the head against the liner and possibly the tube, which ensures eventual failure. Also, because the points of the screw are facing out, the weight of your body on the tire is trying to jam that screw back into the tire. The threads of the screw are the only thing holding the screw in place. But if you do it the other way, the big head of the screw avoids putting pressure on the threads, which now can just hold the screw in the rubber.

I also put my screws into the knobs on the sides, leaving the center section of rubber as the only thing that normally touches the ground. That way, the steel knobs only touch when the bike slides or in a turn. If you are balanced completely normally on the bike, the steel knobs only touch a bit.

Don't get me wrong: The coefficient of friction on ice is less than rubber on concrete, so when you gingerly lean the bike over in a turn on ice, it will feel a little squirrelly. But you can stay upright and that's just what you want when you're on ice.

Good luck,

Barry, outside Chicago, where I'm putting my snow tires away for the season with my fingers crossed