OVERthetop

Carbide studs are available where automotive shops install winter tires. Many garages install studs for auto tires designed to accept them. I bought a box of a thousand. you may be able to find a shop that is willing to sell them individually.
I have 434 studs in both of my tires. 182 on the front and 252 on the rear.

Since the carbide stud is a very durable metal. There is no concern of them wearing down when used on roads with no snow or ice. They ride great on all surfaces. They can be used for several seasons with virtually no wear. I had another set from the 80's and the studs were still fine after the tires rotted out.

Arrowana

I just did this today, and it works great. With black screws, it's hard to even see them.

rodar y rodar

Here`s my attempt. I had thought a little about it but decided I`d have to get a coaster brake bike or something until I saw Badmother`s chains and it looked like it was worth a shot even with cantis. Badmother rocks! Is there nothing you fear to attempt???

Anyway, I need to redo mine with a few changes, which was kind of expected, so I only made one so far. I used some mini "swing set" chain (wire is too whimpy and I don`t trust it) and some insulated wire (14g I think) from the scrap bin at work. The insulation is a great help to keep the chain from sliding back and forth over the wire, but I might end up going with 1/16 steel cable to help clearence a little bit. The chains are a mile away from my brakes, but go click click click against the adjustable clips where my fender stays attatch to the fenders. The fenders can`t go any higher because I already chopped off the extra stays when I had them set up for much smaller tires (doh!) so they`re now grabbing the very end of the stay wires. I`m going to have to think of a way to keep things super flat where the chain comes off the wire- have a few ideas and we`ll see how it pans out. I went for a nice test ride yesterday of about 8 miles including clear pavement, hardpacked snow, chewed up snow, and ice. They hardly helped at all on the chewed up snow, did okay on ice, worked awesome on hardpack. I was very disappointed with the performance in loose stuff, but delighted to find that they`re a lot smoother than expected on pavement. At speeds up to about 15MPH, I can hear them for sure, but I didn`t feel any thumping and the bike didn`t get squirly at all.

mplsmtb

These are my DIY studded tires. They are for off-road use (snow-covered mtb trails or frozen creeks and lakes).

For more info and pics on how I made 'em, click here.

badmother

I am blushing here, but I found it somewhere on the net, not my invention. My son said to tell you he is the guineapig whenever I get some sort of good idea.
Are your chains holding up? I did not start using mine yet this winter but miss them. Got to dig them out soon.

Sixty Fiver

Indeed.

rodar y rodar

Haha! Your son must spent a lot of time in his Guinea cage with all the ideas you come up with!

They didn`t cut it. The chain links wore through within a week- broke completely and and were dangling like funky jewelery! Luckilly, the loose ends didn`t snag on anything. I had already bought the next heftier chain from my hardware store when the original chains went, but because they wore through SO FAST I didn`t even bother with the next stuff (not that much thicker). I started working on a set from extra 3mm steel cables, but got side tracked on the next project before I finished and haven`t gotten back to it yet.

Sixty Fiver

On lifespan of DIY tyres...

Just retired my little sister's DIY studded tyre as the rim was worn out and the tyre had lost some lugs and had some pretty nasty cracks.

Mind you... the tyre has been in use for ten years and she rides constantly through the winter months.

Fizzaly

After todays ride i decided to make a studded front tire i finished it and holy crap i never knew how much control it gave me. I took the giant for a ride around the block trying to fall i wish i would have known to do this sooner, now i say bring it on winter.

JAHowe

Just finished round two of testing on a set of studded tires. I drilled one pair of nobbies, one centerline (52 studs) and the other offset (104 studs). Pushed roofing nailes, short with large head, from the inside to the outside. Clipped the nails as close a I could to the nobbs. First test yeilded pinch flats in 10 miles. Patched the tubes and decied to add heavy duty liner. Found a pair of bald tires in the garage, trimmed the remaining nobbs from the sides and removed the beads. Second test has yielded no flasts in 50 miles. Tires are very heavy, but the stability is incredible. Cost to build $0.

Sixty Fiver

I would worry about the roofing nails not staying in place and working their way back through the tyre and liner... I's suggest that you replace them with a screw of equal or slightly lesser diameter.

Our roads have been polished to a shine and it's not ice but rather, highly compressed hard pack and my DIY studded tyre makes it feel like I am driving on dry pavement and my speed has not been impacted as much by this at all.

Can never stress enough that tyre compound is just as important as some tyres freeze solid and lose suppleness and offer poor traction on these kinds of roads.

Fizzaly - I always enjoy the reactions from our students after they have built and installed their first studded tyre and go for a ride... the DIY tyres tend to be more aggressive then many off he shelf tyres.

Fizzaly

They truly are wonderful, im soooo glad i had them this morning all of frozen slush was crazy but i plowed right on over it all. I did fall twice dismounting the bike

JAHowe

The nail heads are about 9mm in diameter. The head is on the inside and would need to wear through the reinforced rubber of the "tire sandwich." They are old tires and I will drop the dime on a new set if they fail. I doubt they will wear through either tire, I keep a bus pass and cab money on hand. The nails protrude about 2mm above the nobbs, shredding the current hazzard of wet leaves. It feels like they could climb trees.

We may see freezing rain here today. Cain't wait to find some ice.

Will post some pics when I the carmera gets back from vactioning with my wife.

martinus

So how long does this take ? Assuming 3 0r 4 rows are used ... longer than a wheel build ?

likesbikes36

sixtyfiver,
what did you mean by "metal screws (the square head..." in your directions?

Sixty Fiver

It takes me about 45 minutes to build a studded tyre and the sheet metal screws I use have Robertson heads which take well to powered drivers and are very difficult to strip... they are harder to find in the US and when you do find them the sizes may be limited.

https://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/Ont...son_screws.htm

Fizzaly

Took me about 45 mins as well, granted a good 10 mins or so to mount tire as i could not seem to do it with out me bleeding a bit, its strange to mount a tire a way you're not used to.

gecho

Tomorrow I'm going to make a set of studded tires for my mountain bike, since its apparent the 700x35 Marathon Winters on my touring bike aren't sufficient for all conditions. I'll alternate bikes as the snow conditions dictate.

I stopped by Canuck Tire tonight to see what they had for tires as I only have slicks for the mountain bike. For a winter is it best to go with as large a tire as possible? They had Kenda Kinetics 26 x 2.35, also one or two smaller versions. I'd probalby only use these tires when there is loose snow / slush on the ground.

The largest tubes they had were for 26 x 2.125, are they big enough?

gecho

I created a pair of lead balloons . When I got the tires the only large tubes they had were puncture resistant ones. I weighed one and it came to 620g. The tire was about 900g.

I studded only the front tire, using 64 screws. When I went for a short ride the back end seemed fine. I could spin the back tire if I tried, but it required some effort. The heavy duty tubes seemed to be affecting the flexing of the tire at lower pressures, so I'll swap them out for some normal tubes. I haven't got a feel for how well the studs work, I'll have to do that tomorrow. I did notice from tire tracks in the snow, the lugs with the studs don't normally contact the ground while riding straight. My somewhat bald sneakers were slipping around on the plastic platform pedals, so I didn't want to try anything too extreme.

They definitely float better across loose snow, but won't win me any races.

Closed Office

That completely baffled me too. He's answered it now but it would probably be more accurate to say square socket, or square drive maybe?

JAHowe

Rear with two sets of roofing nails nails and front with one. 75 miles and holding air. Found only a small patch of ice to play on over the weekend. There is snow forcasted this week.

Sixty Fiver

Built a new set of tyres last night that went on my extrabike... (64 studs per tyre).





Have always liked these 1.95 Kendas and this (Ritchey) tread design for winter tyres... they roll fairly fast and shed snow really well.

Sixty Fiver

Heh... up here we can usually just say "Roberston" but "square socket is probably better and will edit to clear that up... or add a picture cause we like pictures.

JAHowe

Has anyone played with a release agent for snow on tires?

Sixty Fiver

I think that tread design solves this quite well... the Kendas I just built up are quite good at this and the tread design is one that I believe was developed by Ritchey.

Tyres with an inverse tread also work well in winter.

Updated the article here and there for clarity.

https://ravingbikefiend.com/?page_id=368