Carbide, in this context, is not steel. Carbide is a metal-carbon compound like tungsten carbide or silicon carbide. In use the extremely hard carbide grains are cemented or held together by a binding agent like cobalt. The carbides resist wear and the bonding agent holds them together and braces them when they come under stain. Such bonded or sintered carbides are expensive so to save expenses they are usually inserted into larger iron alloy (steel) fixtures or bits. In mining carbide inserts let drills cut deeper holes at higher speeds. When the carbide finally wears out after repeated sharpening the inserts are debrazed and the insers and drill steels recycled separately. In icebike tires the bits may be too small to be worth troubling with. I would want to know will the studs/bits wear out about as fast as the rest of the tire? If the studs last a lot longer than the tire I would want cheaper studs or a better tire.