I made some snow tires, as a big storm finally hit Eagle Sunday night…
An old set of MTB tires, then I drilled every other knobby from the outside in…
and screwed in the self tapping sheet metal screws…
a closeup of the screw.
And here they are in action:
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December 11, 2009 at 11:42 am
Doug
Seems like every winter someone does a post about DIY studded tires. I guess you’re it this season. Great job, but I suppose you’ll end up like the others and abandon your homemade studded tires and go without or drop the $’s to buy some good Nokian’s or Schwalbe studded tires. IF you have to ride in winter weather they are worth every cent.
December 15, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Greg
These don’t have very good rolling resistance, but so far seem to be holding quite good on snowpack & ice. My commute isn’t very far, so the added resistance isn’t much of a problem. I’ve been battling flats though, and I’ve changed the front tube out for a thorn resistant tube, and an old tube as a liner, which seems to be holding fine. The rear tire actually just went flat again for the second time in a week, so its getting changed out to a thorn resistant tube also.
If I can just get the tubes/flats issue all dialed in, I’ll be good to go. Typical DIY project fun!!!
December 20, 2009 at 10:13 pm
14bikes
I would recommend getting a Mr. Tuffy or Stop Flats 2 (same thing, really) tire liner for your home made tires. The added weight is often less than using a thorn-resistant tube and the performance is considerably better.
Especially for homemade studded for the same reason you use a Rim Strip over the spoke holes of the wheel, to protect the tire from the spoke heads (and burrs along the spoke holes) to prevent puncture of the tube. If you go lower pressure, the tire will deform offering a possible to squeeze in space for the tube between one of the screws in the inside wall of the tire.