DIY Studded tyres

[nuttycyclist]

Seeing a post from rogerzilla, I thought I'd make my own studded tyres.

He said 3/8 inch screws, but I found these both too long and too short    (one is counter sunk, the other a round head)


But I've now got hold of some that seem ok (other than not being self tappers so I'm having to punch a hole first with a handy tool on the Swiss Army Knife off the keyring).


But, what do people think to the tread pattern and where to put them?

Originally I was going to put them in all blocks, but having tried the two patterns of the centre line


and adjacent blocks


thus being as different as this



I'm wondering whether I should forget about the centre treads and just do the sideblocks.  This is especially as I fear no rubber will be on the ground...   look at the pen here that is resting on the screws...




What are the thoughts of the forum?  Should I just stick to those side blocks and hope that the studs kick in if the tyre leans over?

[simonp]

HTH

[nuttycyclist]

Ta 


I'd remembered photos from the peter white site that implied central as well as offset studs, but now you've posted that I've gone back to check and see that there are none shown.

<goes back to screwing>

[nuttycyclist]

ok, first tyre completed.  it would definitely have been quicker with self tappers    Brawdling the holes first meant that the last 20 screws (i.e. once I was up to speed) took me 10 minutes.





I'm not happy with the other tyre, so will have to rummage on the shelf in the garage for another old one when I get in from work tomorrow.


Possible test ride tomorrow night  

[Oaky]

The corresponding fettling injury's on the right arm then?

[Charlotte]

Doesn't that make them very liable to p***ture faerie incidents?  No point in having wicked cool ice tyres if you can't keep 'em inflated.

Are you going to line the inside of them somehow?

[mike]

this isnt going to end well, is it?

[andygates]

About four times round with gaffer tape?  Line with another tyre or tube...

[Polar Bear]

Considering this and commercially-available studded tyres, I'm thinking that I'd really prefer something that self-taps from the outside.   I believe you can get studs for motorcycle tyres and even horses hooves.   Don't know if it is economic though.

[nuttycyclist]

Doesn't that make them very liable to p***ture faerie incidents?  No point in having wicked cool ice tyres if you can't keep 'em inflated.

Are you going to line the inside of them somehow?

Round headed screws, so minimal pointyness.

Have lined with double thickness of Wickes' own Duck Tape stuff which seems a pretty tough plastic.  I'm going to put a couple of thicknesses of proper Duck tape in next to soften any sharp tape edges.


test ride tonight.  (Didn't dare do the 15 mile commute on them as the first ride )

[nuttycyclist]

Considering this and commercially-available studded tyres, I'm thinking that I'd really prefer something that self-taps from the outside.   I believe you can get studs for motorcycle tyres and even horses hooves.   Don't know if it is economic though.

Problem with self tapping from the outside is that you have a pointy bit heading for the inner tube, and being pounded further on each pedal revolution.

[rogerzilla]

Hex head computer case screws might work, but I'm not sure whether they're hard enough.  They feel a lot like chrome plated brass.

[Domestique]

This looks like a serious piece of 'A&E here we come'   

[teethgrinder]

The corresponding fettling injury's on the right arm then?

This looks like a serious piece of 'A&E here we come'   

Just wait until he tries fitting the tyre. 

[rogerzilla]

The duck tape is, I think, mainly to give the inner tube something to push against and stop the screws squirming back through the tyre.

[Tewdric]

I'm fascinated to see if this works!  I'll be making some myself if it does

[Moloko]

Nutty, if the council properly grit everywhere, will you be sending them the pictures and a complaint
about your wasted time?

[FyPuNK]

Nutty, just a thought to your original thread, the one with the pen. If I am right you run these tyres slightly deflated, this plus your weight I would figure would put rubber on the road so no probs. Looks good.

[damerell]

I did mine with about 250 steel rivets, in side blocks with about a 1.5cm spacing circumferentially (this is a 650B tyre so there is not so much circumference to fill in), with the two lines of rivets about 2cm apart. It doesn't look to me like the centreline of the tyre touches the ground, but the rivets have got a bit smooshed down with riding around. I backed it with the tread of an old tyre, sidewalls removed, and stuck that down with duct tape.

I have not had a prang yet, but it's not like there's a control me riding around on an unstudded tyre for comparison. It also steers very oddly because of the flat profile of the tyre - it constantly wants to turn the steering back to the centre in corners. The rear tyre I have on for snow is an ordinary patterned tyre.

Putting the rivets in was also extremely boring. Because I am a procrastinator, although I started after last winter, I finished it in the Carlton Arms as the first snowstorm of December came down.

[simonp]

I've found the steering of the Nokian W106 (pictured upthread as the example stud pattern) to be slightly odd at first, but I've got used to it now.

[Charlotte]

I'm fascinated to see if this works!  I'll be making some myself if it does

Me too.  I've found an old set of MTB tyres ripe for a little bit of screwing action.

As it were.

[nuttycyclist]

ok, road test results.

actually, backtrack slightly....


I stopped at Halfrauds on the way home (only place open) and bought two of the Slime shields.  This means that now I have...

Tyre
Screw Heads
Wickes tape
Wickes Tape
Slime Tube Protector
Duck Tape

I know this seems overkill but I really don't want that shield moving or the heads coming through.

I then fitted the tyres.  It's been about four years since the back tyre came off that bike and I'd forgotten that it's a nasty rim.  It took half an hour to just take the tyre off and put the new one on.  Wobblies were thrown.  Tyre Levers were bent (I never use them normally!).  Pippa's novel method of stomping on the tyre just got me nowhere.  I am not looking forward to a deflation at the side of the road  

The tyres were pumped to 40psi.  They are rated 35 to 50psi.

The ride on tarmac.. How shall I describe it?   Maybe "it rides like a full suspension BSO with two buckled wheels and flat tyres".  It is however ridable, with just a bit of loss of top speed.  Cornering however is pretty unwelcome, the bike is up on the line of screws and so it doesn't really want to corner.  As damerell said upthread it is a bit like riding a bike with a square tyre profile.

What should be mentioned however IS THE NOISE.  It sounds as though Gary Lineker has covered the road with a depth of 6 inches of fresh crisps and you're rolling over them on a really wide tyre.



Now, that was tarmac.  How about the way home?

Off road, on a frozen unmade road was ok.  The noise was still there, but decreased.  The handling went back to a normal "I'm on a rough road with poor headlights" but it was more a bone dry summer road instead of a frozen winter road.

I got courage to ride over a puddle (3 inches of ice).  No problems.  The next puddle I grabbed the back brake.  A tearing noise of a skid; I thought I'd missed the puddle and skidded on the mud.  The next puddle I rolled onto slowly and then accelerated hard - the bike just responded as though it was summer.

I then went to a road which is always white with compressed frost.  It always freezes hard, and it's impossible to walk on.

I rolled along it with a reassuring crunchiness.  I gently braked, without problem.  I braked harder and stopped.  I didn't put a foot down but just stomped on the pedals hard.  The bike pulled a small wheelie and accelerated fast  

On the last stretch home I was riding over the deep frozen ice in the gutter instead of using the bare tarmac.


These tyres are frigging amazing!  For the traction they gave on sheet ice I'll be keeping them on, but the 7 miles of tarmac road for my commute might get on my nerves if the handling is still soft.

If I do this again I'll actually spend more time sourcing the screws.  These ones are a bit too long I think.

All that's needed now is to compare these tyres with the proper studded ones.  But in the meantime, it's great on a budget  

Total cost:-
Tyres - old and found on the shelf.
200 screws - free from me Dad, who inherited them about 30 years ago and they've just sat in a cupboard.
Duck tape & Wickes Tape - Overkill I know, but about £5 (from memory)
Slime guards - I think £14.

That's less than £10 a tyre, plus the bulk of the cost was the guards which are reusable in any tyre (which I'll probably do), and I have lots of tape left over which will get used.

[Wowbagger]

This message has been brought to you courtesy of Premier Bedside, Southend University Hospital!

[nuttycyclist]

 



Silly boy wowbaggers.

Will you be riding your studs tomorrow?

[nuttycyclist]

The corresponding fettling injury's on the right arm then?

This looks like a serious piece of 'A&E here we come'   

Just wait until he tries fitting the tyre. 

If you put money on that at the bookies you very nearly won something.