Something you’ll also probably notice about this totally new riding experience: it’s slippery. Studded tires are a winter-biker’s gateway to safe, blissful trail-riding. While there’s little competition for the traction provided by a pair of Nokian WXC300 studded tires, they’re also well over $100…each. Tap into a little Vermont do-it-yourselfer ingenuity, however, and we can get out there on the trail with a pretty good alternative at a fraction of the cost.
To prepare for the seriously icy conditions I’ll encounter during our upcoming January Frozen Onion winter mountain bike race, I decided to stud up the front 29″ tire of my commuter 69er bike (26″ tire in the rear, 29″ tire in the front). This will give me better cornering and braking ability to go along with the traction provided by my Nokian W160 factory-studded rear tire.
My 69er steel Hardrock--a trusty friction 5-speed steed ready for action.
First off, I’d recommend taking a look at the amount of clearance your tire has so that the studs won’t make contact with your frame or fork. Since my bike is kind of jury-rigged (as they all are), I have very little clearance in the fork (the 29er tire is a custom addition to this bike; I had to keep the axle-to-crown height as low as possible so that the front end wouldn’t be “choppered-out” and adversely effect handling). The center knobs were out of the question, so I went with alternating middle knobs.
Tight clearance! Using the mid-center knobs gave me the most clearance and still provided adequate straight-on and cornering traction.
Mark the knobs you want to stud. I chose alternating knobs to save time. I'm also lazy. Nice, gentle pressure will get'er through.
Remove the tire from the rim, grab a drill, a small bit and we’re ready to make that tired, old tire an ice-shredding machine! Drill each knob you marked. Be careful not to drill into a part of your tire that gets folded underneath.
Nice, gentle pressure will do.
Flip the tire inside out and make sure you can see the slightly whitened area where the bit poked through to the inside.
Pilot hole seen from the inside of the tire.
Grab a small-ish pan-head screw and screw away! (from the inside, out)
You'll want to use pan-head screws so that the chances of puncturing the tube are lessened.
- Flush!
Drill a hole in the wood you’re using as a work surface to allow the screw to drive through easily while the tire is being supported.
Crosshairs on the drilled-out hole for some reason. Pro.
Now you won't have to unscrew every screw from your work surface!
Continue around until all your holes have been filled.
All 46 studs are installed!
Drill, drill, drill, all day long. Drill, drill, drill, till the drilling is done.
Next, clean the inside of the tire with rubbing alcohol or a solvent that doesn't leave a residue behind. Use duct tape, athletic tape or part of an old tube as a liner to protect the inflated tube from the screw heads.
Duct tape as a liner
Turn the tire right-side-out, insert a partially-inflated tube and admire your handy work! Ooooo...aggressive....
AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
- Inflate the tire slowly. Make sure the bead is seated in the hook of the rim and there are no odd looking tears that could send a pressurized screw through your forehead.
Safety third! Now that there's some back-pressure holding the screws out straight, let's get some safety equipment and snip off the excess.
Snip, snip! Yes, these screw ends will come flying at you. Duck.
Yeah, lookin' good.
Still a little too long or especially jagged? No project is complete without a cameo appearance by the angle grinder. Yay, sparks!
Done!
- The verdict? The mid-side-knob orientation worked perfectly clearance-wise, but I probably shouldn’t have cut corners and instead should’ve gone with a symmetrical pattern, doubling the number of screws used to 92. Traction on packed snow and ice is definitely improved, as well as cornering and braking performance. Overall grade: B+. I didn’t really add up the cost of materials used (mine were all just kind of lying around–FREE!!!), but I’d guess that time and beer would be the greatest two expenses. And if you don’t have anything better to do, your time is worthless, so I guess it’s just down to the beer.
I totally shredded that piece of lawn next to my garage. Hardcore!
Drink up, ride safe and ride often!
Kip @ Onion River Sports
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Kip,
So ghetto. Did I not teach you anything last year with my ghetto??? Rivets baby, rivets! ALthough, I have a mantra for the Frozen Onion, the more ghetto the better. THis sure beats Stefans Zip Tie Idea.
BB
Didn’t you stop at the step before cutting off the excess screw length last year? That’s truly ghetto. What’s the longevity of all-aluminum rivets? Lighter, I guess.
For an event where the weather is our constant adversary and we’d be happy if more racers showed up than employees, keeping it ghetto is…real…or something. Glad you’re coming tomorrow. Gotta go stir the beans
Follow-up advisory: One layer of duct tape doesn’t cut it as a tire liner. Two flats have taught me that. Use an old tube or multiple layers of duct tape or cloth hockey tape to protect your inflated tube against punctures/abrasion from the screw heads.