Studded snow tyres (home made)

After sliding about in the snow and sheet ice on my regular scoot I remembered back to the days of yore and a magazine article mentioning making ice tyres.

So, a rummage in the shed and I'd found two very old tyres and a trip to B&Q got me 200 12mm screws.

An hour or so one evening and viola:

Bimmin links don't work for fotopic now.

about 75 screws in the front and about 40 or so in the rear. The front tyre is an old chen shin cheapo Farmer Johns a-like and the rear is a Marin lite.

The inside of the tyres are protected using gaffa tape to stop pinch punctures.

First go was pretty damn great. railing corners on slick ice no problems. The lack of studs on the rear was not much of an issue, but if I was doing it again i'd stick more in there.

out for a proper hour and a bit run without problems too, they are great, until I inspected them after the ride. I found taht the front tyre was far too old and had torn at the bead where it's perished, oops. The rear had pinch flatted in about 4 locations where the screws had flexed.

To overcome these I'd advise anyone who will try it to make sure.

1. the tyres aren't perished!
2.the tyres are either blocky, or have sufficient tread to support the screws from flexing. I think something like Conti vapour/gravity would be good, with studs in teh centre of a few of the blocks.
3. two layers of gaffa tape.
4. don't run under 40psi, otherwise the screws will flex and pinch the tube.

Othewise, blimmin great.

After an hours use

Didn't the mag advise using nuts and bolts?

Good show that man – they look lethal!

Nuts and bolts. don't know, it was about 15 years ago.

single threaded screws seemed to have enough bite into the tread to hold.

You really don't want to fit them without gardening gloves on! I've got gouges out of my fingers.

using screws meas that they're not that bad on tarmac either, as in they'll not cause you to slide too much.

I was very very surprised how grippy they were. Most of the lanes are sheet ice, these just bit in enough for em to get up a bit of speed in the corners, then I got the fear as I kept on thinking what I would break if I landed on the ice at speed….

The Marin lite tyres I used as a rear just didn't have deep enough tread to support the screws so they flexed meaning the screwheads pinched the tube. If this ice doesn't cease I'll be on the lookout for an old set of cheap tyres to try Mk2.

🙂

Nice one.

I think the article I remember from years back used a fairly narrow slick tyre, with the bead cut off, to protect the tube from the screws.

I think it was used for riding down the Cresta Run.

Matt

suppose those slime tyre liners would do the trick too.

…this I LOVE!!!
(where did I put them crappy MK's?)

Fantastic.
Wish I hadn't binned them old tyres now.

Might have a go with my old cinders tomorrow!

Two mates of mine did this on proper DH tyres, fitted them to their DH bikes and pushed them up to the middle of the ski station last year, then hooned back down to the resort. They said it was a giggle (and surprisingly effective) but utterly terrifying as the steepness of the slope meant moving your ar$e a long way back and getting very close to the spinning carnage behind you…

The ones I've seen done are screwed in from the other way, then smoothed down with a dremel, it makes hitting the centres of the knobbles easier and still give you the decent grip you require.

The articles I've seen before recommend trimming the screws down almost flush with the rubber. Check out Nokian tyres, there's not really a lot of metal sticking outside the tyre. With more snow predicted I'm thinking of doing a pair myself…

I got Schwalbe Snow Studs. They only have outer studs, but they do work. As said above ,you only need itty little spikes not more than 1mm.

On sheet ice they're only useful at low pressures though – you need centre spikes at higher pressures. The Conti Spike Claw 240s are the ones recommended by folks on here with £100 spare…

My tyres & some snowy ride pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allankelly/sets/72157622937828481/

Cheers, al.

Is it north worth using the plastic "anti puncture" strip you can get to sandwich between the tube and tyre?

I think halfords sell them…

What about doing it to tubeless?? Just a thought, no tube to pinch with the screw heads and the sealant should take care of the holes, also could be run at lower pressures

Owwww…they look interesting. I've found my Mountain King 2.4's spot on in the snow and ice – even a bit too grippy in the snow (giving a lot of drag).

Inspired by this thread, here's my take on the home-made snow tyre.

Donor tyre was 2007's must-have wheelband, a Kenda Blue Groove. I've screwed from the inside out (oo-er) and cut down the screws using a cable cutter, then tidied the ends up with a dremel. By way of reinforcement I've added a blob of superglue to the end of each screw as I put it in, and a double layer of gaffer tape on the inside.

So far it's had a quick test ride which didn't actually involve very much ice, looking forward to giving it a proper try later this week.

Excellent.

I've just ordered a set of new exceedingly cheap tyres (some Michelin thingamy's) that should do the trick, so should have a set of fully functional ice tyres Mk2 by the weekend.

🙂

I'm off to the garage now!, but whilst I have a brew..Questions
Google has revealed Robertson screw heads have a puncture resistant head.
Most screw from in to out and trim spikes, others use short bolts in to out and some even just screw a sheet metal screw in from the outside and use the screw head as the contact point.

I guess this is the delight of bodge it and co, there is no one way. Might go and see if I can find any of the Robertson headed screws at the local DIY.

Any suggestions?

I made a pair last week and have done about 80km so far with no issues. They're pretty brilliant, even if I do say so myself.

Front tyre, about 150 1/2" No6 sheet metal screws, back tyre about 80 of the same. Screwed them from outside in through a tread block first, then removed them, and reinserted then sharp end out through the perforation.

I don't see the point in cutting the protruding point down. They'll wear with use, and replacing them once worn is tedious work. I put up with the rolling resistance.

Lined with an old pair of Continental Avenue slicks with the bead cut off.

How about using a pop riveter instead of screws with some small rivets?

My LBS has some of those Schwalbe Snow Stud tyres in, he's had them lying around for years but has brought them out again given the current conditions. £40 the pair for 700 x 38c cyclocross ones. I was very tempted…

They said it was a giggle (and surprisingly effective) but utterly terrifying as the steepness of the slope meant moving your ar$e a long way back and getting very close to the spinning carnage behind you…

Reminds me of an article in MBUK a couple of years ago when Rob Jarman (I think) did similar and ended up with ripped shorts (amongst other things . . . ouch!!).

Cool post lads, going to give it a go tomorrow with an old pair of conti explorers 😉

Crazy legs, which LBS is that mate?

Waderider, excellent job. Wearing down the points with use was my theory too. The ice is pretty thick up here so there's no problem with the extra bits sticking out.

Think I may drill through the tyre with a thin drill bit to use as a guide hole before trying to guess where to stick the screws for the next pair.

Still think a couple of layers of gaffer will be enough to stop the screws from pinching the tyre, though I'm looking in the shed for other bits to use too…so far I'm eyeing up the big strips of helicopter tape…

Decathlon 2 tyres £7.50 michelin trail 1.95
puncture resistant plastic tape £8.50
400 6*12mm screws £3.50
contact glue£4
will post up results tomorrow.
Really tried hard to keep it cheap.

Tested in the woods yesterday and it seems to work! There were another few inches of snow here last night, hope they hold together for a few more days!

Waderider, those look like they would do you some serious damage if you took a fall… 😐

But I won't fall, I have full length man studs……not going to die with a 1/4 inch deep wound anyhow! Head injury from lack of grip would be more likely I'd say……off out again, this time with a studless pal. Shall be an interesting comparison, though I think I'll lead him clear of the areas that I know are actually icy rather than just snowy. Studs are for ice or old hard snow, plain tyres work well in the softer stuff.

Ingredients ready

Is it possible to use small screws from out side into large nobbles without anything protruding far enough to pop the inner tube?

i did this to my wheels, and it is very very good

i pumped my tire up to 45psi…then the little rubber things press into the snow and work well…has a lack of grip on frozen water tho…

risky I would have thought. Here is my attempt so far.


I will clip the closest couple a little more too.

pulls up chair and gets out notepad

just 1 thing………..
to ride uphill on ice or compressed snow you need grip in the center.
rubber alone does not work.
put a line in the center.

my friends pair of studded endomorphs..time to get serious!

could you use gaffer tape as tube protection?