Studs

Okay first I have to get over my disappointment that studs doesn't mean men (hee, hee) ... but of course I am forgetting this is a biking website ... ah dah! I believe when we studded tires last winter, you push them through for the outside to inside. It can be alot of work but worth it. I think RH and I have to add some more to some of the tires we studded last year. Have fun!

I used #12 Studs.  Pushing them through from the inside of the tire to the outside.  Same as Snider.  Cant remember the size drill bit i used, but I predrilled a small hole from the outside to the inside so I had the hole centered on the knob.  Then took a larger bit and went from the inside to outside.  Then pushed the studs through.

I picked up a box too bjut not sure how big of a hole to drill.... O9 let me know what you do... blog that project yo

13/64 i believe is the proper size.   I've made a few tires and have always followed Spins directions with a few personal modifications and the result is a great winter tire.

I spent several hours studding a Kenda Fire this weekend, and the first tire has ~150 studs in it now, and will be close to 250 when it's done. Yes, it's heavy.

I drilled 1/8" pilots from the outside, then followed up with a larger (I think it was 3/8") bit from the outside as well. I only tried drilling the second hole from the inside once, and it ended up with the drill bit coming out the side of the lug and tearing a large section of it off. I only tried one that way as I didn't feel like destroying the tire. That being said, the pilot hole will close right up and sometimes and the larger bit will skate off of the lug and bad things happen. I have a couple of stray holes in the casing.

I've been using a soapy solution on the tire to help the studs push through(inside to outside). I run a centre punch though the drilled hole after the soapy water has been applied to help get the soap through, and move some of the fabric out of the way(quite often you hear a thread creak or snap). Lubricating the tire case has worked better than lubricating the stud.

Vise grips have been much easier to use than pliers, and lets you focus on getting the stud through the lug rather than tightly holding the stud so it doesn't spin.

A drill press would be ideal if you have one, followed by a corded drill, and in last place a cordless drill. Cordless is great when you drill ~5 holes, when it's ~1000, those suckers get heavy.

To dial in the stud length from tire block, I used small nylon washers under the stud.  They didn't add much weight, prevented the studs from pulling out and provided a good balance of rolling resistance / traction.

I have a second set of tires on the way, and they have nice recessed centres in the lugs for ease of drilling.

I also made a jig(well half-assed one) for the tire curve to give a nice drilling surface underneath. I'm going to make a new one out of 2x8 or 2x10. Just scribe with tire radius then cut with a sabre/recip/band saw, maybe put it on an arm, then drop the whole rig into a vise.

Even after drilling a pilot, sometimes the larger bit would skate off of the lug and puncture the casing(a fairly small lug). A brad point drill bit would solve the problem I suppose

The easiest way to avoid this and make studding go quickly is to stretch the tire around a chunk of wood, then clamp it in a bench vice.  Drill away, the tire doesn't squirm and it makes this much faster.

That would be a major challenge since the knobs offer minimal meat to bite into. If Nokia or anyone offers pre-built studded rubber that would be the way to go for a cross application. I wouldn't want to be on a cross bike in an environment that required the full-meal deal studs.

Any thoughts about these?

Schwalbe Ice Spikers?

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442420071&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302693791&bmUID=1261069018205

A lot more expensive than making your own, but possibly lighter, since you wouldn't have to run a liner.

If I count my time as $0, I can make a better(obviously subjective) set for 1/4 the price of a set of Schwalbes.

The nice Nokians are $190 each, which are apparently awesome, but I'll never know, simply because I won't pay that much for them.

#12 car studs.  go to Napa or a tire centre and they should sell for about 65.00 for 1000 (good for 4 tires or so). 

I use an old 700c tire with the bead cut off as a liner.   A little heavy but no flats last year!!

I'm also thinking about using a DH tube as a liner.........maybe use contact cement to glue it to the inside of the tire. The only road Tire I have I use on my trainer.

I wouldn't put 270 studs in a tire.  It ends up weighing a ton and I haven't noticed any difference between having 200ish studs and 120ish per tire.  Two per row should work great. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Right on. Thats what I was wondering. 2 studs per row will make for 180 per tire.

Any thoughts on the DH tube for a liner?????

 DH tubes are pretty thick, they'd prolly work provided they're held in place properly so they don't slide to the side and expose the studs. The nice thing about using a beadless old slick or road tire is that it's super quick to install and will work forever with no hassles or moving around.

The drag about getting a flat with studs is that it never happens in the parking lot or in your bikeroom, it only happens on the coldest day, waaaay back in the bush when your hands are too frozen to change the tire. 

good to know....

my fingers hurt.

if your not already... use pilars my fingers are still hurting.. I found  a set on Channel locks to work best .. I also found a 5/16 nut driver to be just about perfect for getting that extra push to fully seat a stud

some of my holes  needed a bit of finnessing so I  pushed a  center punch into them as well, if I just couldn't get a stud in

I snagged a cheap ass set of  road tires to use for liners for 7.50 a pop.. have yet to test it but  it's  27  X1 1/4 inches and that's larger than a road tire unless my math is off for  the width

been toying with the idea of buying some of those  slime  tire tubes to really avoid the flat  just not even sure where I'd find them

 Take heart Biff, a good set of studded tires should last you years. I've had mine since 97.

Ya I figured they'd last a long time. If you think about what those studs are designed for, they should never wear out on a MTB.

I will be experimenting with different inserts. The one I'm using isn't the lightest (Spec. Nimbus). My freshly studded tire with insert feels like it weighs more then one of my DH tires.

 thats one studly tire.

The thought of pulling all of those out and installing washers makes me feel ill, but I guess I'll do it if it needs to be done.

Where do you get 300 plastic washers?????

Mine stick out a bit and I've never lost a stud, or ripped the tire nob.  Definitely try them first and redo them if you're not happy, but I wouldn't really worry about them too much.