A lot of the time you can bike in the winter on regular equipment. Those who don’t hide from this season know that the roads are dry a lot of the time. But when you get snow it’s time to switch to the mtbike with knobby tires—they work fine on plain snow or hard-pack. A day or so later you can often tell that some black ice has developed here and there. Again, it all depends on your local conditions—perfectly dry riding surfaces can still often be found. But as soon as Mr. Sneaky Black Ice is known to be lurking, you need another gear change if you want to keep riding: to studded tires.
Now, it seems that the cheapest stud tires are about $30 from BikeTiresDirect.com. Nashbar also has some, but they’re out of stock now. But cheap isn’t always the answer, of course. I think the best tires would be the Nokie Hakka’s at $45—they also make the best snow car tires by the same name. Real name: Nokian Hakkapeliitta. OK, Bridge Blizzaks are also sweet car tires, I’m sure. But Finnish Rally tires? C’mon, they GOTTA be best! (I see other stud-tires for up to $70 or so.)
But this seems like a tech that you could do yourself. If you’re only going to ride ice a few times each winter, it seems like your own tires would hold up fine.
Oh, before we go further: it seems best to have your studs on a second set of wheels that you can easily swap into action as needed but so you can get back on regular tires for the dry roads you’ll mostly be on.
Now, on to the DIY info. I googled up a few sites that should give you enough info to do em up. My main “hunch tips” would be to not overdo it. Use only enough studs to meet the needs of your local ice and roads and/or trails. Some of the tip-info seems to overdo it—with screws that are too aggressive, plentiful and long. Such rigs might be fine for steep, loose terrain, though. So, again: match your conditions. For me, around here in ruralburbia, I wouldn’t need many studs—maybe every 6″ on center and sides.
Now, what to use for studs? I’d say that hardened 1/4″ SHORT hex-head machine screws would be dandy for aggressive needs. One tipster used longer screws and had to grind off the points.
For modest ice scenarios, my hunch is that POP RIVETS are your man. They don’t even seem to need an inner liner. Maybe even aluminum ones are sufficient.
I’d think you have to expect an hour per tire, best case.
There’s also a zip-tie solution floating around out there. It’s for fixies and diskers. Not rim brakes. You just put thick zipties around the tire every 6″ or so. But they don’t really help with lateral traction, which to me is the biggie. I can always finesse out enough forward grip—I just don’t want to fall. These don’t seem to stop falls, really. …And they crack/break off…turn into litter. I’m tempted to put it into the goofball category of solution. Emergency, anyway.
Anyway, the first link goes to the rivet info. So have at it!
www.instructables.com/id/Pop_Rivet_Ice_Tires_for_Your_Road_Bike/
www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=369227
bikeportland.org/2008/12/17/time-to-get-the-studs-out-and-keep-on-riding/
www.silentsports.net/stud_your_own_bike_tires.html
