My latest shenanigans - Studding a fatbike tire with screws
My latest shenanigans - Studding a fatbike tire with screws
For the vast majority of winter I get by perfectly fine without studs simply by having wide tires and running so low pressures that the gauge doesn't even register. However, there's that handful of trips, especially towards the end of the winter, that I could really use the extra grip you get with studded tires. I decided to continue on the custom / diy theme with my bike mods and used 13mm self-tapping screws instead of dedicated tire studs. It's ones with a wide, flat base but I'm still considering taping over them to protect the tubes.
This is the rear wheel, I think I'm only doing the outside row on the front. I only have about 25% of the knobs studded and the increase in grip is already immense.
I did this a while back - you'll have better grip on snow than you normally would on warm pavement!
If you haven't already, make sure to put a barrier between the tire and tubing. I used a strip of that thin shipping plastic (those firm bands you'll see around heavy cardboard boxes). I worked at a restaurant then, and some of the boxes delivered to us were bound in that stuff that was the same width as my tires, so I just repurposed that.
Prior to that, the heads on the screws kept popping my tubing. Even though they weren't sharp, they were grinding little holes with every tiny movement. No issue once the plastic strips were in place.
That's all I wanted to add! 😀 Strangely It wasn't even my tire but I borrowed it and that was my experience. I rode it down a steep mountain road and that scifi grip feeling was like nothing else. You need that second layer...
I don't think I've ever seen shipping straps so wide that they matched the width of a fattire tire. So for folks that don't have that available, I have to imagine that Mr Tuffy XL tire liners would also perform well in this role, since their raison d'etre is to prevent tire penetrations from reaching the inner tube. Select the width and length appropriate for your tires.
Yeah I've been considering putting few rounds of tape or similar on the inside of the tire to prevent the screw heads from rubbing against the tube.
Cool.
Unfortunately I misread it as "fartbike" and am now slightly disappointed. :)
Don't worry, you can still fart on it.
Just lean one cheek against the saddle to create an easy opening for bike farting. Ain't nothing else like it. Gives a tiny boost too.
Classic Dr Nefario move right here
wait so your tires look like they have stud holes but you used screws? Screws would be more expensive local or shipped to my area plus they damage the tire and potentially the tube if you use tubes. I used a small socket driver drilled out to the diameter of this tyoe of stud for mine
Box of 500 screws was 13 euros and I didn't need to wait for them to show up in the mail. I'm not worried about damage to the tire itself. How long the tube will last has me a bit concerned.
Sexy as AF
Real studs have a tungsten carbide core much harder than steel, so they last longer.
Yeah, that's why I used self-tapping screws as they have hardened tips. Still not as hard, but harder. Screws are also easy to replace and I'll remove them in the spring anyway.