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! ๐ 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...
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.
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.
I could buy a new tire for that price. I think I'm going with duct tape instead
I would second the Mr Tuffy Liners. I run them in my electric fat bike and have never had a puncture over the course of 4000 miles.
You only buy them once and just keep reusing them.
Probably a reasonable option, butyl tape might be good too. Duct tape may not last in the cold/if it gets wet. Interested to hear an update in a few months.
I'll try and remember to report back in the spring and tell how it went. I've only got like 15km on this set up so far so too early to say. What I can say though is that it makes a huge difference. I first studded every 3rd pair of knobs on the inside row only and even then the difference was like a night and day. The next day I added the ones on the outside row. Studding every knob seems like a total overkill.