Hey Esk8 Eskimos,
I shared this on the other forum last year and wanted to share again with this forum. The process below provided a set of studded tyres that I ran all last winter and will be putting on this evening as snow is in the forecast…
I live in Minneapolis, MN and enjoy the winter however have had to adapt to difficult eSk8 conditions. I ran with a Chen Shin 200mm x 50mm tire see below:
The tire was OK …at best… as it was an improvement over the Kenda 200mm x 50mm slicks I run on the roads most of the year (that are great in all conditions except Ice and snow).
The Chen knobby just did not do well on ice and left me wanting more traction.
This year have some T2 MBS tires:
13120 - 9" MBS T2 Tires $17.95 a piece:
The 9" MBS T2 tire is the obvious choice for riders wanting a little extra clearance to tackle the obstacles that lay in their path. Made with a super tough rubber compound for unmatched durability. ONLY fits MBS Trispoke and FiveStar hubs.
13211 - MBS FiveStar Hub (1) - White $14.95 a piece
When designing the FiveStar hub MBS took the successful RockStar II hub design and tweaked it to work with both 8" and 9" tires by adding a second internal rim lip. By increasing wall thicknesses slightly MBS was able to use a lighter and slightly more economical impact-modified hub material which has proven to be perfect match for this versatile general-purpose hub. Maximum recommended tire pressure is 50 psi.
To take it the next level I have installed studs (sized and designed specifically for mountain bike application):
from www.bikestud.com where high quality can be purchased for 100 studs for $18 (I used 40 per T2 tire)
The process for insertion is time consuming as you need to make a small soldering iron tool to create a pocket to insert the stud. I takes about 15 seconds a stud to install so you can do the math to complete four tires.
This is the tool I created from a square solder tip:
The tip is is pretty small as you want to create a pocket in the rubber. The tip is about 1.8mm by 4mm with the shaft at 2mm and penetration depth 4.5mm. I have my iron adjusted to about 330C and push the tip in at an angle then straighten to vertical and rotate slowly to create the seated pocket. I then immediately inset the stud while the rubber is still soft / molten. It takes a bit of practice but once you get the hang of it you can do a stud in about 15sec. It is very important to do in a well ventilated area as the molten rubber puts off smoke and strong odor and it is easiest with a mounted tyre under pressure.
You will need one of these insertion tools:
Here is an example of a finished tire:
Here is a video of stud installation process:
Last, even with studded tyres it is always best to put on all your protective gear and run a little slower…keep safe.
Kevin
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