Studding tire, Knobby vs Actual winter tire.

[Poker]

Hi.

I wanna make a studded winter tire for my Sherman S. Originally I was planning to have a studded tire on my V11 and a normal one on my SS but I don't want to stop riding the ShermanS for 1 month + this winter.

The snow is still a few months away where I live but I aim to be prepared this year.

I am left with the dilemma of either studding a knobby or a MC  tire made for snow. I'd be interested to hear some experiences or speculations from you guys. I want to be able to still ride even when its wet ice outside.

Picture shows the original Kenda Knobby and my new Heidenau K66

I haven't decided on what studs to use yet but I remember last winter seeing people here recommend MTB studs, if you got a hot tip let us know

[jjll]

I installed bike studs myself to K66 snowtex on my V11, I also got CST C186 before doing this but ended up trying K66 mostly because it was already on the wheel. I got big bag of carbide tipped studs similar to Schwalbe bike studs and figured out a pattern to install 180 of themon the K66. I used a CNC bit for dremel to drill holes and Loctite 480 and the provided tool to install. The studs did not stay too well, but not bad either, I had to add 10-15 studs two times during the season. I don't drive a lot, got about 600 km in 4 months, mostly commuting and exclusively in the city which means a lot of clean hard surfaces too. For that use the tyre was great, handling on hard surfaces was  "normal" and driving on ice was mostly ok. Even though I see a lot of food delivery guys with knobbys without studs I would not have had the courage to use the wheel through winter without the studs, also I'm not the most experienced driver there is.. If you intend to drive mostly on snow and off road I would probably go for studding the knobby, for that I would try to find helix like studs, like the brand BestGrip with measures according to rubber thickness in the tyre. Probably goop or similar stuff as well. If there's something to learn from what I did it's probably that on K66 snowtex you should not drill the hole for the stud in the middle on the knob because there's a wave-like slit there, better drill the hole where the rubber is more uniform, maybe I lost 50% more studs because of installing in the middle at first. Also I would not stress about glue too much (that loctite was hard to get and too expensive for what it is), contact cement or rubber glue is probably ok too. About my pattern, the studs on the edge of the tyre are probably pretty meaningless. 

I'm going to put the same tyre again for the next winter again, in a few weeks i guess... In the future I might want to try a factory studded scooter tyre like Mitas 80/80-14 or maybe try to get the studs professionally installed in a shop. I was also contemplating on getting a new wheel but it did not happen, but if I would have had a wheel with a knobby installed I would have probably tried studding that and changing for a street tyre for the summer.

[Funky]

26 minutes ago, jjll said:

I installed bike studs myself to K66 snowtex on my V11, I also got CST C186 before doing this but ended up trying K66 mostly because it was already on the wheel. I got big bag of carbide tipped studs similar to Schwalbe bike studs and figured out a pattern to install 180 of themon the K66. I used a CNC bit for dremel to drill holes and Loctite 480 and the provided tool to install. The studs did not stay too well, but not bad either, I had to add 10-15 studs two times during the season. I don't drive a lot, got about 600 km in 4 months, mostly commuting and exclusively in the city which means a lot of clean hard surfaces too. For that use the tyre was great, handling on hard surfaces was  "normal" and driving on ice was mostly ok. Even though I see a lot of food delivery guys with knobbys without studs I would not have had the courage to use the wheel through winter without the studs, also I'm not the most experienced driver there is.. If you intend to drive mostly on snow and off road I would probably go for studding the knobby, for that I would try to find helix like studs, like the brand BestGrip with measures according to rubber thickness in the tyre. Probably goop or similar stuff as well. If there's something to learn from what I did it's probably that on K66 snowtex you should not drill the hole for the stud in the middle on the knob because there's a wave-like slit there, better drill the hole where the rubber is more uniform, maybe I lost 50% more studs because of installing in the middle at first. Also I would not stress about glue too much (that loctite was hard to get and too expensive for what it is), contact cement or rubber glue is probably ok too. About my pattern, the studs on the edge of the tyre are probably pretty meaningless. 

I'm going to put the same tyre again for the next winter again, in a few weeks i guess... In the future I might want to try a factory studded scooter tyre like Mitas 80/80-14 or maybe try to get the studs professionally installed in a shop. I was also contemplating on getting a new wheel but it did not happen, but if I would have had a wheel with a knobby installed I would have probably tried studding that and changing for a street tyre for the summer.

LOL i am planning to do the same thing on my K66 tire.. When first snow appears this year. I have over 200 studs already in bag. Now waiting for first snow or when temperature drops under 0C to install them. As you said - outer line of knobbies don't make contact with ground. Only the center two knobby rows need the studs.

You don't even need to dremel anything - simply put the studs into those "lines" they are about 5mm deep, same height as knobbies. Only problem you may loose some studs as they can move in those "lines".. First few rides you need to ride slower and don't do sharp turns - the studs need to "settle" into tire.. After that they don't move that much. As for glue.. It doesn't do much. As you can't really get it into that "wave like line". Even applying it right onto stud while pushing the stud into tire it gets all removed.. Meaning those glue marks are more or less only from outside, there aren't really any inside the hole. 

You would need to get big syringe with big needle and push the glue inside the "line" itself. If you want to glue the studs inside.. (I tried installing some studs already whit and without glue.. Simply dabbing some on stud or directly on tire - nothing gets inside the "line")

Edited November 12, 2023 by Funky

[jjll]

Cool, post an update later how they hold up if you install without glue and without drilling. Loctite 480 or any normal CA glue is pretty thin and probably would go in the lines especially if you squeeze the knob a bit. You maybe right though that the glue does play a huge role in keeping the studs on the tyre but I'm sure it does not make it worse either. Maybe the softer snowtex compound is not optimal for holding the studs in but in general it's probably better for winter of course.