Replacement Studs for Studded Tires

Studded tires make a world of difference when the streets are coated in a layer of glare ice.  The studs, typically made of tungsten carbide, are small thumbtack-shaped pieces of metal that are held into the tire by their wider base end.  It's very common to lose a stud or two from time to time, but they are easy to replace.  Unfortunately, only some manufacturers offer replacement studs for sale.  Let's see how close of a fit the available studs are to several other manufacturers' studs:

Nokian studs
Probably the most common replacement stud available is the Nokian pointed-tip stud.  These studs are found on the Nokian Extreme models, and are only slightly different from the domed-tip studs found on most of the rest of Nokian's tires (the A10, W106, Mount & Ground, etc.)  All of the readily-available Nokian studs are the pointed tip variety.  There is almost zero difference in the dimensions of these two studs.

• Material: carbide
• Tip shape: pointed or slightly domed versions
• Overall height: 5.8mm (pointed), and 5.5mm (domed)
• Base height: 1.0mm
• Base diameter: 6.5mm
• Shaft diameter: 3.4mm
• Tip diameter: 2.0mm

Schwalbe studs
Schwalbe's Marathon Winter tires are available in a number of different sizes, and all use the same type of stud.  Unfortunately, Schwalbe replacement studs are not normally available.  Fortunately, Nokian replacement studs are a perfect fit.

• Material: carbide
• Tip shape: flat
• Overall height: 5.5mm
• Base height: 1.0mm
  
• Base diameter: 6.3mm
• Shaft diameter: 3.4mm
• Tip diameter: 2.0mm

Continental studs
The stud measured here was borrowed from a Continental Spike Claw 240 tire.  Continental replacement studs are not normally available, but Nokian replacement studs are a perfect fit.

• Material: carbide
• Tip shape: slightly domed
• Overall height: 5.5mm
• Base height: 1.0mm
  
• Base diameter: 6.4mm
• Shaft diameter: 3.4mm
• Tip diameter: 1.9mm

Innova studs
Innova tires are usually quite a bit less expensive than other studded tires, but beware that Innova uses an inferior material for their studs.  Instead of tungsten carbide, Innova's studs are made from plain old mild steel.  While they are less expensive to produce, steel is significantly softer than your average pavement surface, and the studs literally wear down over time if ridden on bare pavement.   The expected lifespan for these studs can be less than one season in many cases.  Innova studs are readily available, but are not a good choice for replacing missing carbide studs from other manufacturers for durability reasons.  Despite the slightly different dimensions, these studs should be close enough in size to be interchangeable with all of the other studs measured here.

• Material: mild steel
• Tip shape: irregular, rounded-off tip
• Overall height: 5.4mm
• Base height: 1.1mm
  
• Base diameter: 6.9mm
• Shaft diameter: 3.8mm
• Tip diameter: 2.5mm

The bottom line is that all five of these studs should be interchangeable with one another.  If you're missing a few studs from your Schwalbe or Continental tires, the readily-available Nokian studs should be a perfect replacement.

The only major stud not available for measurement were those used in Kenda Klondike studded tires.  If a Kenda stud comes my way, I'll add it to the list.