DIY Grip stud install

Well it's that time again, to think about studding tires for the fatbike.  We here at Freewheel Bike have been using Grip Studs for this need.  They work in most of the fatbike tires that are on the market.  So here we go.

Tool and studs needed for install

The tires I picked for this project were a Surly Larry and a Surly Nate.  Both of these tires offer a great tread block to screw the stud into.

 The first step is picking a pattern for how your studs will look on the tire.  I use a silver Sharpie to mark the location of my studs.  After you have your pattern, you are now ready to screw some studs in the tires.  I like the hand tool over the tool that works in the electric drill.  I have more control installing the stud with the hand tool.  When working on 45nth Escalator tires that have the holes predrilled, that is when I would use the electric drill tool.  So you start by loading a stud into the tool of choice.  With the hand tool, press the stud firmly into the meat of the tread and start to screw the stud in.  The studs are self tapping and will bite into the tread to start themselves.  Screw the stud down to the shoulder of the stud so it is touching the top of the tread.  I will give it another 1/8 of a turn to make sure it's where I want it to be.  Continue in this manner till you have all your studs in place.  Some tires like the Larry that I studded, take a little more time to stud up.  With little area to get the stud started it makes it tougher and more time consuming.  But with some patience, you will end up with a great looking and working tire.

 As you can see, I have a few studs installed and we are on our way to having some studded tires.

 This is a view of the tire with the studs in place.

 It takes about an hour to install 100 studs.  This front Larry ended up having 125 studs installed and the Nate has 76 studs installed.  For the Nate, I installed the studs down the center tread for traction and the Larry has studs in the center and on the sides for cornering traction.  This seems to be a good balance for the types of terrain I'll be riding or racing.

 In this picture we have a fully studded tire going out for a test ride to the local ice rink near my house.  The tire hooked up well on the ice and I felt that the pattern I installed was just what I needed to help stay upright.

I got my chance to try these tires out at a local race that Freewheel Bike puts on and they were the ticket.  The course was very icy since we had rain prior to the event.  I made the call to use these and I'm sure glad I did.  The course looked more like a bobsled run than a bike trail and the tires and studs I had on the bike sure made all the difference in me making it out alive!  I had to get used to the drifting the tire would do on the ice, but once I got this feeling under control and trusted that it would find traction, I was riding like I do on a dry trail.  The drifting was not out of control, it's just the tire searching for it's traction so I can keep putting power to the pedals and moving forward.

So for those thinking that they want to try this at home for upcoming races like the Lake Minnetonka Ice Race or any race that will be on ice or trail that is icy, you should run out and pick up some Grip Studs and get busy with some tires.

Surly Bud and Lou Tire Install!

Meet Bud.

As we get closer and closer to the first real snowfall of the winter, fat bikes are starting to roll into the shop for tune-ups and upgrades.  One of the BIG new items for this year is from our friends at Surly -- the Bud and Lou tires. To picture the tires just imagine the float of a Big Fat Larry (4.7") with the grip of a Nate and there you have the Bud and Lou.

On Wednesday we had our first opportunity to mount these up and take them for a test ride and here is what we found;

Mounting and install;

• When you unbox the Bud and Lou the first thing you are going to notice is how REALLY REALLY Big these things are.  It looks like you are mounting up a dirt bike tire.
• Not only are these tires front and rear specific (Bud for the front Lou for the rear) but they are also directional for your grippy or speedy preference (see picture below).
• If you don't have a Surly Moonlander running Clown Shoe Rims - forget about it - you aren't going to be able to cram these into a Mukluk. 
• Even with the Moonlander it is going to take a little bit of work to get them installed into the frame.  For the rear your best bet is to either wait to fill the tire with air or take the disc brake off.  Otherwise it is tough to squeeze a fully inflated tire past the disc brake and into the frame. 
• When you are inflating jack the pressure up to about 20 psi to make sure that the bead is set, then play around to find your desired pressure (all the way down to 5 psi). 

  

  Stay upright or go fast - your choice.

  
  

Clearance issues;

The biggest issue that we found was getting the rear wheel to sit appropriately in the frame with no rub.  Here are some pics of the wheel mounted with no adjustments;

"That's tight brah." - Nick "Beans" Moeller.

Luckily the Moonlander comes with horizontal dropouts and sliding disc brake tabs which allows us to move the wheel and brake caliper backwards for a little bit more clearance.  After our initial tests with more clearance we found that the wheel could still slide around a little bit in the dropouts causing the tire to rub on both the frame and the front derailleur.  The solution?  Monkey Nuts!

Keeps your wheel where you put it.

Volia!  A stable wheel that doesn't require you to readjust your brake every time you reinstall your wheel.

Aahh, room to breathe.

 The ride.

After getting them mounted we had a chance to take them out on a quick test ride both on and off the road.  Riding to the off-road location it sounds like a dump truck going down the road, you do notice the extra rubber, but surprisingly it doesn't feel any heavier (weighing the wheels confirms only about a 2 ounce difference in weight from the stock Big Fat Larry).  With our wheels set to propulsion you can certainly feel the extra dig of the tire when you are out of the saddle.

What remains to be seen is how these will perform in mud and snow, are they going to pack-up and negate the purpose of the knobs?  We will let you know......

Bottom Line: 

About the Bud and Lou Surly says;

"They are meant to be the wildest, gnarliest, oh my god my face is bleeding tires available."

Yep, that about sums it up.