Monthly Archive for December, 2008

Studded Bike Tires: Winter riding solution! (DIY)

For those of us living in the snow, especially Seattle, where the roads are Icy, and the DOT has no snow plan, it’s hard to get around safely or quickly. For people like me without a 4×4 (yet), driving is not a good option, and walking is just boring. But I just made myself a pair of studded tires for those ICY roads and sidewalks.

What you need:
Some used DH tires you don’t plan on using in the spring.
Sheet metal and or wood screws.
Sealant that can work with rubber.
Duct Tape.
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Tools:
Drill.
Driver bit.
A few albums of awesome music. (the tires will take a good while to make)

Here’s how it’s done:

Get some old DH tires like Maxxis Minions. It’s easier to make them studded if they are solidly built and double ply. TIP!: Get smaller tires like 2.3, etc. The larger DH tires may interfere with your frame when you have spikes sticking out of them. EEK!
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Drill holes directly into the knobs you wish to have spikes. The knobs will support the screws as you bike.
Repeat a couple hundred times.
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On the inside, screw in your sheet metal or wood screws. I used 1/2″ screws, thicker ones for the center tread, and slightly thinner ones for the outside. Repeat a couple hundred times.
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Apply some sealant to each screw after they are seated into the tire. Make sure that the sealant bonds RUBBER! A lot of the stuff I tried peals off the tire when it dries. Time to use those label reading skills :-)
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Duct tape the inside just as a safety measure after the sealant is all dry. You may need to use a heat gun or a hairdryer to help the tape stick a little better. The tape will keep you from getting any pinch flats (backup to the sealant).
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Put that stuff on your bike! Be careful you don’t stab yourself in the process.
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Enjoy! Be careful when putting your foot down when stopping or getting off your bike. Your tires will grip, but your feet will probably not if you’re any bit as cool as I am.

Rumors about SST getting torn down:

Rumors were going around about South Seatac getting town down. I talked to Dave Upthegrove, a representative of the 33rd district (des moines area) and here is what he had to say about that.

“Here’s the message I got from my legislative assistant this afternoon. It sounds like generally good news:

I talked with the SeaTac Economic Development Director, who checked with the Parks & Recreation Director. Then I got a follow up call from the deputy City Manager.

The city owns the 60-acre Des Moines Creek Park, which includes some of these biking trails. The city has NO plans on selling or redeveloping any of the park area.

The trails are also on some WSDOT and Port property. It’s airport buyout property and possibly some 509 buyout. The boundaries are not clear, so bikers wouldn’t really know which jurisdiction they’re riding in. There has recently been some surveying of the boundaries, which could have caused some speculation among bikers.

Another thing that’s happening is that there’s a group of SW King County cities called SCORE that is talking about building a jail to make up for the increased cost and reduced capacity at King County’s jail. They have talked about using some of the Port property (in City of Des Moines) for the jail site. That property probably contains some of the bike trails. Here’s a link to a Highline Times article about SCORE: http://www.highlinetimes.com/articles/2008/10/20/news/local_news/news02.txt

Rachel Smith
Legislative Assistant
to Rep. Dave Upthegrove”

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