Cycling UK Forum

Yes they do, I got some! The tool is very handy too!

Just an update.

As said previously, I contacted Schwalbe UK via their website, and had a short email conversation. I suggested that maybe the tyres were defective (losing 15 studs in about 200miles seemed excessive). The response was that it is the terrible roads and they queried if I'd been running the tyres at too low a pressure. No chance, the rear tyre was at 70psi.

Schwalbe sent me about 25 replacement studs. I've finally got round to emplacing them.

All I used was a pair of long-nosed pliers. Grip the studs end on, so the nose of the pliers is about 2mm from the 'mushroom'. Wet the stud (water is a lubricant for rubber). Gripping very hard (so hard my hands hurt), twist the 'mushroom' into the hole at a slight angle. The stud should pop in. Give it a turn with the pliers to make sure it is seated correctly.

Job done. I did all 15 in about 10minutes last night.

good stuff MC and thanks for the update, always handy to get detail on solutions

Rusky,
Are you confirming the Nokian boot studs do fit the tyres? Boot studs seem the easiest source of replacments studs in a decent quantity. I known Nokian tyre studs fit Schwalbe as well.

Yup, they fit fine, I'lltry to get a pic if you like

Rusky, thanks very much for the tip! Got a pack of 70 boot studs plus tool ordered for £17 from Amazon.

I counted the losses last night. I'm missing 46 in total after about 60 miles. I rekon the combination of using too high a pressure (schwalbe recommend 70psi for the 26x1.75 tyres on clear tarmac -I used 60), the stiff new tyre body and encountering rough tarmac and rough ice from the off caused the problem.
The new studs would have been exposed. I believe from what I have read that the tyre carcases tend to bed in over time. Meaning that on hard surfaces where the stud is exposed and does not dig into the surfaces (e.g. on tarmac) the tyre casing can deflect to protect the stud. I rekon a slightly lower pressure than normal will help.

I ride them very carefully avoiding ruts and holes as on a flat surface, the force on the stud will act to push the stud into the tyre, whereas imagine a stud on the lip of a pothole: when the wheel turnsthere will then be force acting sideways on the stud which will tend to rip it out.

the 'peterwhite' link suggests that the similar 'running in' instruction for the Nokian tyres was to allow for studs that hadn't been fitted correctly in the factory. They say that they specially check every stud in every tyre before they ship it to avoid this potential problem and therefore the 'running in' isn't neessary. Maybe this is the same for the Schwalbe ones, too.

However, I have another suggestion; when tyres are made the mould is coated in 'mould release compound' which allows the tyres to come out without sticking to the mould. Release compound is very slippy stuff; people have crashed cars and motorbikes riding out of the tyre shop because the brand new surface was so slippy.

If you are moulding a re-entrant shape like a tyre stud pocket you will need to coat the mould more than normal to be able to get the tyre out of the mould. The holes in the tyre will be difficult to clean and they may not even bother trying. Studs that are in holes that are coated with release compound will likely be torn out more easily. Riding the tyres for a few tens of miles may help work the release compound out of the interface... if they don't get torn out in the meantime...

Having said this I looked at a new set of schwalbe studded tyres today and they didn't look heavily contaminated with release compound; not on the outside, anyway.

cheers

I used my Ice Spiker Pros for the first time on Sunday, and lost 7 studs from the rear and one from the front. However a phone call to Will at Schwalbe UK and a batch of replacements were sent.

I'll admit to being quite surprised how easy they were to replace, once you have got the knack right of cause...... Its amazing what a bit of spit can do.

I had a set of Marathon winters last year and when I refitted them in November, I had lost something like 3 on the front and 9 on the rear from using them over 800ish miles.
I emailed Scwhalbe through their website and Will has posted some replacement studs out to me.
He also said that these tyres were getting more popular in the UK and therefore, they are considering offering replacement studs (I assume through the shops). I guess at this stage, it is easier for Schwalbe to give a dozen studs away FOC to the relatively few users who request them. Fine by me!
However, good to know about the Nokian requivalent!
Mark