Enter Sandman

[Northern Irelander]

After much discussion on the forums about winter tyres for tarmac and ice, I have decided to go the DIY route.

I was using Specialised trail tyres, frosted forks shows a typical dusting of ice and hard frost,

Using an old Tioga slick tyre, I masked off the centre and coated with an industrial adhesive, before rolling the partially inflated tyre in coarse grit/sand.

should be interesting, already had a trial run and seems to be doing the job I don't expect the coating to last indefinitely but should get me through this winter and keep me upright

 

[Barnowl]

Marvellous. I look forward to status updates. Good luck

 

[daniel.weck]

Cool !
Let us know please !

 

[Mussels]

Good luck, remember when it's icy to run at low pressure so the slick part doesn't take all your weight.

 

[flecc]

Intriguing bit of parallel thinking, well done. It will be interesting to see what the life of the coating will be.
.

 

[Northern Irelander]

Thanks all

Just a quick update...........there appears to be a serious problem, it caused all this white stuff to appear on the bike after a 14 mile trek to work this morning,,,,,, does anyone know what is the cause?



This was just a trial, I reckon the sand/grit will stay on for a couple of hundred of miles. Initially I just placed a 6mm bead of mastic around the tyre and spread to an even thickness of 1.5mm (approx). Sorry no pics, was pushed for time and even with diposable gloves, it's difficult to grab the camera with messy hands (need an assistant)

I de-greased the tyre with acetone (nail polish remover) and applied a 'light key' with fine sand paper. I reckon I could use a wire brush or coarse embry to rough up the surface for a better adhesion of the mastic. Once cured it would be possible to build up the layers. Any tyre could be used, but I chose the slick to prove it could be done. There are seriously strong rubber adhesives out there, but only through specialist suppliers, I'm using stuff that is widely available. So if successful, hopefully others can copy.

After about 30 miles there remains a single layer of sand/grit, which is what I expected (just like glitter painting for kids)
But a single layer is all that's needed for micro-abrasion.

I would point out that although I used this on an inch of snow (Tioga slick on the rear as well) my aim was only to use on ice, as Mussels mentioned above, lowering the pressure gives enhanced contact.
I had no choice but to go ahead and commute after heavy snow and hail (6am this morning)

I'm a fairly competent cyclist and was going at a fair lick, but to any new ebikers venturing out make sure you 'always ride to suit the conditions'