This is clever, but I'd be curious to see how long the cable ties will last before dulling/breaking off. If you plan on riding with any regularity in the winter on snow/ice, the $100 for a set of studded tires is well worth it. They'll last multiple winters and don't present issues with changing tires or using rim brakes.
By the sounds of it, Seattle is very similar to Vancouver. We average about two weeks of snow a year - roughly one week in November/December, then another week in January/February. Each time there's only about 3 or so inches of snow. Usually it's not a problem on main roads, but this year we got a little more snow than usual. The zip-ties would come in extremely handy for the several days of on-road-snow we actually have to worry about. For us Pacific Norwesters, $100 studded tires is overkill.
