Burst inner tube = very loud!!!

[Dalton2250]

Hi guys,

I was swapping my normal MTB tyres round to my road ones the other day.

As I was pumping it and the pressure was creeping slowly towards max (I'd got it to about 100psi), the inner tube suddenly burst and all that pressure came sailing out in a split second!

I can tell you it's very loud, especially when your face is quite close to it at the time! I thought it was going to deafen me! Definitely shakes you up a bit & leaves your ears ringing for a few moments.

I realized why it had happened though, turns out there was a small tear in the side wall of the tyre, which was just enough to let a small bulge form as the pressure got higher. Naturally the only thing it wanted to do was release itself from the prison of my tyre!!

Si

[Bill]

Yes that has happened to me before! Had to go outside and calm down because it scared me pretty bad!

[doctordee]

LOL, have had the same experience, the only problem being, I'm from Northern Ireland, so when it burst, I hit the floor, rolled and hid behind the coal shed. You could hear the cocking and closing of shotguns up and down the street, only kidding, but I did have to change my underwear.

[Bill]

(04-15-2011, 10:24 AM)doctordee Wrote:  LOL, have had the same experience, the only problem being, I'm from Northern Ireland, so when it burst, I hit the floor, rolled and hid behind the coal shed. You could hear the cocking and closing of shotguns up and down the street, only kidding, but I did have to change my underwear.

Hahahaha! Sounds just like our bigger cities with gang shootings!

[doctordee]

Ya but your bigger cities do the shootings for turf, money, drugs or skin color, some people in my country used to shot at each other because they went to a different church, lol.

[Bill]

Ummm ok good point lol!

[trevgbb]

this is a very high pressure for a MTB tyre. ie a 50mm(2") wide tyre should be about 3 bar (45psi).
To learn more see the tech info here;
http://www.schwalbe.co.uk/c-downloads-schwalbe-catalogue.html
page 26.

[nameused]

Had that happen when I was fixing up one of my rental bikes. Got it back from the previous renter and filled up the tires and cleaned it all up. Went for a little test ride and "BANG" out went the back tire. Just about scared me to death.

[RobAR]

Hi Dalton - I think many of us can relate. It's almost an 'initiation into the brotherhood' kind of thing!

Hey trev - some 26" slicks designed for MTBs do accept higher pressures. I have an old pair of (I think they are...) Tioga City Slickers in 26 x 1.75 that are rated up to 85 psi and I inflate to that on the rare occasion that I still use them.

The shop where I work shares a building with a gunshop and, last fall I was finishing assembly on a new Trek 1.5 road bike. Evidently, at the factory the tube had been slightly pinched between rim and tire (very rare on new bikes so I seldom check) and at about 70 psi, she blew! I was a bit un-nerved but, it wasn't my first time.
Less than 15 seconds later, the owner of the gunshop, an employee and two customers with Concealed Carry Permits rushed through the door with pistols and a shotgun at the ready... only to find me alone and cussing. I think that they were disappointed but, we all had a good laugh. It's good to have friends!

[Dalton2250]

(04-15-2011, 06:29 PM)RobAR Wrote:  Hi Dalton - I think many of us can relate. It's almost an 'initiation into the brotherhood' kind of thing!

Hey trev - some 26" slicks designed for MTBs do accept higher pressures. I have an old pair of (I think they are...) Tioga City Slickers in 26 x 1.75 that are rated up to 85 psi and I inflate to that on the rare occasion that I still use them.

The shop where I work shares a building with a gunshop and, last fall I was finishing assembly on a new Trek 1.5 road bike. Evidently, at the factory the tube had been slightly pinched between rim and tire (very rare on new bikes so I seldom check) and at about 70 psi, she blew! I was a bit un-nerved but, it wasn't my first time.
Less than 15 seconds later, the owner of the gunshop, an employee and two customers with Concealed Carry Permits rushed through the door with pistols and a shotgun at the ready... only to find me alone and cussing. I think that they were disappointed but, we all had a good laugh. It's good to have friends!

Really? Does that mean I'm part of the brotherhood now then???!! haha

As long as it's not one of these White Ayrian supremacy type brotherhoods I've seen on TV!!

That story was very good Rob, very good. Made me chuckle.

Si

[JohnV]

That has never happened to me yet, but it's funny that it does happen to a lot of people. I let a guy borrow my pump at my riding park that had gone through three patches on his road bike tube before finding that he too, had a small opening in the sidewall that caused his tube to blow. Needless to say, he didn't get any riding done that day as his tube was pretty much destroyed after patching the same area three times.

[Bill]

Hahaha Rob! Glad there wasn't a customer there asking for a refund! I'm sure they would've said nevermind and ran off !

[RobAR]

(05-03-2011, 11:08 AM)Bill Wrote:  Hahaha Rob! Glad there wasn't a customer there asking for a refund! I'm sure they would've said nevermind and ran off !

Bill. Marvelous idea!

[tom]

the same happened to me twice in 10 minutes not sure why.
really annoying though. can anyone help?

[Joe_W]

Tube pinched between tyre and rim -> loud bang when inflating
Happened to me once. Very embarrassing... and with latex tubes, too, so it was expensive (well, slightly more expensive than butyl tubes)

[charliefin]

This just happened to me in the shed. I had just bought a new tube due to a leaky patch in the old one - it seems adding more patches around the original wouldn't fix the leak.

So I had replaced the wheel and pumped the tyre to full pressure - about 75 psi for my 26x1.5 specialized tyres and was just reaching for my allen keys as the brakes needed adjusting and BANG!!! Excuse the language but I nearly ****. Partially deafened I was a little disoriented, and I'm still a bit in shock.

Having just removed the new/now old tube it seems to have exploded along the inner seam of the tube (the seam closest to the rim) for about 5 or 6 inches.

Does any one know if I'll be able to get a refund/exchange? I bought the tube from Halfords and it would appear to me to have been a defective tube.

Or will I likely have to write this off as a luck of the draw sort of thing?

[DaveM]

(05-22-2012, 12:00 PM)charliefin Wrote:  Does any one know if I'll be able to get a refund/exchange? I bought the tube from Halfords and it would appear to me to have been a defective tube.
Or will I likely have to write this off as a luck of the draw sort of thing?

When tubes burst like this it is generally because the tire was not seated on the rim correctly, not due to a problem with the tube. The tube relies on the tire to hold it. No tube can hold much pressure by itself. So...unfortunately no. When you mount it again, make sure the tire is not slipping out of the rim anywhere as you pump it up.

[Tim M]

I don't like to assume and I think many people wrongly assume they have seated the tire correctly simply because it's on. So, when I thinkI have the tire mounted with just the slightest air pressure in the tube, and before I start up the serious pumping, I go around both sides with hands and thumbs, inch by inch, under bright light or bright sunlight and push the bead back slightly and look down into the rim. If I see rim every step of the way, good; but if I see tube sneaking underneath, then I've caught a pinch about to happen and I go back and correct.

[barefooter]

Once, as I was leaving my LBS, a car backed in with a bike on a trunk rack. BANG! The rear tire blew. I just about $h!t my pants, as I was standing right next to it at eye level. Hasn't happened to my bike yet. Knock on wood.