Tyre Blowout Causes?

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Andrew_P

In between here and there
Hi All,

I had a Tyre blowout on me midway through a nice and fast tightish right hand bend, needless to say I hit the deck with a bang at 20mph. Dislocated my shoulder :sad:. There was a clicking noise 30 odd seconds before, which up to the point of seeing the tyre I had assumed it to be something sharp working its way in to the tread.

This is getting on for 4 weeks ago, I hadn't been able to get in to work to see the bike since it happened and up to now I had put it down to one of those things. Now I have seen the bike there is a 2-3" horizontal tear in the tyre and tube in the lower part of the sidewall. Having read about it a bit it seems that if you hear the bang, which I did the tube was already out when it burst.

I did a quick search today for the brand of tyre and it seems there a few anecdotal reviews on problems with the sidewall being weak, but all have escaped unscathed. But the positive reviews do out weight the sidewall weakness ones. My tyres had less than 300 miles on them.

http://www.questel.co.uk/michelin-pro-4-service-course-tyres/

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/michelin-pro4-service-course-folding-road-tyre/ If you sort reviews to lowest first

So just wondering really is it something I could have done on fitting them, would a pinch have caused it? As I had a puncture, 50 miles before the blowout two days before. Or just one of those thing

thanks!
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I had a similar thing happen on my mountain bike once, but I was lucky enough to be able to stop and find out what was happening.

When I dismounted, I discovered that there was a split in a sidewall of my front tyre, through which the tube was bulging. As I watched, the bubble of tube got bigger and bigger, and then it exploded with a very loud BANG! :eek:

I had been bombing down a fast bridleway descent just before that, so I had a very lucky escape.

GWS!
 
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Andrew_P

Andrew_P

In between here and there
Sorry to hear about the crash, I hope your shoulder recovers quickly.

I've had several pinch punctures but they don't seem to blow out like you describe, taking a while to go down. So I don't think it's that - the clue is probably in the clicking noise you heard. Could you have run over something? It must have been a catastrophic puncture to cause a blow out......were the tyres run at the right pressure (100-110psi)?
I had pumped it up with track pump after the puncture two day before 110
I had a similar thing happen on my mountain bike once, but I was lucky enough to be able to stop and find out what was happening.

When I dismounted, I discovered that there was a split in a sidewall of my front tyre, through which the tube was bulging. As I watched, the bubble of tube got bigger and bigger, and then it exploded with a very loud BANG! :eek:

I had been bombing down a fast bridleway descent just before that, so I had a very lucky escape.

GWS!
I heard the bang and knew what was coming next! Your description sounds just like mine I just cannot remember anywhere that could have made the hole in the sidewall, sods law I guess
 

andrew_s

Legendary Member
Location
Gloucester
Was the "2-3" horizontal tear in the tyre and tube in the lower part of the sidewall" immediately next to the rim?
It's possible for poorly adjusted brake blocks to cut through the sidewall there, especially if they have been poorly adjusted for long enough to develop a ridge along the edge of the braking surface.
It's also not unheard of the the hook on the rim to cut through the sidewall immediately next to the bead. It's more likely if the tyre has been run on the soft side. There ought to be a reinforcing strip to stop it, but it has been known for this to be missing or misplaced (strip may not be visible).
The latter will leave a cut immediately next to the bead, the former will leave a cut 1 - 2mm further up.

The clicking noise beforehand was probably the tyre starting to bulge, and hitting the brakes, mudguard stays or whatever on the way past.
 

buggi

Bird Saviour
Location
Solihull
i remember looking down and watching my tyre roll off the rim once, at first, when it caught my eye, i thought i had a flat. By the time i realised what was happening ... BANG!!! The inner tube blew. Gave me a right shock. I changed the tube but when i refitted the tyre i could feel the beading had stretched so i took very careful detour to the nearest shop.
 
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Andrew_P

Andrew_P

In between here and there
Was the "2-3" horizontal tear in the tyre and tube in the lower part of the sidewall" immediately next to the rim?
It's possible for poorly adjusted brake blocks to cut through the sidewall there, especially if they have been poorly adjusted for long enough to develop a ridge along the edge of the braking surface.
It's also not unheard of the the hook on the rim to cut through the sidewall immediately next to the bead. It's more likely if the tyre has been run on the soft side. There ought to be a reinforcing strip to stop it, but it has been known for this to be missing or misplaced (strip may not be visible).
The latter will leave a cut immediately next to the bead, the former will leave a cut 1 - 2mm further up.

The clicking noise beforehand was probably the tyre starting to bulge, and hitting the brakes, mudguard stays or whatever on the way past.
I had a Gator on there for 3k before fitting this one the wheel went on in June, I checked the Gator this afternoon and no sign of brake contact, not changed my pads since May.

Bikes still at work so cannot recheck but from memory the hole looks like it would have been above the rim line especially if the tyre was inflated if that makes sense. But will check next time I am in. The only other thing is I have had this with GP4000's once before,only spotted the tube in the wall before I rode off. I have 200 yards of riding on gravel in to work, and I wonder the sportier tyres can't cope with that. Thanks for the ideas though will check them out next time I am in work.
 

andrew_s

Legendary Member
Location
Gloucester
I have 200 yards of riding on gravel in to work, and I wonder the sportier tyres can't cope with that.
Lightweight tyre sidewalls can have trouble with rough tracks, but it's generally a vertical cut that results from the tyre slipping off the side of a stone.
 
D

Deleted member 1258

Guest
Its possible that you had a tyre failure, it might be that the tyre has parted company with the beading, the clicking you heard might have been the bulging tube hitting something as the wheel turned.
 

Roadrider48

Voice of the people
Location
Londonistan
I came off about 4 or 5 months ago. Car in front stopped suddenly and I managed to stop, but flew over the bars. Dislocated my shoulder and broke two ribs. Not funny!
 
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Andrew_P

Andrew_P

In between here and there
I came off about 4 or 5 months ago. Car in front stopped suddenly and I managed to stop, but flew over the bars. Dislocated my shoulder and broke two ribs. Not funny!
Yeah tell me about it, I have watched too much dross TV, once they had established it was dislocated and finally got it back in I was expecting to be straight back to normal, just like you see when Bruce Willis slams his shoulder back in and carries on fighting :laugh:

I have a Hill Sach fracture on the ball part which doesn't help either, not allowed to weight bear exercise yet.
 

Roadrider48

Voice of the people
Location
Londonistan
Yeah tell me about it, I have watched too much dross TV, once they had established it was dislocated and finally got it back in I was expecting to be straight back to normal, just like you see when Bruce Willis slams his shoulder back in and carries on fighting :laugh:

I have a Hill Sach fracture on the ball part which doesn't help either, not allowed to weight bear exercise yet.
I was cycling(gingerly) quite quickly after, but it did take ages before I was properly right. Plus I do have a bad ongoing rotator cuff problem which is a bit of a pig, and obviously didn't help when the shoulder was dislocated.
I hope it's not too long before you are better.
 
Yeah tell me about it, I have watched too much dross TV, once they had established it was dislocated and finally got it back in I was expecting to be straight back to normal, just like you see when Bruce Willis slams his shoulder back in and carries on fighting :laugh:

I have a Hill Sach fracture on the ball part which doesn't help either, not allowed to weight bear exercise yet.

I had a proximal humeral head compression fracture after hitting the deck following an encounter with a parked car over a year ago. My shoulder was immobilised for a good few weeks so that the pieces didn't displace. After about two weeks I was able to struggle on to the bike on the turbo and spent a few weeks spinning in the garage one handed with the other in cuff and collar sling. I agree the short term problem with this sort of thing is the inability to bear weight on the affected side. As I recovered and was able to stretch forward to the tops of the bars I found using a towel or similar padding meant that I only put weight on the right hand side gradually, removing the extra padding accordingly as I went. Long term the recovery has been OK. There was no rotator cuff damage although there was weakness in this area and in my upper arm. In truth my upper arm strength on the right hand side is nowhere near today where it was prior to the accident. I still have occasional physio to help address this. I do get mild discomfort and some manageable pain as a reminder of the accident.
 
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Andrew_P

Andrew_P

In between here and there
I had a proximal humeral head compression fracture after hitting the deck following an encounter with a parked car over a year ago. My shoulder was immobilised for a good few weeks so that the pieces didn't displace. After about two weeks I was able to struggle on to the bike on the turbo and spent a few weeks spinning in the garage one handed with the other in cuff and collar sling. I agree the short term problem with this sort of thing is the inability to bear weight on the affected side. As I recovered and was able to stretch forward to the tops of the bars I found using a towel or similar padding meant that I only put weight on the right hand side gradually, removing the extra padding accordingly as I went. Long term the recovery has been OK. There was no rotator cuff damage although there was weakness in this area and in my upper arm. In truth my upper arm strength on the right hand side is nowhere near today where it was prior to the accident. I still have occasional physio to help address this. I do get mild discomfort and some manageable pain as a reminder of the accident.
Its really doing my head in, the longest time I have not ridden 100+ miles a week for near on 3 years, I can feel the fitness oozing away, been umming and arring over a Turbo no where to put it really, and stationary bike looks a bit crap. That and my bike is at work and needs quite a bit doing to get it up and running
 
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User33236

Guest
Sorry to hear about your misfortune and hope you are well on the mend.

Last time I had a clicking was when an inch long screw went through my back tyre. Thankfully it went through at a shallow angle and I was riding in a straight line at the time.
 

shouldbeinbed

Rollin' along
Location
Manchester way
I had a brand new bike, The rear tyre was faulty, missing a few inches of bead, it failed just like that as soon as the tyre was under a bit of load out of the shop. Might be worth checking if its a structural failure of the tyre as well as possible damage.
 
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