Close ONE!

[Susan126]

On Thursday's ride I almost (could have) had a bad accident on my new bike! Apparently I rode for about the last 4-5 miles on a tire that was getting ready to explode! Thank goodness it didn't "explode" until I was safely home. And it was my fault. When I left for my ride on Thursday I pumped my tires up to 120 psi. I thought the max was 125 psi, but it actually was 115 psi! On the last few miles I noticed that my rear tire felt "weird" I thought it was just the pavement. When I got home I checked my tires and noticed this:







I told Joe when he came home and he immediately asked me how much air did I put into the tires and I replied, "120 psi." And he said to me, "You should learn to read the side of your tire. Then you would have seen that the max pressure is 115 psi!" I felt dumb. But I thought I did see 125 psi on my sidewall but I guess I read it wrong or saw it wrong. But he was kind and put new Vredestein fortezza tyres on my bike. Max pressure 145 psi. Joe told me to only pump it to 120-125 psi. He said with my weight that is plenty!

Lesson learned. Read my sidewall and I don't need as much pressure in my tyres as Joe needs in his tyres!

And here is a close up of my new Ruby:



And the explosion took place about 5 minutes after I took the first 2 piictures. I went into the house and left my bike in the garage and heard it in the kitchen. It sounded like a loud gunshot or firecracker going off. I should have let the air out after taking the pictures but I wanted to put my camera away. I told Joe and he again chastised me. He said I could have damaged the rim! Geeish. What a day Thursday was!

[BabyBlueNTulsa]

WOW, girl! Scary story...and near tough lesson learned, huh?

Gotta say though... SWEEET SWEEEEEET ride! That's a gorgeous bike.

[Blueberry]

Wow! Actually, I think that was a defective tire. I've slightly overinflated before, and it usually doesn't do that

Sweet bike

[jesvetmed]

Scarey! But.. as said above, NICE RIDE! Glad there was no damage to you or the bike!

[sundial]

Susan, you gotta take care of that sexy ride of yours. Glad you weren't injured when your tire blew. My rear tire blew on a ride and you're right--it sounds like gunfire.

[wolfak]

I'm not trying to downplay your serious and scary situation, but once upon a time, my LBS told me that an inner-tube could be inflated about fifty percent over its rating before there was risk of damage/burst.

Is it possible that you just had a bad tube and/or tire? I also noticed once that I didn't get the floor pump totally engaged on the valve, and when I filled to my target psi, I hadn't done it right - the tire didn't look or feel right, and when I rechecked the pressure, I was off (but I don't remember which way).

Glad it didn't burst on you while you were riding or in the garage! That's scary!

[Zen]

Your bike reminds me of snake skin.

[aicabsolut]

Are those Specialized All Condition tires? Which ones? Pro? Mine do have a max of 125, and I always ran them at 120. Weird. Glad you made it home safe!

[Susan126]

I took the tire back to my lbs where I bought my bike and showed the owner the tire. He gave me a new tire!

I'm glad it waited to explode until I got home too! Whew! And yes, it was the all condition tire.

[OakLeaf]

I didn't realize it until I looked after reading your post, but bicycle tires are date-coded the same as motor vehicle tires. (You do check the date on your car and m/c tires don't you?!)

The date code is obvious because it's stamped separately from the other information on the tires. It's a four digit number: the first two digits are the week, the second two digits are the year. So my rear tire, coded 3806, was manufactured in the 38th week of 2006 (and thus was already over a year old when I mounted it last December).

Now, I don't know how old a bicycle tire can get before it starts to harden or dry-rot. Generally a motorcycle tire can be 3-4 years old before it starts to show any problems. But I wonder if your tire was very old. That's the first thing I thought of when I saw your pictures. Do you still have it, to check the date code?

I *have* overinflated tires to the point where they popped (when I was a kid, using gas station compressors and no tire gauge, and leaving my bike parked in the hot sun). It takes more than 5# overinflation... and I never had any kind of tread separation like that.

Anyway, glad you're OK!


ETA: also, if those were the Specialized All Condition Pro that your bike specs with, according to the website they should be inflated to 115-125 PSI.

[Susan126]

Wow I didn't know that oakleaf! I'll have to go and take a look at the date on that tire. It's in the garbage right now. I'll have my son retrieve it later today. Right now I'm off for a bike ride!

[wolfak]

I took the tire back to my lbs where I bought my bike and showed the owner the tire. He gave me a new tire!

I'm glad it waited to explode until I got home too! Whew! And yes, it was the all condition tire.

That's the sign of a good LBS! Glad they were nice to you. And pretty bike!