Originally posted by trmcgeehan
Regarding tires on a tandem, a local couple crashed hard several years ago when they inflated the tires before an outing and didn't bother to check the pressure with a guage. The tires were over-inflated. Only a quarter mile out, they were going down a steep hill when the rear tire blew out. They crashed, and the woman broke her pelvis. She was in training to run her first 26 mile marathon, but due to the severity of her injuries, had to scrap her running plans. Check the pressure! Don't guess!
Sorry, but I'd have to disagree with the assessment that over-inflation caused this blow-out. What is more likely are one of the following scenarios:
1. The rear tire was recently replaced and the tube wasn't installed properly and pinched between the rim bead and the rim which lead to the blow-out.
2. The tire was old and the cloth rim bead -- usually on a wire bead model -- tore which allowed the tube to "escape" from the tire casing and blow out.
3. They ran over something large and sharp that resulted in a blow out.
4. The captain was riding the rear brake on all the way down the hill to control their speed and overheated the rim to the point where either the tire softened up enough to become unseated as the tire pressure increased from the heating and then was pinched as it lifted the tire bead (see 1, above) OR failed inside the tire/rim as the air in the tube expanded.
In regard to #4, it usually takes more than a quarter mile for something like this to happen -- which is actually not all that uncommon for inexperienced tandem tandem teams -- which is why I listed it last. If, however, they were a really heavy team and had been descending a very steep hill for about a mile or were travelling at a high rate of speed (> 45mph) and then dragged the brakes for 1/4 mile it's is possible that the rear rim overheated enough to cause the failure.