Originally Posted by lyeinyoureye
A few minutes into my run to the hardware store today, my rear tire blew out. I figured it wasn't a big deal since I could toss/patch another tube, but as it turns out, the tube blew out where the tire
tore off the bead. Does anyone know how this could happen? The tire had been on/off the rim a couple times because I had improperly put the tube in and had to patch a couple small tears, but nothing that would've gone through the sidewall. The tires on the bike were 700-23c and I was running 700-20c.
Were the tears around the sidewall failure? If so, there's your culprit. The tire is a pressure vessel. Any weakness in a pressure vessel is asking for failure. Try not to do anything that would cut the tire around the bead and, if you do, lesson learned.
If the tears are elsewhere, then it may be defective.