Bicycle Mechanics - Is this tire safe?

Recently experienced a shotgun blowout with this Pasela TG. Luckily, I was going very slowly up a hill at the time.

Does the damage on this tire greatly compromise the safety, or is it usable? The first two photos show the two places where some of the rubber was shaved. I've added the third photo to show the warp in the tire bead.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y21/dissident75/Misc%20Bike%20Parts/Pasela_damage_2.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y21/dissident75/Misc%20Bike%20Parts/Pasela_damage_1.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y21/dissident75/Misc%20Bike%20Parts/Pasela_damage_3.jpg

I would say your tire is fine. Its not like the bead is damaged, just a little of the rubber covering it is gone. No big deal. The final picture is normal. Tire beads go all kind of ways until its mounted and inflated. If you blow this tire, it won't be because of anything in these photos.

Hmmm... Funny thing is I had the same thing happen to me a couple months ago with the same kind of tire. I could see the kevlar bead where the rubber was gone. Blew out a second tube trying to inflate it to full pressure. Ended up inflating a third tube to about 45 psi and wrapping electrical tape around the tire and rim to help hold the bead in place. Made it home the last 30 miles, but tossed the tire.

Hmmm... Funny thing is I had the same thing happen to me a couple months ago with the same kind of tire. I could see the kevlar bead where the rubber was gone. Blew out a second tube trying to inflate it to full pressure. Ended up inflating a third tube to about 45 psi and wrapping electrical tape around the tire and rim to help hold the bead in place. Made it home the last 30 miles, but tossed the tire.

Is the tire in the photos the same one that had the "shotgun" blowout? Do you have any idea what caused the blowout? What size tire is it? What rims are you using. Just inflating a tire to full pressure shouldn't cause concern if the tire fits the rims. These aren't 27" size with straight sided (non hook) rims by any chance are they?

Well, thanks masi61. It appears you're the only one not afraid of a potential lawsuit when it blows out on me again at 40 mph! :D

All kidding aside, those were the same thoughts I had. The wire bead has definitely been warped though, but as you point out, it doesn't appear damaged. My only reservation is that I swear this tire was properly seated - I'm very thorough about mounting tires.

For the record, this is a Panaracer Pasela TG 700 x 28. I'm pretty sure they don't come in a straight-wall variety. I replaced them with the same tire in 25mm width and have had no problems.

Well, thanks masi61. It appears you're the only one not afraid of a potential lawsuit when it blows out on my again at 40 mph! :D

All kidding aside, those were the same thoughts I had. The wire bead has definitely been warped though, but as you point out, it doesn't appear damaged. My only reservation is that I swear this tire was properly seated - I'm very thorough about mounting tires.

For the record, this is a Panaracer Pasela TG 700 x 28. I'm pretty sure they don't come in a straight-wall variety. I replaced them with the same tire in 25mm width and have had no problems.

I've used the Pasela Tourguards quite a bit, kevlar bead in 700 x 32c. I really liked them until recently, now I think I'm done with them. I had a flat and was re-inflating the tire when, as I neared full pressure it blew off the rim. I tried it again, making very, very sure the bead was seated at lower pressure, everything looked good, no bulges, I take it up to nearly full pressure and the same thing happened again. In looking closely at the bead of the tire, I could see something similar to the bead of your tire, not as pronounced and without any obvious problem with the rubber coming off, but a definite distortion of the bead. It's interesting that your tire is a wire bead model, and mine's a kevlar bead. I have no idea what caused the problem on my tire and why it didn't show up as a problem until I tried to re-inflate the tire; the flat I had wasn't a blowout, just a small puncture through the tread. Until then I had excellent luck with the tires, I think this was the second flat in a few thousand miles-