Commuting - Tire Blistering?

I was on my way home from work today and had an unusual event. Sometimes my tire will pick up a little tar from the road on a hot day. It sticks to the tire and picks up a little bit of small rocks, so I stop and pull it off and go on. I thought that was what was going on today. But when I stopped I had a big bubble forming on my tire. I thought well great, not quite half way home. I decided to ride it until it popped and call "Budget and Finance" to pick me up. It finally popped a half mile later. To my surprise the tire was still inflated and did not feel even low. I finished the additional 6 miles, and rode another 10 tonight with no problems. I guess an outer layer of the tire formed a bubble and popped. I have never seen or heard of anything like this happening. I haven't inspected closely but I really can't see where it was.

Has anyone had this happen or know what caused it?

Caused by poorly bonded layer of rubber. Small pocket of air expends when heated and blows out the layer - something like the foam insulation getting blown off the Shuttle fuel tank, except it is reducing pressure outside rather than expension inside that causes the blow out.

Hee hee. Ni Hau Ma?

Chinese made tires, by chance? The Chinese tire scandal that rocked the automotive world this summer spreads its cancer to bicycle world.

It is a stock tire on the Specialized Sirrus. Specialized all season. I failed to mention that the tire has 1400 miles on it. And I carry a lot of weight on the commuter with a trunk pannier. The tires do need replacing and I thought I was having a major blowout that would force the issue. But they are still at 105 psig. Very odd though.

Chinese made space shuttle tires. I guess that pretty much sums it up?:eek::rolleyes:

Caused by poorly bonded layer of rubber. Small pocket of air expends when heated and blows out the layer - something like the foam insulation getting blown off the Shuttle fuel tank, except it is reducing pressure outside rather than expension inside that causes the blow out.


Not to be nit-pickin but:

The foam insulation falls off the shuttle during launch because it's poorly bonded or the bonding has failed due to the super cold nature of the interface.

It is a stock tire on the Specialized Sirrus. Specialized all season. I failed to mention that the tire has 1400 miles on it. And I carry a lot of weight on the commuter with a trunk pannier. The tires do need replacing and I thought I was having a major blowout that would force the issue. But they are still at 105 psig. Very odd though.

Chinese made space shuttle tires. I guess that pretty much sums it up?:eek::rolleyes:

The only time I have seen the skins bubble on a tire is when you wear a tire right down to the threads. Usually, a tire lasts a lot longer than 1400 miles, though.

Hmm. Oh well. Sounds like new tire time to me.

The foam insulation falls off the shuttle during launch because it's poorly bonded or the bonding has failed due to the super cold nature of the interface.

the poor bonding provides a space for air between the tank and foam, as the rocket rises the reduced air pressure outside allows the pressure of the gas inside to push off the piece of foam. The low temp forms ice on the foam, it is this ice that does the damage rather than the foam.