Bicycle Mechanics - Need Tire/Wheel Advice

I purchased a 2005 Trek 7300FX. Love the bike - but I'm having some doubts about the tires and/or wheels. From the specs, I'm not real sure just what wheels it has. Here's what it says: Alloy front; Deore rear hub; WTB Dual Duty rims. As for tires, they are Bontrager Invert Hardcase. I know anything can happen to any piece of equipment, but my rear tire blew while sitting on my patio. I removed the tire and tube - found that the wire along the outer bead of the tire had broken out for a length of about 3 inches. This in turn caused the tire to blow - maybe from heat. I had ridden about 2 hours eariler, and parked the bike in the hot Florida sun.

Looks like I hit a curb hard, but I don't even have any bumps on my route. I will be taking the tire and tube back - hopefully for adjustment. Are these wheels and tires OK, or should I consider an upgrade? Actually, the Bontrager website lists the Select tires (as installed on the 7500 and 7700) as less expensive than the Inverts. As for wheels - I don't have a clue. And I hate those little Presta things!

Give me some fast input, as I have to go to the LBS tomorrow. Thanks.

Since it's a new bike, it's entirely possible the tire wasn't seated properly in the rim. Things like what happened to you are most likely to occur at the beginning of a bike's service life; it's part of "shaking the bugs out". The LBS should put this right as part of the warranty service.

And once you realize how much more reliable and easier to pump they are, you'll grow to prefer "those little presta things".

Enjoy the new bike.

It was, most likely, a flaw in the tire, we have had this happen before.
It could also be caused by a brake pad set to close to the tire and a slightly out of true wheel. Make sure they check or it will happen again.
It is pretty hard to inflate a tire enough to get it to fail, possible but hard. Even leaving it in a hot place or bringing it to high altitlude is unlikely to cause this (We had a big discussion at work about this with the absolute gas law (?) being brought in to it.)

You can get adapters to fit on the Prestas, so they can be pumped up with a regular pump (after unscrewing the little nut on the end). They only cost a few cents, so ask for one when you go into the bike shop.