Originally Posted by hamiltonian

I had two 27" tires blow off on the same day in my living room--one with a bang that woke me up, and the other with the air just whooshing out while I was cooking dinner. This was an old ten speed with brand new tires and tubes that I'd just bought the day before. My understanding is that the old 27" rims just don't hold modern tires very well. In my case the tires weren't damaged, but your tire does look pretty funky.