Originally Posted by
Angkor
The tube that exploded was on the bike when I bought it... From what I know of the previous owner, that tube must have been in there for the last decade as the bike was rusting on his balcony...
I wonder if he just let the tube go dead flat. If that was the case, then the tire bead setting may have gone out of whack, even if it was once properly in position. Because at that point, the beads have all the support of a wet noodle.
Once that happens, and you go to finally reinflate the tube, you may as well be inflating the tire for the first time as far as the bead fit is concerned.