Originally Posted by
canklecat
Split tubes are almost always due to faulty mounting of tube and tire. The tire bead isn't properly seated, the tube sneaks out through the gap while being inflated and BOOM. Or in some circumstances the rupture occurs while riding. Still due to faulty installation. Done it myself when I was careless and neglected to inflate carefully and check the bead seating at intervals before fully inflating.
The one failure I've had that I would blame on the tube is problems with the tube leaking around the base of the valve stem. I realize there are some wheel issues and installation problems that could cause this, but I'm pretty sure I had tubes from a bad batch. I saw this failure with several tubes that I bought at the same time. Never saw it with any other tube on the same wheels. I stopped buying that brand of tube (Forte) though I admit the odds of this coming up again were probably small.
I feel like I've seen a lot of tubes packaged under various brand names that have either CST or Kenda stamped on them somewhere. Michelin, Schwalbe and Continental are the only brands that I'm convinced don't come from either of these manufacturers.