wilfried

Tonight I replaced a tire with a Schwalbe Marathon Racer. I put the new tire on the front wheel, and rotated the existing tire to the rear wheel to replace the worn rear tire. I pumped up the tires and all seemed well. A couple of hours later, I hear a huge BANG. The tube blew clean through the sidewall of the brand new tire, which is now toast. I hadn't even ridden on the tire, which is fortunate, as I might be toast.

There is now an inch long tear in the sidewall of the tire, and big ol' hole in the tube. The tire didn't blow off the rim, the tire was still seated when I pried it off with a tire iron, and the blowout wasn't near the bead. What exactly happened? Did I do something wrong? Was there something wrong with the tire?

If it was my fault, I want to know what I did wrong. Should I bring it up with Schwalbe?

dabac

A tube actually bursting through the tire is quite rare. I think I've only had it happen twice. One tire gashed from a brake pad, once a combo of old tire and shop air being higher pressure/flow than the set-up at home.
Some close calls though, with old/worn tires beginning to bulge suspisciously during inflating.
I've had a steel bead break once, which doesn't quite count in these circumstances.


If you're dead certain there wasn't any pre-existing sidewall damage, you might try contacting the vendor. Although I didn't even hear back from Schwalbe when I notified them of a bead breaking.

wilfried

It was a brand new tire, so there couldn't have been any sidewall damage, at least that I caused. The whole point of this exercise was to replace a worn tire with a new one, precisely to prevent a tire failure (and I was starting to get flats).

Bill Kapaun

Either a defective tire or pressure gauge. Assuming you didn't exceed max pressure listed on the sidewall.

Moe Zhoost

I've bought tires before that have been nicked by a knife at some point in the supply chain. Folks unpacking shipments don't always exercise proper care. Most times, the flaw is apparent upon inflation, but occasionally not. Eventually this weak spot will blow through like this.

I'd take this up with the vendor you bought them from.

Bike Gremlin

I've never had a defective tube destroy the tyre. Tyre is stronger, and the air leaking out of a tube should be held by the tyre, along with the tube itself.

It takes a lot of pressure to rip a non-damaged, non-faulty tyre - talking about over 10 bars of pressure.

This looks like a tube puncture after the tyre was ripped, and had stopped supporting the tube inside.

dsbrantjr

I would say it was a manufacturing or handling (as suggested by Moe Zhoost) defect which Schwalbe should make right.

cny-bikeman

There is no need to go to the manufacturer if you purchased from a legitimate retail source. Return to them, explain the situation, and you should receive a new tire. If online do the same but include your picture. Schwalbe would probably direct you there anyway.

ckarr

If you do get a replacement without having to send back the old one to Schwable the old tire can be repaired with a needle, nylon heavy duty coat repair thread, rubber cement and a patch made from an thick old inner tube (like a 26x2" mountain bike inner tube). then you will have 2 tires. I have done it to my tire before and it works fine now.

wilfried

The tire seemed OK when I installed it, bead seated, inflated fine, etc., but i didn't look that hard. I didn't think to look for bulges or cuts. It's not a high pressure tire; it was inflated to 70 PSI.

I bought it "fulfilled by Amazon" from a third party seller. I guess I'll have to contact Amazon and Schwalbe and see what they say. Ugh.

On the one hand, I'm glad I didn't do something boneheaded to cause such a catastrophic failure (I can be all thumbs, and have had flat repairs fail for normal reasons, broken stems etc.). On the other hand, it's disturbing to have a new tire explode so dramatically. I'll be a bit nervous when I install the next one.

Bike Gremlin

Don't patch a ripped sidewall with an inner tube. Use a part cut from an old tyre, but not the tube. It's not strong enough to be safe.


Patching a punctured bicycle tyre tube - Cycle Gremlin

Davet

I contacted Schwalbe directly when I had one of their tires fail unusually. They requested info regarding when and where I purchased it, some pics and the basic story of the failure. They sent me a new replacement quickly. A very good company, they treated me right.

cny-bikeman

Schwalbe may not be of help if you did not buy from a legitimate retailer. Contact the seller.

ckarr

I used an inner tube with no problems, I didnt have a spare tire lying around that I could destroy and the inner tube + nylon thread along with the rubber cement dries to be strong and hard (but still flexible when needed).

but even then it is mostly the nylon thread that is doing the work, nylon can hold thousands of pounds without breaking, the rubber cement + boot made out of inner tube is just insurance.

Bike Gremlin

I'd still not recommend using a tube to patch a tyre wall.

tgmcmonigle

I had the same thing happen with a Conti tire I bought through Amazon. Returned through Amazon, they issued a freight paid return label. My account was credited within an hour of the time I dropped the package off at the UPS store. No need to contact the vendor or manufacturer either.

sarahbruce

A few years ago, every couple months I would put in a small order from Niagara. After the third tire, over a range of six months, and two orders (and a replacement), was sent to me with large cuts in the sidewall, I stopped ordering from them. Someone, or even multiple people, in the packaging process was not being very careful with their razor knife. It is unfortunate, and I have never had a tire arrived damaged from another supplier, but it does happen. If it was fulfilled by Amazon, you should have no problem, as their return procedures are the best I have ever experienced!
Bruce

wilfried

I called Schwalbe, and they referred me to their online warranty page, where you can submit photos, and said they could usually turn a claim around in a day or two. I hope that's true. They want photos of the tire and of the serial number on the inside. They don't ask for a purchase receipt (the Amazon invoice shows Amazon, not the "fulfilled by" seller). So far the process is easy, so let's hope this goes well.

I didn't install the tire immediately, so I'm outside Amazon's standard one month return window. They may well have made good on it anyway, but I decided to go to Schwalbe first.