slangjang

i was putting on my new continential gradnprix 3000 and i thought i had them on the rim well enough before i pumped them up and i got to about 100psi and the damn tube blew and now my left ear is ringing and i need a new tube. what did i do wrong?

FixednotBroken

my guess is the tube was not seated properly, causing the tire's bead to pinch it - result: blown tube.

jayfitzgerald

FnB is spot on. Ya gotta stuff that tube all the way in and get the tire properly seated or you'll rip one hell of a tear in the tube and yer ear.

slangjang

yeah there was a long tear in the tire. it doesnt matter that i went from kevlar beaded tire from a wire bead does it? i mean a clincher is a clincher right?

jim-bob

That's the problem with fixed gears. They blow out tubes like there's no tomorrow.

BostonFixed

Make sure that you really make sure that the bead is all the way seated around the wheel; sometimes there's a little section tht just wants to pop off and blow, know what ima saying?

I also like to inflate rather slowly, so that the tube fills the tire slowly and evenly, and so that the bead can really seat against the rim. I don't know if this really does anything in practice, but I like to think it does.

SSSasky

Also, in case you weren't doing this, put a *little* bit of air in the tube before you seat the tire. This will help keep its shape and keep it from getting caught on the bead.

FixednotBroken

i usually work the tire (both sides) with the heel of my hands to make sure it doesn't catch the tube. i've heard people using talcum powder, but that sounds like overkill to me.

blowing tubes is no good. some people (nobody i know) prefer to pull tubes.

slangjang

thanks for the advice guys

r-dub

My general practice:
1)put tube in tire, tire on wheel as normal
2)pump up to about 30% of final pressure
3)inspect for tube/bead seating
4)let all pressure out (this is the important step that usually will automatically seat the tube
5)pump all the way up to operating pressure

dolface

i do exactly what r-dub does, AND i put in talcum powder.
i've been doing it that way for years, and it works great.

jamey

i usually use my buck knife to run under the tire all around to get the tire positioned correctly in the rim but the damn tube always pops right after i'm done..what's the deal?

MudPie

The bead material does not matter. I blew a few in my past 15 years of riding, and to this day, I am still fearful when I put in a new tube. When mine blew, I didn't really hear the ka-pow, but suddenly noticed my ears ringing. A split second after, I realize what happened.

In my case, I find the area around the valve stem to be problematic. The reinforcing disk around the base of the stem could get between the tire and rim. To prevent this, after I insert the tube and get the tire on, I'll push the stem into the tire and pull it back out again. This forces the reinforced area away from the tire/rim interface and solves that problem.

Then, I'll pump up to maybe 25% and spin the wheel, observing the tire/rim interface. You can easily spot a problem when the wheel is spinning. Assuming no bulges, I'll pump to 100%

Also, I inflate outdoors, in case of a blowout, the sound won't reverberate as could happen indoors.

icithecat

So this is where all the talcum powder left in the cabinet when the girl moves out goes.

Al1943

If the tube is caught between the inner edge of the tire and the rim it will blow, even if the bead is "seated" in the rim. All of the tube must be inside the tire. Before inflating you can use the valve stem to push the tube inside the tire.

Al