RMacki

Hey everyone, I was just wondering what your thoughts might be on this problem!


Recently I got myself a new mountain bike, a Vitus Nucleus 29 VR from Chain Reaction Cycles (I'm based in the UK).

Just 10 minutes into the bike's first ride, the front tyre popped off the rim suddenly without warning.

The inner tube, which was still fully inflated, was now sticking out from under the tyre and then exploded like a bomb going off!


The rim has sustained some dings and gouges from contacting the stony dirt track after the tyre came off, and a stone has gouged a small area of rim tape.


I'm certainly no expert but it looks like the rim tape may not have been applied properly, and was covering some of the tyre bead hook inside the rim, preventing the tyre bead from seating properly.

Or possibly, the inner tube was pinched between the rim and tyre as a result of not being installed properly by Chain Reaction Cycles.

The tyre looks ok and doesn't show any signs of defects or damage. The tyres were also not under- or over-inflated.


I have contacted Chain Reaction Cycles about this to make a Warranty Claim and have so far only received an automated reply telling me they will look into the problem.


Do you guys agree that this should be covered under the warranty?

And should I be able to exchange this for a whole new front wheel?
The rim has clearly not been destroyed, it's still ok, but I feel this damage was the result of poor assembly or workmanship.

The problem being I am not 100% sure if the problem was with the tyre, the rim, perhaps the rim tape, or just incorrect installation of the tyre by Chain Reaction Cycles?

I have considered just installing a new inner tube and get riding, but I've lost confidence in the bike and feel anxious that the same thing would happen again without addressing the problem!

Thanks for your time!

Ross

ClydeClydeson

Very likely was an assembly issue, but the shop you bought it from likely did not install the tire - the bike would have come from an Asian assembly facility/factory with the tires already installed. That being said, if the tire was not seated properly when they did the final assembly I would expect them to notice and correct before leaving the shop.

Did you use a pump on the wheel and if so might you have put the pressure too high?

Iride01 

Doesn't matter what I think about warranty coverage. It what the people that warranted the bike or wheel say.

There are lots of user issues that I can think of that might account for the tire coming off. So it's a toss up for me whether warranty or you screwed up.

Might be the tire was not evenly seated all the way around. Did you install the tires or did you simply inflate them on receipt and never looked at the witness lines to assure yourself everything was hunky-dory?

I've seen and had wheels with rim tape coming up on the bead seats before. While it does make it harder to get the tires on and seated, it's never caused a tire to come off the rim. But maybe yours are worse taped than mine were.

I have had tires come off the rim from being underinflated. Once the tube is out of the tire, it inflates to many times the diameter of the tire section, but I haven't had one come out and explode....... except a couple times I put over 150 psi in the tires <grin>

drlogik 

That's a tough call. The dings in the rim would be of concern to me also. Maybe try to find middle ground with Chain Reaction. Maybe they offer to repair/replace the rim and you take care of tire and tube. Hard to tell what's at fault but I agree with the others that it was probably mounted badly.

When I worked in shops we always deflated the tires, checked the bead and then slowly inflated to half pressure, assembled the bike and then inflated all the way and checked bead again. Maybe they aren't doing this. Did you buy this online or at a brick and mortar shop? If online, there may not be any recourse. If it's a shop maybe they'll meet you half-way.

Cyclist0108

It is disconcerting when that happens as a result of professional assembly. If there is anything wrong with the rim, they should send you a new wheel.

I've done this to myself. Fortunately, it detonated in the garage. My guess is the rim is ok, and very likely the tire (mine was a fairly delicate Vittoria graphene + but there was no damage). I have no idea why mine happened. I speculate it wasn't seated properly, but I usually inspect, do a few inflate/deflate cycles, etc. The tires were exceptionally hard to mount.

alcjphil

I am curious. Chain Reaction is an online retailer based is the UK from what I know. Did you buy the bike from an actual store or did you buy online and do final assembly yourself? If you had to do final assembly and things like inflating the tires you do have some level of responsibility to make sure that nothing is amiss, things like checking to see that the tires are evenly seated all around the rim as you inflate them. Many bikes arrive in their box from the factory almost with almost flat tires. In those cases, from my own experiences assembling hundreds of new bikes, I would half inflate the tire and spin the wheel to see if the tire is evenly seated before fully inflating. If you bought the bike through a local retailer, you have a warranty issue. If you bought the bike online and it arrived with fully inflated tires, you have a warranty issue. One thing is certain, Chain Reaction did not install either the rim tape or the inner tube or the tire. Those were all installed on the wheels in the factory.

Trakhak

Assuming that the bike was bought assembled from a bike shop, if I were the warranty guy in that shop, the first thing I'd do would be to look for flared-out dents in the rim indicating that the bike was ridden into a curb---or for other evidence that the blowout was the result of abuse of the bike. Bike store bikes usually sit around for days to weeks after assembly with fully inflated tires, so a tire failure occurring so soon after leaving the shop, and JRI ("just riding along," as bike store employees frequently hear such events described), would get a close look.

Not saying that it didn't happen as the original poster described. Anything's possible. But, guessing on the basis of my 20 years of working in bike stores back in the day, a spontaneous blowout seems somewhat unlikely, especially with the rim damage that the OP described.

If the bike was bought on line and assembled by the OP, as a previous poster suggested might be the case, all bets are off. Chain Reaction's warranty people might decide to replace the parts under warranty, or they might not. I'd be interested to learn what happens next, in any event.

shelbyfv

Did you pump up the tire before you went for your ride?

freeranger

Even though it may have been no fault of yours, I would not be surprised if it was not covered. It's a mtn.bike, and lots of things may happen on the trail. Such as a hard glance on a pointy rock, landing "sideways" on the tire after a jump, etc. The dealer and/or mfr. would have no way of knowing exactly why it occurred. It certainly won't hurt to see if the damage may be covered. But try not to be disappointed if it isn't covered.

Kapusta

So much info not here:

1- pics or the rim and rim tape.

2- did it come already mounted and at least somewhat inflate?

3- what did you inflate it to when you went riding?

pdlamb

Unless the shop assembled the bike and pumped it up for you, they can make a good argument that the user is responsible for the damage because of errors assembling the bike (tire overlapped tube at the side of the rim) and pumping the tire up too much. They might cover it for the good will it could generate -- if they do, share your positive experience with all your friends and on-line followers!

I'm guessing it'll be a coin toss as to whether they'll warranty it or not. If there's a dent on the rim where the tire seats, I'd say the rim needs to be replaced (it'll probably be cheaper just to replace the whole wheel). If there's a sharp edge on the inside of the rim, you can probably file or grind that down to prevent tire (tyre) damage if they don't replace it.

Kapusta

One other point: just because a tire blows out or goes flat, does not usually mean rim damage unless you hit something.

And how did you know that the tube started poking out and THEN popped while you were riding?

Something is not adding up here

RMacki

Thanks for your replies everybody.
To answer a few questions that have come up:

1. I tried to upload photos but as I have posted less than 10 messages on the forum I was not allowed.

2. The bike was purchased online and arrived in a large box almost fully assembled; all I needed to fit myself were the handlebars and pedals.

3. The tyres came already installed on the bike and were partially inflated to about 30 PSI when I received it.

4. Before going out on the bike I pumped the tyres to about 55 PSI (well within their recommended range), using a Topeak floor pump.

5. I allowed the tyres to sit at this pressure overnight without any issues. I also visually checked them and could see the witness line looked ok all around; no signs of poor or uneven seating.

6. The incident happened when I was riding at around 10mph on a flat dirt track. I had not hit any kerbs, large stones or any other obstacles.

7. I had been on the bike for about 10 minutes when "POP!!" the front tyre seemed to have suddenly slipped off the front rim, allowing the fully inflated inner tube to pop out suddenly.
Shocked, puzzled, and shouting a few cursed words I stopped the bike and got off, thinking "At least the tube looks ok, if I quickly deflate it before it pops, I can put it back in and get that tyre back on the rim!"
Suddenly however, the exposed inner tube exploded, without the tyre there to protect it from overstretching.

8. The rim now has some small dings and gouges on it - when the tyre came off I carried on forward on the bare rim for a distance of around 1 metre, so the stones on the track caused some damage.
The tyre looks fine - no obvious signs of defects or damage!

9. I then carried the bike home, off the ground, so that the bare rim would not hit the ground and become more damaged.

10. This is the truth and the best I can describe what happened!
I'm an honest person and would certainly not make a warranty claim for something I'd damaged as a result of my own carelessness or errors.
I totally agree that it sounds strange and unlikely; which makes it all the more frustrating. Trust me, I'd rather be out enjoying my bike than going through the lengthy warranty process, trying to justify myself!

​​​​​​I have been contacted by Chain Reaction Cycles who have asked me to send the whole front wheel back to them for inspection.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Thanks again!

Iride01 

I don't think any of us thought you were outright lying. Sometimes people expect more from warranty than is due them though. That's probably the extent of any negativity you may have felt from me and some others.

Also, you can think you did everything right and still have done something wrong. I've been there plenty of times until finally someone clues me in and I have a "aha" moment.

However in any case, with a new bike I'd almost always ask the manufacturer or the dealer that sold it to me when anything goes wrong. Even if it is not really covered under warranty, they sometimes will remedy stuff just for the good will it gives.

Thanks for the mid term update. Let us know what Chain Reaction Cycles tells you and if they offer anything.