Yeah, true. Just ask my coworkers how much I'm like "some people".

I still want to do the pressure-temperature checks, though. If I get all OCD about it, I may keep track of it over a year and see how it compares.

With high pressure/low volume road bike tires you're going to lose a significant amount of pressure just getting the gauge on and off the valve stem. The changes in pressure that you read may be more about how much air you lose with each pressure check.

I know. For the moment, I'd figure that checking once would give me the pressure, then immediately checking again would give me the difference that a pressure check creates (like, the first reading is 125, then the second is 100, so I could expect that the check itself lost 25 psi.. and I'm guessing at those numbers, too).

I have the same Roubaix Pro tires as the OP. My rear tire blew like the OP's yesterday. It was inflated to ~ 100 psi. It had ~ 550 mi on it.

I have had good luck in the past with Specialized Armadillo tires. I am not sure what to buy as a replacement.

Your tire most likely exploded due to a weak tire carcass from either a cut or aged related deterioration.


I had one blow in the garage the other day. Pumped up the tires on a garage sale bike , three days later it spontaneously blew. (aged related deterioration)

The tire was new in August 2009.

OP says his tire has a 4" rip in the center of the tread. Isn't the most likely reason simply a cut tire?

I've had tires blow twice from the heat in my car. Now I always let out some air before putting a bike or wheel in the car. But in both cases the tire just blew off the rim, no tire damage, rode those tires until they wore out. So something wrong with tire. I'd sure change brands. I just put Conti 4000 on the rear of my tandem, black on black with the black chili rubber. I'm impressed with it so far. Not a glass or stone cut yet.

The casing of the tire was cut or damaged probably during a ride.
There is no way a temperature induced rise in pressure blew through the casing.
Blow the tire off the rim, yes (common) blow through undamaged fiber casing, never.
The bead seat will always give before the casing breaks.

Enjoy

Yes, the majority of blow-outs that don't have tyre-casing damage is due to the tube being pinched and slipping out under the bead. There are certain combinations of loose-tyre/small-rim that can cause the bead to not seat properly; but these are rare.

I used to go down to velodromes at Encino and Dominguez Hills with 200psi tyres in the back (2-3x a week for 6-years). Big window on the hatchback and the wheels sometimes would be too hot to pick up. Not once did I have a blow-out due to the increase in temperature. Also as previously discussed, the actual pressure increase due to temperature rises is minimal and well within the operating range of the tyre.

The LBS warrantied my tire and gave me a new Mondo with FlakJacket. I like it better than the Roubaix ProII that blew.