These tires came on the CAAD10 I picked up at my LBS late spring. Six weeks back I noticed some tire wear near the rim, maybe indicative of the pad rubbing the tire. But, no dice: the pads were appropriately mounted and had enough clearance. I finally took them into the shop after I could literally see small 1-2 inch pieces of rubber being set free from the tire when cleaning the bike.

My LBS was great, but also couldn't explain why this was happening to both the front and rear tires. Think of cartoons where you pull a piece of string from a shirt and the more you pull, the more material falls away... that's how these were—a slow "peel" of rubber from the rim up. Mavic kindly replaced both tires. I'd say about 5-10mm of material had worn away at that point.

Fast forward one week on the new tires (with maybe 100 miles on them) and I'm riding from work to lunch spot a few blocks away (the initial commute just 4 miles on nice roads). I leave the bike under a patio and run in for my order. Three minutes later, POP!, the new front tire completely blows out at the sidewall while sitting against this building while simultaneously scaring the patrons outside.

I make another call to my LBS, he's confused, I'm confused, and surely Mavic will want to know what's going on. The LBS says they haven't had a Mavic complaint all year and I'm starting to get spooked about this tire. I suppose something could have weakened the tire in the last week, but I can't fathom what it would be after doing a total clean / check of the bike two nights ago (not seeing or feeling damage on this tire).

Anyone else had similar issues over the years?

WHAT? no seriously, mavic makes tires? I thought the aksium was a rim.

Overpressure maybe, under pressure maybe? Heavy rider? could be a lot of things. And the spontaneous combustion of a tube? yOu could have rubbed the tire against the wall and weakened it. So many variables.

I got the aksion (impossible to read) tire when it came with a set of aksium wheels. I got such a good price I figured they'd have to be junk but I have to say I'm impressed. I did notice a string or two but nothing like you've described. the tread has worn better than most. I understand Mavic rebrands another tire maker's tire so the quality might be hit or miss. I had a conti gp4000s sidewall blowout within 100 miles and simply coasting to a stop, FWIW.

Yes, Mavic makes tires (as of about 3 years ago). As part of their WTS series (Wheel-Tire System). The Aksium WTS comes with the Aksion tire.

I'd get some different tires and cut my losses.