Broken camera mount, tire bulge

[weisan]

Had an interesting little ride this morning. Met an older gentleman on his bike that I saw often riding in my neighborhood when I dropped off the kids at school. Finally got to say "hello" and made acquaintance. That was nice. But after that, the ride this morning is anything but typical. First, my camera mount broke off from the seat post and sent my Garmin rolling down the road. Managed to retrieve it, so no major damage done. And then had a flat, which the last time when that happened was quite a while ago. Stopped to fix it and continued. Less than a mile down the road, felt the squishy feeling, thought i had another flat, stopped to inspect and found there's actually a bulge in the tire. This whole time my new found friend Dick was very patient and by my side. Didn't want to hold him up any longer, sent him on his way and decided to try and make it home with the bulge. Rode gingerly for three miles on the back roads and finally made it home. Still puzzled as to what really happened to the Conti 4000s ii tire that seems to have a lot of life left. The good news is both front and rear wheels that I built over the weekend passed the test and held up well.: D

[Steve in SLO]

Sounds like an "epic" ride.
Regarding your tire, I can't tell from the picture whether it has simply become unhooked from the rim hook or if the bead has torn from the tire casing.
If the former, since you just built the wheels this weekend perhaps the tire was not seated properly and just popped off the rim hook.
If the latter, I would take a close look at the inside of your rim to make sure there is not something sharp which tore the tire.

[Mark McM]

I also can't tell from the photo if the sidewall tore, or if the bead became dislodged. The free edge of the tire looks a little bit thick to be just casing, but maybe its the camera angle.

The other thing that I wonder about is, what is that radial line emanating from the outer edge or the rim by the edge of the tire bulge (its almost in-line with a spoke)? Is it a crack, or just a scratch? And if it is a scratch, could the same thing that scratched the rim have also nicked the tire sidewall? If it is a crack, are there rough edges that could have caused a cut on the sidewall?

[Dead Man]

you keep your garmin on the seatpin?

[CSKeller]

Bummer Weisan pal...

Look at the bright side, you made it home safely, your camera is fine, you made a friend and best of all, you were riding!!

We all occasionally have days like that...hopefully they are few and far between. :beer:

[Tickdoc]

Weird crappy day it sounds like.

That tire bead is weird, looks like it was unseated. Did you ride at a higher than normal pressure?

[dustyrider]

That looks like the Kevlar bead is still intact. Guessing the flat was just cause and the bead didn't seat right on the roadside repair. Fingers crossed for you. Hopefully you'll only have to figure out the mount...I'm no good there. Enjoy the next one!

[pinkshogun]

You now have curb feelers for that pimped out rode of yours, weisan-pal

[peanutgallery]

Some days you just can't win for losing

Every year I seem to have a day in the woods where I double flat, then slash a tire, then rip a rear mech off all within like a mile or 2. After that its miller time, sit on the tailgate and ponder the beauty of nature and wonder why I'm not one of the 80% of humans that struggles to acquire clean water. Makes me feel better about it and I won't break anything else for a while

[weisan]

Thanks for chiming in and your concerns pals. I haven't get the chance to go look at the wheel and the tire yet, left for work as soon as I got home from the ride.

So, I commute midway from the train station to my office, it's a short 3-mile. But I haven't been commuting for the last couple of weeks for various reasons. My friend Jeff who locked his bike overnight in the same secured location alerted me to a "developing situation" with regards to my equipment. Today, I finally managed to go check it out personally and here's what I found...

[Steve in SLO]

That's pretty amazing.
Somewhere in there is a joke about a "birdbrain", but somebody else can make it.

[weisan]

So I put the wheel in question up on the truing stand and after several hours of stern interrogation, I didn't find anything that will lead me to suspect that it's the wheel that's causing the tear. Everything looks good on the edge and the hook, nothing sharp or deformed.

I examined the tire and noted the point of separation between the bead and the rest of the tire. I think I am ready to chalk this up as premature death.

[AngryScientist]

looks familiar weisan! this is because continental tires suck. when they are brand new they are OK, but they dont seem to age well. i've had multiple issues with conti sidewall blowouts, and wont buy continental road tires anymore.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rsQFaHb5F4s/VBI97860OwI/AAAAAAAABxQ/Zh4LmJ9_Gb8/s1100/P1080309.JPG

[Vinci]

I had a wire-bead Gatorskin fail in the same way. The casing came away from the bead and caused a rather explosive flat.

I chalked mine up to careless mounting/remounting on some particularly terrible rims.

[oldpotatoe]

So I put the wheel in question up on the truing stand and after several hours of stern interrogation, I didn't find anything that will lead me to suspect that it's the wheel that's causing the tear. Everything looks good on the edge and the hook, nothing sharp or deformed.

I examined the tire and noted the point of separation between the bead and the rest of the tire. I think I am ready to chalk this up as premature death.

Actually not that uncommon with Conti-saw more than a few in the shop fail the same way..if ya got it from a decent LBS, they(Conti distributor) will warranty it.

[AngryScientist]

if it doesnt start with "V", it aint worth riding:

Veloflex, Vittoria, Vredestein

[weisan]

My confidence is shaken. :D

[soulspinner]

lends a new take on helmet head...

[572cv]

if it doesnt start with "V", it aint worth riding:

Veloflex, Vittoria, Vredestein

I kinda like Vr-anasonic......:)

[SoCalSteve]

looks familiar weisan! this is because continental tires suck. when they are brand new they are OK, but they dont seem to age well. i've had multiple issues with conti sidewall blowouts, and wont buy continental road tires anymore.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rsQFaHb5F4s/VBI97860OwI/AAAAAAAABxQ/Zh4LmJ9_Gb8/s1100/P1080309.JPG

Please define " age well " as in how many miles until you start to see-feel-live problems? I have used Conti tires for many, many thousands of miles with absolutely no issues whatsoever. But then I must not ride on too horrible of roads and change out every couple of thousand miles.

Michelin tires were absolutely the worst for me. Switched to Continentals and nary a problem.

[AngryScientist]

Please define " age well " as in how many miles until you start to see-feel-live problems? I have used Conti tires for many, many thousands of miles with absolutely no issues whatsoever. But then I must not ride on too horrible of roads and change out every couple of thousand miles.

Michelin tires were absolutely the worst for me. Switched to Continentals and nary a problem.

Steve, what i meant by "age well" is that the sidewalls seem to dry out and get less supple quicker than other tires i've used. i dont think it has anything to do with miles. what i'm referring to is that bike you never ride but just sits in the garage, then when you do ride it, the sidewalls are brittle and prone to failure like this. just general age and environmental conditions seem to dry them out faster than some of the softer rubber casing compounds i have experience with.