Tire blowout!!! Need tire advice

[legoshoe]

Well. Today I was airing up my tires since it was getting a little low. I finished my back tire and stood up and stepped back to admire my bike for a second (who doesn't?). But as I was about to put the tire pump away, the tire blew out! It was louder than a gunshot and came with such force that it sliced right through the tire!!!!!:shocked: A piece of rubber actually narrowly missed me! I only had it filled to around 50-55 psi, and the tube is about 3 months old and the tire about 2 years. Does anybody know what could have happened? Bad tube maybe? The tire was a WTB velociraptor and the tube was a wrenchforce w/ a presta valve.

Anyways now the dilema. As most of you know, Bluff Riders charge is on Sunday and I've been too cheap to have extra tires handy. So it looks like I'm out there.

But what I mainly wanted to get at is I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations as to what brand and model tire I should get. It is a rear tire. I want one that has really great traction like the WTB I had, but I don't wanna sell the house. I mainly do offroad rides, but I ride county roads to get to the trails. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Travis

[jaybird]

The tube got pinched when you blowing up the tire. When the pinched area gave it blew like a popped balloon.

I'm from the Mankato area and ride Mt. Kato alot. Since it rained a bit this week, some of the lower portions of the trail and the heavy brush areas will probably be a little tacky still. I've nearly sworn by Continental tires now - Explorer and Vert Pro's. They have a nice balance to the rock/gravel Mt. Kato has on some of the climbs and still bites on the mud in the lower areas.

Good luck in the race! :)

[BrightYellow]

I'll have to second the Conti rear wheel. I've been using Cross Country's for years and they hook up really well. I don't remember the price though...

[martini]

And let me third the choice for Conti's. Great tires. Great traction in many conditions. Good durability. Well made, they are German afterall! Just waiting for thier 29" tire to come out....:cool:

[GearDaddy]

Uhh. You had only gotten up to 50 or 55 PSI? Isn't a common recommendation for MTB tires to be more like 35 PSI? Wow - you seem to be running your tires really hard.

Anyway it's probably a good thing to ditch the Velociraptors. They're not a racing tire - way too meaty of a tread and they're heavy. I'd recommend Panaracer Fire XC Pros. Bikemasters in St. Louis Park has them cheap - both 1.8 and 2.1s. They are a good all-around tire too.

[grizzly adam]

Cross Country BABY!! A very cool tire - even though I'm not riding them anymore.....

http://penncycle.com/site/itemdetails.cfm?ID=1351&Catalog=39&sort=BrandName

The terrain is going to tell you what pressure to set your tire at. I consistantly run mine around 60. If it's got lots of roots and stuff in the trail, a lower pressure is better to keep the contact patch. I just feel faster when its higher. Besides, I've got a suspension fork now.

Good luck this weekend, maybe I'll see ya there!

[legoshoe]

Well, I looked at the vert pro and the explorer. The treads seemed very similar. The vert pro was kevlar and the explorer had the bead. Anyways, I chose the Explorer over the vert because it was only $20 compared to $40 on the verts. And so far I'm liking it more than the wtb I had. It gets great traction on a steep dirt/mud trail, and I like the way it rolls on the road because it's not as rough as the veliciraptor. Now it makes me want to go back to Kato to get one for the front tire too, but I like how that tread holds on tight turns on the wtb front tire.

But anyways, thanks to those who recommended conti's to me.

(Jaybird--I got mine at Scheels in Kato, same as the bike, what do you think about scheels since you live there? Good place for bike stuff or not?)

, A-1 wasn't open when I was up there, I wanted to go in there or the 1st time but I was 10 minutes late heh)

[manual63]

Uh, there could have been a couple of reasons, but usually it's because the tire was not seated on the rim when you blew it up. When filling a tire, you need to fill it to just about 5 or 10 psi and stop. Check the tire where it hooks (or seats) to the rim. The bead (edge of the tire that sits in the rim) should be pushed into the rim evenly all they way around both sides of the tire. Once you check this and push high areas in with your fingers, you put some more air in and check it again. I put about 55 or 60 pounds without a problem. So no, it's not because you put in too much pressure.

Other causes could have been a tear in the tire you didn't know about. Sometimes these are caused by the brake pad rubbing the tire. Old cracked tire that should be replaces. A folded tube when you installed it. And lastly, a spoke that is sticking out into the inner part of the rim.

Hope this helps.

[martini]

Originally posted by legoshoe
(Jaybird--I got mine at Scheels in Kato, same as the bike, what do you think about scheels since you live there? Good place for bike stuff or not?)

, A-1 wasn't open when I was up there, I wanted to go in there or the 1st time but I was 10 minutes late heh)

Maybe I can answer, as I've lived in Mankato for 30 years(give or take a few here and there), and worked in each shop at least once (all of them). Rank in terms of quality goes like this: A-1, Nicollet, Scheels, Getyrgear. Not sure about University cycle yet, but they'll probably be able to do real good work.

Scheels was always a real high pressure sales environment, which I don't like. All the employees work for commission. I think this totally takes away from the quality of buying a bike there. They push the buyer to get something that they really dont' need. I once interviewed to take over the position of bike buyer, and was told "We don't want competition, we will do anything to get the other shop closed" They went so far as to pile snow infront of the other location to keep it out of site. Pretty poor actions if you ask me...I hated working there as a mechanic as well. Although, my cousin currently works there is says it OK (Brady).

A-1 is a great source for information. Aaron is quite knowledgeable, and so is Mike, the owner. They may not have higer end stuff in stock, but they can easily order it for the next day or two.

I'd suspect that University Cycle will be the same way once they ge trunning again. Charlie is great with suspension for your tuning needs.

Nicollet South is good as well. They do good repari work out there. Its a good source for roadie stuff too. They always have killer sales as well.

Getyr gera is the great unknown for me. Only been in there twice, but it seemed nice enough. I wouldn't get my bike worked on there though. Jon's idea of tools are a hammer and crescent wrench...

Glad you like the Conti tire. Get teh Vertilcal for the front and you'll be set for some awesome traction.

[jaybird]

Marty summed it as best as I could have. :p A-1 or University Cycle would be my first choice of places to go. Either place can get you what you need and give you a straight answer on any issues you may have. Plus, both of these shops are doing what they can to give back to the cycling community.

Although... My true loyality rests with a bike shop 2 hours west of Mankato in Marshall. The Bike Shop in Marshall has done everything I could ever ask (and usually more) out of a bike shop. Chad and Cody are aces with anything I've thrown at them so far.