Air bubbles in tyre

Doc Daneeka

What happened?! Inflated my back wheel the other day with new track pump for first spin in a while and the tyre just went a blew bubbles!

It was probably holding a residual pressure of 30-40psi before hand and hadn't been fully pressurised in a few months. All in all I would have thought it had plenty mileage left in it having maybe done about 2k so far. I inflated to 110psi (well according to the pump!). Any thoughts? I actually watched the bubbles grow after inflating it before releasing the pressure.

Note, after taking it off it seems the inner wall is still in tact or at least not fully ruptured. I guess the tyre is still goosed?

EDIT: Just remembered... I wasn't pumping from a residual pressure of 30-40psi as I actually broke the valve on first go (I know, I know... bad day. Needless to say after that kind of luck there was no way I was going for a cycle that day!). So it was pumped from a newly fitted tube.

funnights74

WTF?? Never saw anything like that in my life........... what the hell caused that????

C3PO

Is that the tube poking out through slits in the tyre or is the wall of the tyre? Either way the tyre is oly fit for the bin!

Doc Daneeka

RPL1 wrote: »

Is that the tube poking out through slits in the tyre or is the wall of the tyre? Either way the tyre is oly fit for the bin!

No, not the tube. Seems the bubble was a separation of the outer tyre layer from the inner wall. I reused the tube no prob after getting new tyre.

The only thing that kind of makes sense to me is there was actually air trapped inside the tyre wall and tube that didn't manage to escape as the tube was inflated.

feck sake lads

you should send that photo to bontrager and see if they will send new tires worth a try.

Doc Daneeka

feck sake lads wrote: »

you should send that photo to bontrager and see if they will send new tires worth a try.

Ha, might do if no one comes in with a rational explanation. I wouldn't mind but I thought those Bontrager Racelites were great. 2K+ and no puncture.

Keep_Her_Lit

Well, you were certainly right to postpone your spin! Two questions spring to mind.

1) How old are the tyres? If more than a couple of years, then natural degradation could be a factor, especially if exposed to daylight (UV). Look for multiple fine cracks and separations running through the rubber parallel to the direction of rotation.

2) Based on the appearance of the tyre, 110psi sounds on the high side. What is the maximum recommended pressure stated on the tyre wall? Alternatively, what are the tyre dimensions?

Holyboy

In all my years I've never seen anything like that before

But I must say it's a rather lovely looking chair, I'd like to get me one of those:D

tomasrojo

Bizarre how they are located at 90 degrees from each other. Though I think there are a few smaller protuberances?

Keep_Her_Lit

Holyboy wrote: »

But I must say it's a rather lovely looking chair, I'd like to get me one of those:D

OK. But if you're going to do it, do it properly.

You will also need one of these ....



... and a supply of these ....

Holyboy

Keep_Her_Lit wrote: »

OK. But if you're going to do it, do it properly.

You will also need one of these ....



... and a supply of these ....

A pussy and a cigar, what would I do with those?

Maybe I'll just go ask Bill Clinton;)

petethedrummer

seamus

I'd go with theory that the layers of the tyre have separated in sections and those bubbles are caused by the air trapped in the tyre wall trying get out.

Manufacturing fault tbh, this is definitely worth a shot:

feck sake lads wrote: »

you should send that photo to bontrager and see if they will send new tires worth a try.

Doc Daneeka

Keep_Her_Lit wrote: »

Well, you were certainly right to postpone your spin! Two questions spring to mind.

1) How old are the tyres? If more than a couple of years, then natural degradation could be a factor, especially if exposed to daylight (UV). Look for multiple fine cracks and separations running through the rubber parallel to the direction of rotation.

2) Based on the appearance of the tyre, 110psi sounds on the high side. What is the maximum recommended pressure stated on the tyre wall? Alternatively, what are the tyre dimensions?

Tyres were year and a half old maybe. No obvious signs of damage / degradation.

I would have thought 110psi is pretty standard. It was 700x23.

ednwireland

you have an inner tube in the tyre?

then how did the air get from the inner tube to the tyre to create those bubbles., i'm definitely missing something here

Doc Daneeka

Ok, delete inner. Standard set up... rim, tube, clincher.

ednwireland

Doc Daneeka wrote: »

Ok, delete inner. Standard set up... rim, tube, clincher.

i still dont understand how the air gets from the inner tube to blow out the tyre like that ?
i must be thick today

neverseen anything like it

seamus

ednwireland wrote: »

i still dont understand how the air gets from the inner tube to blow out the tyre like that ?

Depending on the tyre/rim combo, there's always a small amount of air trapped between the tyre and the inner tube.
This usually escapes through the valve or spoke holes when you inflate the tube, but if there's a good enough seal (or the tube is inflated very quickly) it might have nowhere to go except out through breaches in the tyre layers, causing the outermost layer to swell up like this.

One possibility is that the inner tube is too large or a little too old. A properly-fitting inner tube should inflate fairly uniformy, allowing this air to escape. But an inner tube that's too big (either by design or by age), will create a seal at the bead, leaving too much air between the tube and tyre.

ednwireland

i have some crappy old tyres lying around (prob 15+years old ) must try it