Tire blowup and chain issues in a new bike



carsnoceans

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Jul 24, 2010
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Yesterday I took my bike out for the ride of this year (short ride) and it seemed that chain was a little loose on a couple of gears (smallest cog on cassette) so I kept things fairly in the middle. Ride was on a paved road and no potholes. Anyhow, this evening I decided to clean and lubricate the chain and wipe the frame of the grime/dust.

Now keep in mind, this is a very new Orbea bought at end of last year and been ridden around 100miles or so. All paved roads, no potholes, no car/truck transportations, always kept inside my living room. While I am cleaning the chain and lubricating it (I had rear of bike lifted) while I was moving pedal by hand... chain comes off!! I struggle to get it back on (havent done this in 15yrs or so) and then suddenly my front tire explodes!! I got the tire and tube off to assess the damage to take pictures to ask for your opinions. Am I looking at manufacturing defect, maintenance issues or what... (if the picture isn't clear, the blowout is right by the edge where it makes contact with wheel)

In case, it matters the tire is Vittoria Rubino 700x23 pumped at 120psi before yesterday's ride. My body weight is 218lbs. Below are some pictures.. of the tire-tube. No visible damage, nicks or cuts on tire. This thing is freakin new!!

I am taking the bike to LBS for tuning and having them look at the chain. But what the heck happened and why? Any comments would be much appreciated.

Thanks

.
 
Not being impatient here but any suggestions before having a chat with LBS (where i purchased the bike)
 
I think the tire blowing out is not a manufacturing defect. I have had mystery flats myself. Some out riding and some while my bike was hanging in the garage. As long as you inspected the tire and rim and have found no hazards replace your tube and you should be good to go.
Your chain issue is directly related to your rear deraileur. For one reason or another I think the torsion spring is not pulling hard enough to tension up your chain slack. This should be an easy fix for them. It could be your chain is too long but I doubt that would be the problem on a new bike.
FWIW that is a nice bike you have and you should not get to disappointed over these problems. You have already taken care of the tire issue and once the LBS makes good on your chain problem you will be riding with confidence.
 
issue of tube appears that part of the tube was installed between tire and rim. not usually from road debris
 
By looking at the pictures it's possible that the tube could have been pinched between the rim and the tire bead. But, I'm surprised it blew out like that when you weren't actually riding the bike.. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif

Like Dave said, I've had tires go flat before and I didn't realize I'd run over anything....just walk out into the garage and see the flat tire. That's almost always been due to a puncture that was slowly leeking air.

And I've had them blow out while I was riding....but, I've never had a tube blow like that with no weight on it.

You could blow one out by over inflating it....but, if you had it at 120 PSI, then it wasn't over inflated.
 
It looks to me in picture #1 that there is a 2 inch split in the tire sidewall at the rim bead. If that's the case I am sure you will get a new tire from your LBS who sold you the bike. Good luck.
 
Originally Posted by Phil85207 .

It looks to me in picture #1 that there is a 2 inch split in the tire sidewall at the rim bead. If that's the case I am sure you will get a new tire from your LBS who sold you the bike. Good luck.

I just came back from the LBS. They said they'll do the adjustment on the chain for free.

For tire - not covered. They said they'll do free labor but gotta buy a new tire/tube. And yes, there is a 2inch+ spit in sidewall right along the beading. Picture below is similar to what I have (not my tire)
 
Sure looks like a mystery flat to me. I have found that my three mystery flats have come from a piece of debris, twice glass and once a piece of a wood staple, that is embedded in the rubber far enough that I don't see it during my post ride inspection. The next time or two that I rode the bike, the debris works itself farther in until it punctured the tube. A tube pumped up to 120 PSI pops with the sound of a firecracker and can be rather traumatic when it happens 20 miles from home. It also rips the tube and damages the sidewall of the tire.
 
I would let that LBS know that I was not happy and I would start looking for another shop. I can tell you for sure that my LBS would have given me a new tire and tube for sure. Ask around and get some input in other LBS.
 
hmmm. I had the same problem. new vittoria tyres, and the bead separated from the body on both tyres. had to put a brand new track bike down on the concrete apron for one of these incidents. ouch.

the shop replaced both with conti supersonics for free.

I know I have a sample size of 3, but I'm beginning to suspect that vittoria is having some kind of manufacturing issue.
 

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