Yesterday
I decided to work on tires in the basement where (a) it is warm and (b)
my wifi reaches (it does not in garage) so I could listen to DC
craziness on an MSNBC stream on laptop.
I had 5 flat tires to
fix. 2 on a bike I took down there to store '[til Spring, 3
removed from bikes in garage. Rather than break them all down as I had
planned, since they all looked pretty good, I decided to just inflate
and leave for a while. They aren't going anywhere for a month or so, so
that is an easier test.
I pumped up the bike and parked
it by the other two I have down there (as I refurbish the 17 youth
bikes in the garage, they will go down there too. Maybe the truck gets
in the garage by Spring? Anyway, so I inflated one of the loose ones to
60 psi, making sure the tire beads were properly seated.
Started
on the next one. It was clearly not holding air, so I started to break
it down; just as I got the tire off the rim there was a REALLY loud
BANG!
The one I had just pumped up blew - BOY did it blow! Split in
the inner tube near the stem about 2 in long, pieces blown away. Tire
sidewall blown off the rim, bead wire bare. It did NOT like being
awakened from a few years sleep in someone's garage! Anyway, the
entertaining (sort of) part was my wife came rushing down the stairs
calling "are you alright?" It's a pretty big house; she was one floor
up and opposite end. That bike is getting a new pair of shoes!