Exploding innertube causing rim damage!

kbmack

Hi

As I was inflating my tyre the innertube exploded-a bit of a shock as it was profoundly loud! When I inspected the wheel afterwards I noticed that the rim had bent out of shape to the point of being unrideable.

The wheels in question are mavic ksyrium elite 2011 model with about 4500 miles on them.

Is this a known problem?

Can this sort of thing be repaired?

If beyond repair, do you think it's reasonable to recourse to the retailer/mavic? I dare say this would be considered wear and tear?

Anyhow, any tips/advice always gratefully acknowledged.

Thanks

K

smoggysteve

Never heard of a popping tube damaging a rim before. Are you 100% sure there was no damage to the rim before hand? It sounds more likely that could be what caused the tube to pop in the first place.

Anyway, exactly how bad it the bend? is it a sharp kink or just a bit of a wobble (loose spokes possibly) in the circumference? Do you have any pics? would be good if you can take one to show us how bad it is.

lc1981

As Steve says, it sounds more likely that a problem with the rim allowed the inner tube to blow out, rather than the rim being damaged by the tube. One way that people suggest testing whether rims are worn too thin is to over-inflate the tube. Perhaps your rim was really worn? Does the rest of the braking surface feel concave?

sungod

more likely order of events..

1 rim failed

2 tyre bead unseated

3 tube exploded

as above check for wear, did it fail at the weld? pics might help

unless there's some evidence of manufacturing defect there's not really anything the retailer/mavic will do

smoggysteve

IF the wheels only have 4500 miles on them wear seems a bit premature.

kbmack

Hi all

Thanks for the suggestions/assistance. It's probable your order of events is most logical.

Anyhow, here's a photo: what do you think?

Thanks

K

lc1981

SmoggySteve wrote:

IF the wheels only have 4500 miles on them wear seems a bit premature.

I stopped using a set of Shimano RS10s earlier this year after less than 3,000 miles. A combination of bad weather and using stock brake pads seemed to do for them. They should obviously have lasted much longer, but it's not beyond the realms of possibility that 4,500 miles would be enough to significantly wear the rims.

smoggysteve

To that end, is the wear indicator still visible?

kbmack

Hi

Wear indicator line is not discernible but the rim is concave and has actually deformed in two places quite considerably.

Do you think this sort of thing is beyond repair?

Thanks

K

lc1981

Theoretically, you can replace the rim but with factory wheels, the availability and cost of spare parts often makes it easier to just buy a new wheel, unfortunately.

sungod

if there was a wear indicator and it's gone, then it's down to wear and tear

wear that bad on a rear wheel with only 4500 miles on it seems odd, usually it's the front that gets rim wear, but it depends on usage/conditions

if the rear is that bad, the front must be about to blow too

if there's no sign of dents, corrosion etc. that might have contributed to the failure, try contacting mavic direct and see what they say, can't do any harm - i'd remove the rim tape and get some close up pics of the failure in case they ask to see them

lc1981

sungod wrote:

if there was a wear indicator and it's gone, then it's down to wear and tear

You could do with working out which sort of wear indicator it has. Mavic used to have grooves that disappeared as the rim wore, but I think they now have a hole that appears when the rim wears to a certain point.