36" Tire BLOWOUT while riding.

unisk8r wrote:
Second, while JC may not have had a good experience with 700c tubes, I
have. Not once have I had a problem with them. No flats, no leaks, no
blowouts.


I probably had a run of bad luck and ended up with several bad tubes.
I hesitate to call them defective because we are running the tube
beyond their design size. I think I just had a bunch that had some
thin sections in the rubber. One herniated and blew when I first
pumped it up to stretch it out. The others failed when I first pumped
up the tube after it had been placed in the tire. I was using the
Schwalbe tubes which are considered good tubes for the Coker
conversion.

I'll give the 29er tubes a try again. When they worked they worked
well (lighter and a more lively feeling to the tire). I'm too lazy
right now to order the tubes and go through the hassle of installing
them.


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Brian O. wrote:
Bah, does anyone know if theres going to be a new batch of larger
airfoils in the semi-near future, say, before July? This really makes
me reluctant to get an airfoil 36er for this spring.


i emailed them, and they told me april.


joemarshall wrote:
Brian - if you're not sure, then just buy the stock coker rim, the stock
coker rim fits the tyres, and is fine at high pressures. You can always
upgrade the rim later when/if a new good rim comes out. Unless you're
super-fat or take it down 6 foot drops it should last okay, mine has
several thousand miles on it and is okay.


this is what I was planning on, until I saw the price for shipping. for
a rim that size, shipping is $65 USD, so if I got the steel rim now and
upgraded later, the airfoil would actually cost me $160 USD !!


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my love as deep
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onelesscar wrote:
i emailed them, and they told me april.



Oh perfect! Thanks for letting me know.


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onelesscar wrote:

this is what I was planning on, until I saw the price for shipping. for
a rim that size, shipping is $65 USD, so if I got the steel rim now and
upgraded later, the airfoil would actually cost me $160 USD !!



Ouch, hadn't thought of that. I'd only ever buy a coker rim at some
point when I was likely to meet up with Roger from unicycle.com soon,
but I guess in a big country like the USA, unicycle.com don't turn up
at most of your unicycle events.

In the UK, thanks to them having to be shipped from the USA, the
airfoil costs £90, which because dollars are worth next to nothing any
more is about 2 million dollars (actually it's $180), even before
shipping. So you guys are pretty lucky really.

Joe


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I ride my arifoil with a 36" tube, however one of my teammates rides his
36" with a 29" tube. HE uses it daily and for general transportation
in the sun, rain, snow, ice, etc and has had the same tube in the tire
since August without issue. Its a tad lighter and helps control with a
standard rim/radial 360 frame. I'd rather not chance it on my airfoil
rim though after hearing the horror stories of blow outs.


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I have found that even with a new Wheel TA tire, 1 year old Airfoil rim,
a strapping tape rim strip (three layers thick) and the Schwalbe A19
29er tube and I run at 50 psi plus consistently, you have to be really
careful about the installation procedure.

I followed U-turn's directions and have had just one blow-out upon
initial inflation to seat the bead (when I got in a hurry and didn't
really do all the stuff I outline below). I'd say the fit between the
TA tire and the Airfoil rim is not ideal even in these older (2nd
generation/powder coated??) Airfoils. The tire bead seems too easy to
install.

My improvements to U-turns excellent instructions to accound for the
bad tire/rim fit and the finickey 29er tube:

1. If your TA tire has been used for a while on the steel rim, get a
new one with your new Airfoil. Don't try to reuse the old one. It may
not seat well and is more likely to blow off -mine did.

2. Use the Schwalbe bottle of goo on the tire beads

3. Use the clamps as suggested, but also use your hands and some muscle
to push the bead down into the center of the rim chanel to get both
tire sides on.

4. The biggest deal is to inflate Slowly, in short bursts initially
and work with your hands to center the rim/wheel inside the tire. The
Schwalbe goo is good for this phase. Inflate a bit and adjust again.
Use a rubber mallet to hit the tire on the tread to try to push down
down the "high" spots. Bounce the tire/wheel on the ground too. You
can watch the tire "casting marks??" that run along the side of the
bead, parallel with the tire to see if the tire bead is or is not as
evenly seated in one area over another. Give it a spin in the frame
and look for even seating of the tire. If it seems off balance (out of
round), reduce pressure and readjust and try again. Once its perfect -
or as close as you have the patience for, inflate to 50-55 and let it
sit for a day - in an area away from your jumpy cat or newborn baby.
If it's gonna blow it will during this time and it will save you some
skin, scabs and pain later on.

5. Last thing, I haven't had good luck patching a 29er tube that
developed a hole. If you get a flat, plan on changing it at home with
all your tools/clamps and goo and use a new tube.

I'm with you Tom that the rim / tire fit is far from ideal and hate it
that the products fit so poorly to require such a rediculous procedure
and have to risk UPD not only from the usual hazards, but from blow out
too.

Brycer1968


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unisk8r wrote:
I happen to have several airfoils purchased from a couple years ago to
a couple months ago, and it is absolutely true that they differ in
overall diameters as well as bead seat diameters. The newer ones being
slightly smaller.



How did you measure this, unisk8r? Is there a definitive way to tell
the older Airfoils apart from the newer ones? * I have 2 Airfoils at my
house, not built up into wheels, one is definitely a newer, smaller one
from UDC UK and the other I'm 95% sure is an older, bigger one. I just
measured their diameters with a tape measure and they are both 802mm. I
tried laying one on top of the other but they look exactly the same. I
guess I need a more accurate measuring device...?

* looking for the scratched 'X' will not help as not all newer rims are
marked as such, only ones from the US UDC.


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I just got a replacement tube in the post today and when I started
taking the old one out I noticed that it was twisted. It had two twists
in it one on the far side from the rupture and the other right where
the tube blew out.

So I'm wondering was the tube put in the tire like that when I bought
it or did it twist itself after the blowout while I was wheeling it
back to my car?

I've attached two photos...


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|Filename: IMG_8709.JPG |
|Download: http://www.unicyclist.com/attachment/18028 |
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My newer rim measured 803mm, and the older one 807. At least 4mm
difference. That can still be substantial when it comes to tire fit.

Also, I could not find an "x" on my newer, smaller rim.
Pete


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thayr, in my opinion, having seen quite a few wheels, I'd say that tubes
don't get twisted like that from blowouts. I've certainly never seen
such an event. The twist appears to be from an improper installation.

If the blowout occurred at or near the twist, then it's safe to say the
twist probably contributed to the blowout.


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