Has anyone else out there had a Michelin Latex Tube explode and blow the tire off the rim for no apparent reason? I've been using them for several years now and never had this happen until recently. When I use a butyl tube I don't have a probelm, but the last couple of latex tubes tore apart and blew the tire off the rim while I was riding. Maybe those tubes were defective so I'll try a couple more and see what happens, or just go back to the reliable Specialized Turbo tubes.

Thanks,
Stew

[QUOTE=Stew]Has anyone else out there had a Michelin Latex Tube explode and blow the tire off the rim for no apparent reason? I've been using them for several years now and never had this happen until recently. When I use a butyl tube I don't have a probelm,QUOTE]

The consensus is that if you have a blowout that ends with the tire off the rim, it was nearly always because the tube was caught under the bead of the tire during installation. There is no logical process by which you can have a "kablam!" blowout unless this is the case.

There is no logical process by which you can have a "kablam!" blowout unless this is the case.

I call BS on this! What if it was something that happened because of terrorists...like maybe they put a liquid explosive in someone's inner tube? Did you ever think of that?
I did because as suggested by the Dept. of Homeland Security, I am always vigilant.

What's the point of a latex tube? Saving weight?

You can also kablooie the tire by WAY overinflating it. I used latex tubes for years with no problems.

I had a latex tube blow up and the front tire blew off the rim a few years ago. I felt a lumpy sensation in the front wheel and slowed to about 5 mph so there was no damage to me. Can't remember if I had mounted the tire recently but I still use latex tubes. Perhaps just because I have a bunch of them in my parts box!

I had a latex tube blow up and the front tire blew off the rim a few years ago. I felt a lumpy sensation in the front wheel and slowed to about 5 mph so there was no damage to me.

I think if you go back, you'll find that these events happened in the opposite order - 1) you felt a lumpy sensation in the front wheel; 2) the tire came off the rim; 3) the latex tube blew up. The last two events probably happened is such quick succession that they appeared to happen simultaneously.

The lumpy feeling you felt in the wheel was the tire as the bead started lifting out of the rim. When the bead became fully unseated, it exposed the inner tube. Inner tubes are not intended to withstand high pressures without being enclosed inside the tire, so when the tire came off, the tube blew.

As noted earlier in this thread, the most likely cause was poor tube installation - the tube got caught under th tire bead during installation, and over time, air leaked into the herniated section of the tube. When the volume of air in the herniated section became sufficient, it pushed the tire off the rim, and then with the tire no longer there to contain the pressure, the tube blew.

I'm guessing that you usually install tubes completely deflated? The reason this type of event happens more frequently with latex tubes is that latex tubes tend to be thinner and "floppier" than butyl tubes, so it is more easily trapped between the tire and tube during installation. To avoid this problem, the usual technique is to put some air in the tube first, so it has some shape and volume, before installing it into the tire. Then, after you have gotten both beads of the tire into the rim, but before fulling inflating the tube, push inward on the tire beads all the way around the wheel, and look into the space between the tire and rim sidewall to make sure no part of the tube is outside the tire. Then inflate the tube.

Thanks, Mark. That sounds like a good explanation and it's comforting because I can correct it. Like I wrote, I can't remember if I had recently mounted the tire but thanks for the tip on giving the tube some inflation so it has some shape before getting the tire seated. I've been using latex for 10 years now and that was the only time something like this happened- I'd like to keep it that way!

I am sure that this will be endlessly debated but as people who use latex tubes, why do you? They are more expensive and more of a hassle (although the hassle seems minimal because I never go more than 2 rides without reinflating my tires, unless I go out the day before in the afternoon and go out the very next morning). Is it the ride quality? Can you describe it?

This might be an old wives tale, but don't latex tubes dry rot over long periods of time? Couldn't this lead to a tube failure?