Blowout on rear tire
 

Today while riding, my rear brakes locked up.

While investigating, the rear tire blew up causing part of the rim on one side to split off.

The tech at the shop said the brakes had worn through the rim.

Seems hard to believe that hard rubber can wear thru aluminum.

Is that common ?

Blowout on rear tire
 

On Fri, 26 Feb 2021 19:30:00 -0800, AK wrote:

Today while riding, my rear brakes locked up.

While investigating, the rear tire blew up causing part of the rim on one side to split off.

The tech at the shop said the brakes had worn through the rim.

Seems hard to believe that hard rubber can wear thru aluminum.

Is that common ?

Common? Probably not, but it certainly happens. I don't think it's the rubber that wears through.
It's the grit that gets trapped in the pad that abrades the rim. This is mostly a problem if you
ride in the rain a lot, and even more if sand is used on the roads for winter-time traction.

Did the shop save the rim for you? If so, take a hack saw and cut through the rim some place where
it seems relatively intact. The wearing that I describe should be easy to see.

Let us know what you find out!
-F

Blowout on rear tire
 

AK writes:

The tech at the shop said the brakes had worn through the rim.

Sure. My road bike rims lasted about 20000 km for this reason. My
experience is that rear rims fail earlier, even though the front wheel
carries the bulk of the braking load. The reason: More dirt.

Of course you do not want this to happen on an Alpine descent, so check
the wear regularly. If the rim flanks get noticeably concave. they are
close to being done.

Axel

Blowout on rear tire
 

On Friday, February 26, 2021 at 10:30:02 p.m. UTC-5, AK wrote:
Today while riding, my rear brakes locked up.

While investigating, the rear tire blew up causing part of the rim on one side to split off.

The tech at the shop said the brakes had worn through the rim.

Seems hard to believe that hard rubber can wear thru aluminum.

Is that common ?

I had a rear wheel that went quite a bit out of true during a ride. Because of that I rode quite slowly down a steep hill into a town we were going to. I rode home taking it easy. Once home I examined the wheels and discovered a long split in the sidewall of that rear wheel. When I deflated the tube to take it and the the tire off the rim basically came apart. I was quite fortunate it didn't happen on the road.

I wonder if tubular rims suffer the same problem as much?

Cheers

Blowout on rear tire
 

On Friday, February 26, 2021 at 10:30:02 PM UTC-5, AK wrote:
Today while riding, my rear brakes locked up.

While investigating, the rear tire blew up causing part of the rim on one side to split off.

The tech at the shop said the brakes had worn through the rim.

Seems hard to believe that hard rubber can wear thru aluminum.

Is that common ?

It's been known to happen. I had a rear wheel that showed signs of cracking along the bead due to wear. It isn't something that happens in a short period, it takes years usually of wear, unless you ride every day in wet muddy conditions.

Blowout on rear tire
 

On 2/26/2021 9:30 PM, AK wrote:

Today while riding, my rear brakes locked up.

While investigating, the rear tire blew up causing part of the rim on one side to split off.

The tech at the shop said the brakes had worn through the rim.

Seems hard to believe that hard rubber can wear thru aluminum.

Is that common ?


Yes.

http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...st/wornrim.jpg

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Blowout on rear tire
 

On Saturday, February 27, 2021 at 6:09:36 AM UTC-8, AMuzi wrote:
On 2/26/2021 9:30 PM, AK wrote:

Today while riding, my rear brakes locked up.

While investigating, the rear tire blew up causing part of the rim on one side to split off.

The tech at the shop said the brakes had worn through the rim.

Seems hard to believe that hard rubber can wear thru aluminum.

Is that common ?

Yes.

http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...st/wornrim.jpg

You should market that piece of paper as a "rim check tool." You could call it the Parc RCT-1. "This tool is used for detecting the detachment of your rim's sidewall from the rim bed." Do a video. Then change the color and market it next year as the Parc RCT-1.1.

I was withholding a response to the O.P. because I would have sounded like a scold. Rims wear out like tires wear out, but neither should explode if the owner is paying attention.

-- Jay Beattie.

Blowout on rear tire
 

On Saturday, February 27, 2021 at 9:09:36 a.m. UTC-5, AMuzi wrote:
On 2/26/2021 9:30 PM, AK wrote:

Today while riding, my rear brakes locked up.

While investigating, the rear tire blew up causing part of the rim on one side to split off.

The tech at the shop said the brakes had worn through the rim.

Seems hard to believe that hard rubber can wear thru aluminum.

Is that common ?

Yes.

http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...st/wornrim.jpg

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

That looks a lot like my rim that split.

Cheers

Blowout on rear tire
 

On 2/27/2021 9:43 AM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Saturday, February 27, 2021 at 9:09:36 a.m. UTC-5, AMuzi wrote:
On 2/26/2021 9:30 PM, AK wrote:

Today while riding, my rear brakes locked up.

While investigating, the rear tire blew up causing part of the rim on one side to split off.

The tech at the shop said the brakes had worn through the rim.

Seems hard to believe that hard rubber can wear thru aluminum.

Is that common ?

Yes.

http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...st/wornrim.jpg


That looks a lot like my rim that split.

Cheers


per noted rim expert Tolstoy: "Happy rims are all alike,
every unhappy rim is unhappy in its own way."

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Blowout on rear tire
 

On 2/27/2021 7:58 AM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Friday, February 26, 2021 at 10:30:02 p.m. UTC-5, AK wrote:
Today while riding, my rear brakes locked up.

While investigating, the rear tire blew up causing part of the rim on one side to split off.

The tech at the shop said the brakes had worn through the rim.

Seems hard to believe that hard rubber can wear thru aluminum.

Is that common ?

I had a rear wheel that went quite a bit out of true during a ride. Because of that I rode quite slowly down a steep hill into a town we were going to. I rode home taking it easy. Once home I examined the wheels and discovered a long split in the sidewall of that rear wheel. When I deflated the tube to take it and the the tire off the rim basically came apart. I was quite fortunate it didn't happen on the road.

I wonder if tubular rims suffer the same problem as much?

Good question. Seems tubular rims shouldn't have the lateral loads
imposed by the tire beads. If a tubular rim wore through, I expect the
results would be much less dramatic.

Anyone here seen that happen?

--
- Frank Krygowski