Took a nice ride across the bridge and up to Hawk Hill, planning to get home in time to catch the 49er game at the end of 1st quarter. I didn't make it. My rear rim blew out as I took a slow (translated: continuous braking down 18% descent to hold speed at 10(-)mph.) descent down back side of Conzumel Road toward the lighthouse.
Because I crashed on the same section of this road in January and broke my collarbone, I have been taking this descent extra carefully and slowly now that I am back on the bike. Just as I was in the last tight turn before the road levels out to a reasonable grade, my rear tire popped and blew out. I managed to stay upright and bring it to a stop against a bank. There, I discovered that my rear rim blew out and a 18" section of the sidewall bead just blew out and tangled up in the spokes and chainstay. The wheel rims are Araya. Just prior to leaving home, I pumped up the rear Pasella x32 to 85 pounds. The wheels are about three years old. No prior wheel trauma. Could this failure resulted from the long braking over-heating the rim and the pressure blowing it out? Seems strange, but, can that happen? Here are the pix: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8581354@N03/sets/72157628281638979/with/6455986331/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
