Is the puncture fairy living in my car?

[Mark1978]

So, for the second time in the history of me riding I got a puncture yesterday. However, I wasn't out on the road at the time. I'd left my bike in my car while I was in the office. I'm pretty sure it was to do with the heat build-up in the car; it looked as if the tyre had actually come away from the rim in one section, allowing the tube to come out and burst. Replaced the tube and all was fine.

Anyone else experienced this, and is it a valid circumstance under which this can happen?

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Absolutely valid and your assessment of what happened is exactly right. If you were in the car, you would have gone into cardiac arrest because of the fright.

A tube cannot burst inside the tyre, it has to come out. Unfortunately it retracts before the tyre recedes back to position and most people then surmise that it burst inside.

 

[helston90]

^are you suggesting then that we should drop the tyre pressure a bit before leaving the bike in the car? I regularly do the whole 'drive in to work with the car in the boot and ride home etc' thing so my bike will often spend two working days in the car in the sun.
or leave the window open a bit? 'Cycles die in hot cars' stickers are needed I feel.

 

[toeknee]

Yes had this happen to me when I left my bike in the car on the drive, and it was warm weather, always remove it straight away now.

 

[Mark1978]

Its not the first time it has happened. Last year i also came to get my bike out of the car to find a puncture but just assumed it was punctured when i put it in there. I think you'd have to let the pressure down completely to negate the issue, as even a slight bit of pressure in an inner tube with no tyre to restrict it will probably cause a blowout.

It was real easy to get the tyre off though, it was incredibly soft due to the heat. It had cooled down a lot by the time i was trying to put it back on though

The other telltale sign was the nature of the puncture. Not a single hole, more of a "star" effect.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

^are you suggesting then that we should drop the tyre pressure a bit before leaving the bike in the car? I regularly do the whole 'drive in to work with the car in the boot and ride home etc' thing so my bike will often spend two working days in the car in the sun.
or leave the window open a bit? 'Cycles die in hot cars' stickers are needed I feel.

It depends. Wire bead tyres don't lift that easily but then there are wire beads and wire beads. The clue would be if your tyre goes on real easy then, when inflated to maximum or near maximum pressure, then high heat could make the bead lift.

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

Cleaning a bike I'd left in the back garden for an hour or so on a very hot and sultry afternoon one summer and with the sun shining directly on the bike, I heard a very loud explosion. First reaction was that someone was shooting at me with a gun.

Then I noticed the front wheel. Tyre had been ripped from the rim and the latex inner tube was scattered around the garden in shreds.

So probably a good idea to deflate the tyres a little, if they're left in a car!