Blew up a customer's wheel because I forgot to check the rim tape

Last Tuesday I had this fancy carbon wheelset in for a tire swap and I just ASSUMED the rim tape was fine. Slapped a new tube in, inflated it to 80 psi, and BAM - the tube bulged through a gap in the old tape and popped so loud my coworker jumped. Customer was standing right there too, gave me this look like I kicked his dog. Now I check every single wheel before I even touch a tire lever, no exceptions. Anyone else have a dumb moment like that where you skipped a step and it blew up in your face?

3 comments

3 Comments

ivan_mason1mo agoMost Upvoted

Jumped right into that one, didn't you? I've got a similar story from last summer where I was rushing a flat repair on my own truck before a job and figured the rim strip looked fine from the outside. Threw a new tube in, aired it up, and drove five miles before I felt the rear end get wobbly. Pulled over to find the tube had pinched itself right where the old strip had shifted and exposed a sharp spoke hole, so I had to walk to the nearest gas station and call my brother to bring me a spare. Now I pull the tire off and run my finger around the whole rim bed even if it's a quick fix, because that one time cost me an hour and a lot of embarrassment.

hollyl451mo ago

Wait, you had the customer standing right there watching you deflate his dreams? That's brutal but honestly impressive timing. Yeah I've had a similar facepalm moment where I was swapping pedals on a buddy's bike and just hand-tightened them because I was rushing. He made it about half a block before one pedal flew off and nearly took out a jogger. The look he gave me was the same one you got I bet - that mix of disappointment and "I trusted you with my expensive stuff." Lesson learned though right? Now I double check everything like a paranoid robot. Rim tape is one of those things that looks fine until it absolutely is not fine. At least your story is way better for bar talk than mine. "I forgot the rim tape" sounds way more professional than "I almost killed someone with a rogue pedal.

joel_butler13d ago

My buddy @ivan_mason actually had a similar thing happen with his old motorcycle, except it was the rear brake caliper bolt he forgot to torque down. He made it about three miles before the whole caliper swung up and locked the wheel at 45 mph. Ended up in a ditch with a bent rim and a bruised ego. Now he's the guy who double checks everything on my truck too, which is annoying but saved me from a loose lug nut last month. That rim tape thing though, that's a special kind of expensive lesson because carbon rims don't forgive like steel ones do.