catastrophic tire failure - steps to take?

[mastersracer]

I had a tire manufacturer's new model catastrophically fail on me over the weekend. it appears a seam ripped due to hard braking on a descent. I've been racing since 1983 and never had a failure like this (ended up in hospital with broken bones, abrasions from head to toe). I'm concerned that the tire may be dangerous - what steps should I take in following up besides contacting the manufacturer?

 

[Black Dog]

Were the break pads rubbing the tire casing? Can you give more details as to the location of the failure? Some images would help a lot.

 

[mastersracer]

here's pics or link - brake pad shown in one photo - properly adjusted. The rip is the site of initial deflation - tube has no leaks anywhere else.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44660187@N06/

 

[dajonker]

Looks like a Schwalbe Ultremo. Was it a regular or tubular tire? How much pressure did you pump into it?

 

[mastersracer]

it was an ultremo r.1 clincher. failure occurred during breaking on a short, steep descent. what has me concerned is the line where the tire contacts the edge of the rim - image 641 shows this. I'm wondering if braking shear stress caused the rip

 

[Black Dog]

Looks like overinflation or manufacturing defect. The force of braking would not seem to be the cause of that since it is spread out and only acts on an area for an instant. Call them up and send them the tire. I am sure that they would like to know what is going on with their product.

 

[mastersracer]

thought it better to first have tire inspected by manufacturer - and damage might have occurred after deflation at another site

 

[Anonymous]

Looks like a Schwalbe Ultremo. Was it a regular or tubular tire? How much pressure did you pump into it?

I seem to remember something about Schwalbe having problems with the Ultremo. Was there a recall? i tried some out a couple of years ago (not a racer) and they wore out very quickly. I kept one on by back wheel when I should probebly have changed it and it de-laminated, big strips of tire just came off. That, and the BIG$$ cost cured me of Ultremos. Felt very nice. They have a very high pressure rating.