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I bought a 26" Huffy bike for my wife recently. The front rim was bent and not repairable (at least not by me). Rather than return the bike I decided to go to Huffy's site and order a new rim under warranty.

After a couple of weeks back order the new rim was delivered this weekend. I put the new rim on her bike yesterday along with the previous tire and tube and inflated to the same pressure as usual which is 38psi, max is 40 on this tire.

Within less than an hour the tube blew out. This same tube and tire had previously been inflated with no problem. I saw the tire was off the rim and figured I screwed up the install so I pulled a fresh tube off my garage shelves and reinstalled everything being a little more methodical this time. Everything seemed fine and my wife took it for a test drive. Later that evening I heard a bang in the garage and sure enough the same thing had happened again.

Anything I might be missing here or should I just call Huffy for a whole new setup or maybe just return the bike, assuming that's still an option - I would need to check. I've never had this problem before so not clear on how common this is.

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  • They sent you a new rim or an entire new wheel? (the two aren't usually used interchangeably for bikes like ppl do for car wheels :) ) If rim did you deburr before reassembling? If wheel... did they tape it?
    – Affe
    Nov 4, 2019 at 21:16
  • new wheel I guess it's everything except the tire and tube. sorry if I don't have the proper terminology. yes it is taped.
    – Dewayne
    Nov 4, 2019 at 21:22
  • Thinking it is possibly a damaged bead on the tire. How easy was it to get the tire off the old wheel, and how easy to get onto new wheel in comparison. Are both beads equally easy to install?
    – mattnz
    Nov 4, 2019 at 21:35
  • I guess that could be it. It stayed on the old wheel easily enough but it did seem easier than usual to take it off and put it on (equally easy) than I expected from past experience. We're not talking high dollar bikes here of course but still. I currently have a 3rd tube on it and inflated to 23 psi. Going to let it sit until tomorrow and go from there I guess. Thanks for the feedback so far.
    – Dewayne
    Nov 4, 2019 at 21:46
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    A "bang" suggests the bead unseated from the rim and then the tube popped - I bet it was a long tear in the tube. Please consider adding a photo of the inside of the rim so we can see whats unsaid or assumed. Or if you want to return it completely then do so before any window of opportunity expires.
    – Criggie ♦
    Nov 5, 2019 at 3:19

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26-inch tires are a major quagmire. Unlike most other sizes, if 26-inch tires are fractionally sized (vs being sized in decimal) then the rim diameter varies with the tire width. So extreme care must be taken when replacing tires to assure that the right size is being used. It's best to refer to the "bead circle diameter" that is expressed as the 3-digit portion of the ISO size.

See Sheldon Brown's page on tire sizes.

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