Originally Posted by
dynodonn
I had a serious case of hyper-stretching several tire tubes when I switched from a pair of thin casing 25c tires to a nearly bomb proof thick casing 37c's. The 37c's were almost destine to hang in the rafters indefinitely after several blowouts without even making a single run, that was until I wore out that set of wheels and purchased a set of wider wheels with a smaller width shoulder. Though my tubes didn't have dimples per se, but a row of small bulges all the way around the tube, and with one being the weak link in causing the tire to go flat.
Happily to say that the 37c's now have many miles on them without incident.
Actually, I'm not sure if what is on my tube could be defined as "dimples" or not. They actually protrude outward, but when I press on them, they form inward like a dimple. They are directly over where the spoke heads are, so I guess that has something to do with it.
FBinNY: The rubber strip in my rim right now was put there by the manufacturer, which is Specialized. I assume they put it there because that's what was there originally. Of course, it's the LBS who actually assembles the bike, so maybe they swapped parts when assembling it. I'll never know for sure. But it's surprising that the top bike manufacturer would use inferior parts.