pbass

Just curious - I recently swapped in some used tires I had that still had some life left in the tread on my gravel bike. Same rims the tires were originally on. I'm used to tubeless tires going through phases where they seem to fluctuate in how well they maintain pressure when new (at least this has been my experience) as the sealant does its thing, but these tires just aren't settling back in and stabilizing. I've gone over them and I don't think there's any leaks at the valve stems, and the bead is seated all the way round. I don't see sealant coming out anywhere. I've put in a double dose of sealant too. Could it be that older rubber gets more porous as it's more dried out? These have been sitting in a hot garage for the better part of a year.

pdlamb

Here's an example of internet speculation at its best:

I'd expect that your sealant would fix any cracks or holes in the tire. So why isn't it working? Perhaps you've still got dried sealant from the original use on the tire that's being compressed against the sidewall enough to keep the new sealant from plugging any leak, but still allowing the smaller gas molecules to diffuse around the "plaques" and escape.

Either that, or you've forgotten how much these tires leaked when you decided to replace them.

pbass

Hmmm, you're probably spot on with one of these speculations, or perhaps it's both! My memory sure isn't all that these days....

yannisg

My 25mm tubeless road tires loose about 5-7 psi in 2 days originally pump to 80-85 psi. Both front and rear loose about the same amount with no evidence of sealant escaping.

Rolla

Lose (verb): To be unsuccessful in retaining possession of; mislay.

Loose (adj): Not fastened, restrained, or contained.

KerryIrons

Dunk the wheels in a tub of water or use something like Snoop to figure out where the air is leaking out. THEN decide what to do. As of now you don't know the mechanism of air loss so you don't know what to do.

masi61

How is your tubeless tape job? You made no mention of this important detail in your initial query.

yannisg

Thanks for the clarification

brooklyn_bike

i've heard and read this to be a problem with tubeless. the handful of my friends who have at least one bike tubeless wheelset have discussed the pros and cons. one con being : if they have to remove the tire for some reason - they can't get the tire to seal again well enough and end up tossing the tire and having to buy a new one . seems like one of the bigger potential downside to tubeless

rbrides

Although your post is more than a year old, what was your final resolution? Or what did you eventually do? I have this same problem and don't want to throw out two gravel tires that the TWI show lots of tread left. My current best next step is to just install tubes.

pbass

I eventually gave up and got new tires, which was fine as I was ready to try something different, and luckily landed on something I far prefer to the old ones.