New gravel tire installed with inserts and plenty of sealant. Seated fine. 1 ride, half pressure lost the next morning. 200k race at 40psi, slow leak after about 150k but no puncture noticed, CO2 to top it off and finish the race. Tire was dead flat the next morning. Pumped up again dead flat within a day. Front tire is exact same but holds air fine.
Noticed all these air bubbles coming from the sidewall. The valve, spokes, and tread are all fine. Seems to be just the side wall leaking. Is this salvageable? Or too compromised?
by Bikemanjobe
2 Comments
The sealant should take care of any porosity on a new tire. Weird.
Some sealants behave weirdly with CO2, some state it explicitly, some state they’re compatible, most aren’t. They’re mostly water and CO2 at high pressure makes soda water. CO2 also leaks out of rubber much faster in general, it literally dissolves trough like it dissolves trough water. Not that it matters now but it was probably the reason for it going flat after the race.
Try unseating it and letting it sit for a while, inflating to max pressure and sloshing it well to cover the entire sidewall with sealant.
Out of curiosity, what sealant and insert did you use?