I’m getting my gravel bike working after it had been sitting for a bit while life happened. After inflating my tires last night, my rear is bubbling sealant through the tan sidewall this morning, but didn’t seem to loose too much pressure. Tubeless Specialized Pathfinder Pros in 42 with tan sidewall, maybe 6 months un inflated. Is this normal or safe to ride on?
by CEEngineerThrowAway
7 Comments
I’d ride it
It’s normal. You may need to top up the sealant a bit after it settles.
It’s fine to ride for now just top off your sealant. Based off this photo alone it’s hard to tell, but I’d probably start looking for new tires. That tells me they’re starting to dry out and crack. They’ll be weaker, might continue leaking, and won’t be quite as supple as they used to be.
Totally normal.
I ride like that all of the time. It will be covered in dust one minute after you start riding and it won’t look as distressing.
I would top off the sealant and ride it.
An additional thing to think about is how old those tires are. Tires will experience some dry rot and cracking if they sit for a long time and experience a lot of temperature fluctuation. You can clean them and visually inspect them and see if this is happening, but it’s hard to see in this picture. If you do see some cracking, then new tires might not be a bad idea.
And don’t buy tanwall tires next time, black ones are always better.