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I have slow pressure loss from my rear tyre. Pumped up it's fine for a ride but next morning it's lost most (but not all) of its pressure. No sign of a foreign body, no seepage of sealant and no obvious cause, I've even replaced the presta core just in case.
The tyre's done a fair few miles and given me sterling service (virtually all on tarmac); it's a semi-slick (Continental Hardpack) and the light tread has pretty much worn away. The thing is, the previous tyre exhibited exactly the same symptoms at pretty much the same stage of wear.
Since the Hardpacks can be picked up for £20 each at the moment I think I'll just replace it and save myself the angst of trying to track down what the problem is, but I was wondering whether it's possible to wear a tubeless tyre thin enough that it struggles to hold air (although the wear doesn't seem extreme and I've worn tubed tyres well beyond this).
The sealant was refreshed a few weeks back so small leaks & punctures should be sealing.
Tube tyres definitely get more prone to punctures as they get old, so wouldn't be over surprised. Would be worth checking the rim tape for splits, and of course if you broke the bead to top up the sealant that could have caused problems.
Between a few of my friends we've had Continental Racekings get to the point where they just start leaking sealant through the casing, weeping through and struggling to hold air despite having some tread left. I don't know if it's wear so much as the rubber hardening and becoming porous perhaps over a couple of years?
I did notice spots on the worn tread area that looked almost 'damp' so sealant & air could be seeping out. Anyway, a new tyre has sorted it.
For reference they're PureGrip compound rather than the more premium Black Chilli.
Yes that sounds like the same thing we had, just dozens of slightly darker damp patches around the tyres. I think we had a mixture of cheap to expensive tyres between us, but all Conti race kings.
Not that I think it's a Conti problem, more that I don't think I've ever kept another MTB tyre on a bike long enough for that to happen whereas on the gravel bikes we do a lot more miles and don't tend to swap for summer/winter so the tyres stay on there until the bitter end!
I definitely find this to be true. I predominately use Maxxis Rekon Race TR EXO for XC and have done for the last few years: they just reach a point where they have small damp looking patches all around the tread area (as jfab said) and tend to be more prone to cuts. Just yesterday on a ride I had to put a plug one as managed to get a cut...once this starts happening more regularly I know its its time for some new rubber