I have a pair of Schwalbe tubes that are 7-8 years old.
Took em out of the box for the first time last week. Rode 50 plus miles with no problems.
6 days later it is really soft, but when I took it of the rim and put it in a bucket of water, there was no leak.
Losing most air after 6 days for a 7-8 year old tube. Is that normal?
Completely.
Do you know if they have latex inner tubes? If so, that is the expected behavior. Tires with latex tubes needs to be inflated prior to every ride.
I have never heard of any butyl inner tubes that get porous over time.
These are butyl tubes. They retail for about $9.
Yes, but as old as they are the more likely culprit is the vulcanization around the valve stem may have eroded and is allowing a slow leak.
I may check that. It has lost some air again overnight.
Iād also suspect a slow leak. Maybe a pinhole puncture. Just toss both of them and get new ones since they are 8 years old.
Problem solved. After putting the tube in a bucket with water and let it sit for a awhile, little bubbles showed up at the valve core. Turned out it has loosened a bit.
After I tightened it, it stopped forming air bubbles
In my nearly 50 years of fixing flats, I had never come across this scenario.