I have just realized that I am loosing about 1-2psi of pressure in my rear tire every day (just by sitting). Upon full inflation and riding, it seems to lose at the rate of 1psi/hour. I suppose my question is, in the meantime while I order a new set of tires, is it okay/safe to ride for the next week?

Also, I am thinking these must be the original [2001] tires??... as I bought the bike with ~4k miles (last year) and I have put on about 3k miles since then. Tread appears fine, but I can't imagine an 11 year-old set of tires performs as well as a new pair.

thoughts??

 

IF those are the original tires, YES you need to get them changed asap. An old tire such as that will loose elasticity & its ability to keep a good bead on the wheel. As such, you're going to get loss of air. All this being said, you should be fine to ride on them til you get new tires but -yes- you'll have to keep a close eye on your air pressures.

 

the loosing of air could be a rotting valve stem. wiggle it and look for cracks and tears. if a stem blows off while riding, it will evacuate your tire in seconds.

on the sidewall, you will find a four digit number, probably in a little oval area. this is your date code. the first two are the week it was made, last two the year. 4701: 47th week of 2001. any thing more than 4 years......the rubber is very questionable.

 

Just came back to add that! You beat me to it! ;-)

 

General consensus is that up to 6 years is safe, but American tire manufacturers say that was back in the day and you can use a tire older than that. Generally up to 6 years is ok but even in proper storage they began to crack and dry out.

 

what air pressure are you guys running???

 

Thanks for the quick info!

So, I just got home and checked, not looking too good @ "4800" & "4500" -- 12 year old tires, ug. Can't tell the health of the stem though, as it appears to be wrapped up in extra rubber.

I am surprised I didn't catch this sooner.... probably also explains why the back-end kicks out in some turns.

 

That is not a good situation. Change 'em asap.

 

3-4 seasons is as much as I'd run tires - if you buy a set and mount them yourself
make sure to use new valve stems and thoroughly clean the bead seat with some steel
wool or even better a non metal scouring pad

Your tires are your life on a bike.

 

MNjason, sounds kind of like we bought the same bike lol, I bought mine, an 01, with legit exactly 4k miles on it. The previous owner did put on new tires before she tried selling it because she knew they were bad.

On a side not if you dont mind, do you hear a weird rattling noise that sounds like it could be the cct? (cam chain tensioner). Its a common problem on these bikes but I dont know what could cause them to go bad, high mileage or just over time something like a spring loses strength. Thanks!