chrisx

Will the TSA allow bike parts in your carry on? Has any one tried flying with disc brakes, (mechanical), handle bars, pedals, a crank set?
Has anyone been told do not pass go with your bike parts? I am referring to domestic flights in the USA.

Which bike parts are allowed on a plane? Which bike parts are allowed on a plane? Which bike parts are not allowed on a plane?
How do you know, did you try it, or make a guess?

spinnaker

I would be concerned about anything that could be used as a weapon which includes pretty much everything.

I am sure the TSA agents do not have a list at the top of their heads so just because it was allowed for one person does not mean it will be allowed for you unless someone can point you to an official TSA document listing the items, that you can bring with you to the airport.

gregf83 

I had no problem with a bike pump and I went through a couple of security checks in Canada and the UK with CO2 but lost the CO2 in Madrid. I'm sure the rules are listed somewhere on the internet if you do a search.

edit: given you're allowed to take on ice skates my guess is most of the items you've listed would be fine. A crankset is no more dangerous than a pair of ice skates.

Pathfinder27

I just returned from a trip to Arizona where I picked up a full Ultegra groupset. I didn't want to check it so I put it in my carry on and was told at the security checkpoint I had to check it. It's worth mentioning that I was in the TSA precheck line too.

CB HI

I have flown with tools, pumps and parts. Just leave CO2 behind and make sure your multi-tool does not have a blade on it.

djb

you dont have to have a multi tool with a blade to lose it, I gave my nephew some bike stuff a few years ago and the multi tool, a real regular one with screwdrivers, hex keys etc, no blade, got taken away at security.

hit and miss I reckon for lots of stuff.

saddlesores

avoid the hassle and just check everything. you're dealing with tsa goons,
not the sharpest blades in the drawer.....and btw, mentioning their dull
bladed-ness will surely get you groped.

there are no rules.....sure, there are written directives, but they can be
enforced (or not), strictfully or not, depending on the goon's morning bm.

i've been told i cannot take a 5mm allen wrench. i suppose because i could
remove some window bolts? who knows. throw it in the publicly-viewable
plastic box of shame along with my nail clippers. (arrgh! turn this plane
around or i'll give you a pedicure!)

but jinkies! i could behead someone with a crankset!

CB HI

That was your TSA not following their own federal regulations.

tmac100

After returning from a 6-week bicycle tour in Australia, my checked baggage was inspected by TSA in LAX as I was en-route from SYD to YWG. According to the "rules" (in 2006) I had to go thru immigration and security and have my baggage re-checked when I got off the plane in LAX. After I retrieved my baggage in YWG I noted the box was opened (sealed up by TSA tape) and all of my wrapped-in-newspaper bicycle parts were unwrapped and mixed with bicycle clothing etc. Grease everywhere.

Oh, and one factory sealed package of cookies was opened and the unopened one was squashed/ (or actually wrung like socks that you hand wash in the sink while on tour.

I had no recourse as i was no longer in the USA. Oh, did I mention that there were TSA leaflets scattered in my gear all stating the box was opened (remember this was checked baggage checked in at LAX) because of "security" concerns/issues.

I try to not fly thru the USA on my way to/from Canada even when the airfare is lower. Too many headaches. They even insist on stamping my passport - which NEVER happens when I enter the USA by land/sea Based on this experience, I suggest that baggage of any sort is not immune to inspection/destruction by TSA. Mind you, TSA did not confiscate....

imi

I had to check my hex keys. I wouldn't try carrying on anything that isn't "soft".
My impression of airport security nowadays is that there is no leeway for discussion or "common sense". They just say "no" and the only explanation is... "it's for your own and everyone elses safety and security..."
I just follow the rules and am polite

CliffordK

I had a tiny pocket sized Monkey Wrench that I had forgotten was in my carry-on, had to take it back and check it, maybe 7 years ago.

This was a wedding gift I made for my brother and his wife.



I was turned away by security, and had to go back and check it in because it had an arrow as part of the sculpture.

Anyway, if you chose to carry odd stuff in your carry-on, then make sure you have a little extra time in case you get turned away by the TSA.

How critical is it for the parts to be with you immediately when you get off the plane? I've had a couple of bags that didn't show up with the plane, but they showed up shortly afterward. One was when they still used those hang tags with the elastic strap to ID the luggage. Apparently it lost the tag, so someone just found a tag and put it on the luggage. The new sticky barcode tags are much better.

indyfabz

+1. I once tried to explain to a TSA agent the difference between weight ounces and fluid ounces. I was unsuccessful and my 4 oz. (NET WT) cup of pineapple was taken because the agent though the label said it contained 4 oz. of liquid. During the exchange she actually said "You know it's pineapple. I know it's pineapple. But I can't let you bring it through security."

imi

I usually carry an empty "platypus" foldable bottle through security then fill it up from a drinking fountain at the gates.
Some airports unfortunately don't have cold water taps or drinking fountains :/ Turn on all your charm and the right bartender willl fill your bottle. There's sometimes a cold water tap in the handicap toilet - you know, the place we change clothes, shave and which has the sink you can almost have a shower in? ...

I REFUSE to pay the exorbitant prices for a small bottle of water in a plastic bottle in airport shops.

djb

didnt help my nephew about to board a plane back to the UK....

you pays your money, you takes your chances.....

Philly Tandem

I've carried on pedals (old-school with clips and straps) in my handlebar bag a few times, no problem.

I've had checked bikes opened in other countries, too, not just the USA TSA. I've flown back and forth to Germany with bikes many times. I'd say about 25% of the time the bag (S&S bike) is opened by German security/customs on the way back.

One time we were packing up our S&S tandem on the curb outside the Munich airport. An airport employee on a smoke break was chatting with us the entire time. When we went inside it turned out he was the security dude and basically just waved us through.

saddlesores

i've never had my bike box opened in asialand, must be a couple
hundred flights by now. sometimes x-rayed at check-in, always
waived through customs...what's in the box? bicycle. ok....

never opened....i'm positive.....i'd know.

chrisx

I did not think of that.

In San Diego, I brought an iron for my clothes and a metal coffee cup no problem. In Tijuana they turned my coffee cup away. I told them I only beat taxi drivers with it, but they were afraid to take a chance.

spinnaker

I say try it if you want but be prepared to be turned away and check it.

I remember long ago, before the new restrictions, I was headed to Cozumel for some diving. I always carried my gear, swimming trunks, t-shirt and sandals. I would check the rest of my clothes figuring if the checked bag did not make it I would make do. Well I had been on a previous local dive and forgot that I had my dive knife strapped to my BC. Security snagged it and told me I would need to check it. My bag was already checked and they put my knife into a small box. I waved goodbye and figured I would never see it again. A connection later in the little Cozumel airport here comes my checked bag and a couple bags later that little box. Boy was I surprised.

My roommate came home for Christmas. On the way out the door his mom said, hey I have this silverware for you guys. Not thinking they tossed it in his carry on. Security opened his bag and said "Why is this in here"? All he had to say was two words "My mother". They let him pass through with his silverware. That was LONG before 911.

CliffordK

I think that was my box.

I put my mini-monkey wrench into a small box. Then when it arrived at the other end, I took it out of the box and handed it back to the airline checkers to be re-used. If others have done the same thing, perhaps that little cardboard box has traveled around the world a few times.

mev

Prior to 9/11 I once carried two long speed skates and a radio in a small carry bag. Folks looking through the scanner - had a rather strange look but let me through. I expect that wouldn't happen today.

Since 9/11 and on bike trips, I've generally checked my extra bike parts as well as my multi-tool. I've carried helmet and spare tubes in carry on but all the metal bits including pump, extra pedals and tools to assemble bike go into checked luggage.

djb

an anecdote--Im pretty certain Ive written of this before, but post 9/11, flew to NY for my first time there. At Mtl airport, super strict stuff, take shoes off twice, at security and before boarding plane, security guys going through our camera bags twice (at security and before plane)--arrive in NY, arrive in hotel and go through camera bags to go over stuff for next day shoot and lo and behold, in one of the bags there was a leatherman tool that the guy I was working for had forgotten to take out--with a knife on it as well......so all those checks, and for some reason, the tool didnt get spotted with two personal hand checks.

kinda goofy, but true.

worst part was that on the way back, in the rush it got forgotten again, and yes, overlooked again by security.

just goes to show that human error and lapses are a real part of airport security, or can be in any case. I can only surmise that in this case, the camera bags were full of weird stuff to the security guys that they'd never seen before, so they were distracted by the odd shaped medium format cameras and film backs, so much they missed the one thing that could have been dangerous.

I somehow doubt that this could be replicated again. Happenstance combined with smoke and mirrors.

northerntier

I flew southwest last year with my Bob trailer as carryon (fork turned in, wheel in bag). LOT of metal in that thing, and the fork blades could do a lot of damage.

spinnaker

I don't see how a bob could possibly qualify for carry on size.

chrisx

Any brought their handle bars, disc rotors, pedals, tires, or other parts through security?

MassiveD

The guys who let you carry pumps through have presumably not seen Wiley E Coyote and his plunger/