Originally Posted by
Cynikal
Do you deflate the tires as well? They could expand depending on how pressurized the plane is. That is if this was being flown. Guess it doesn't matter if you use ground.
The difference between atmospheric pressure at sea level and at 30,000 feet is about 10 psi. So unless you pump the tires to within 10 psi of the pressure at which they blow off the rim this is a complete non-issue. They definitely won't expand, if they did they wouldn't work. It seems like pressure and volume are one of those things that aren't intuitive or "common sense." I've seen this same myth circulated around the internet many times. A similar example is my former roommate who was convinced that if I tried to pump up her car tire with my bike pump it would explode and hit me in the face because of the weight of the car, she couldn't come to terms with the notions of a high volume low pressure car tire and a low volume high pressure bicycle tire.
On a related note, leaving the tires inflated can help prevent damage to the rims.