Flying with a bike
 

Hey guys- I've flown with my bike numerous times and have always let the air out of my tires as requested. However, once I forgot to, but when we landed, the tires were still full and nothing had gone pop. My question: someone just told me that the cargo hold is pressurized. So I was wondering if you guys know this is true for all planes? If so, why are we told to let the air out of the tires? I'd prefer not to this time around if I don't have to. Input please.

All of the cargo compartments of commercial planes flying in the US are pressurized, as well as the cargo compartments of commercial shippers (UPS etc). Remember that people check their dogs etc and they go in with the rest of the baggage. Another thing to remember is that the airplane's tire are pressurized and don't seem to explode in flight (normally!).

Sam

They carry animals in the cargo hold so it has to be pressurized. Removing the air is just a precaution. Depending on how much air you have in the first place, you will usually be OK removing none. But cabin pressure can be between 5K to 10K depending on the model of aircraft and of course altitude. If you fully inflate your tires at sea level, you might have a problem at 10K feet.

The weight of the plane relieves pressure on the tire when the plane takes off. Plus airplane tires are much larger than bicycle tires. A slight change in size would be meaningless for the airplane but could be disaster to a high pressure bicycle tire.

Aircraft cargo holds are pressurized to the same level as the passenger area, otherwise an enormous strain would be placed on the bulkhead between the passenger area and the cargo hold (ceiling of cargo hold/floor of passenger area). The drop in pressure between sea level and 10,000 feet is just under 5 psi, which doesn't strike me as significant for a bike tire. I suppose if your rims were damaged by sharp objects caught in the brake pads you might run into trouble, but that could happen on the ground, too.

Last year I took my bike on a plane to Florence, Italy and back, and Lufthansa made me deflate the tires both ways. When I got home I e-mailed them saying that I disagreed with their policy. After a phone conversation they agreed to research the matter. A few days later I got a phone call from Lufthansa saying that deflating bicycle tires wasn't necessary, and that Lufthansa would change their policy and allow fully inflated bicycle tires on their planes.

I just to lazy to look into the amount of pressure change. If it really is 5 psi then that is nothing even if you had your tires pressurized at max. The problem could come with a complete loss of cabin pressure, then again if that happens you have bigger problems than a couple of blown up tires. :)

It is CYA on the airlines part. It is much easier for them to have a one size fits all rule.

I've flown with my bicycle quite frequently too, and I think I've remembered to let the air out of my tires .... ummmm ... maybe once. Nothing bad has every happened to them.

Now that said, I run my "120 psi max" tires around 90-100 psi, so they aren't exactly filled to the max anyway.