Air pressure on a plane ? tyres, shock, forks etc ?

MAybe a daft question, don’t know.

Bbut when putting bikes on a plane, do you leave inflated/pressured or lower tyres, shock, forks etc ?

Should be fine inflated, particularly at MTB psi?

Cargo holds are pressurised hence your shaving cream doesn’t explode. 😆

It’ll all be fine, if you flew from sea level to the edge of the atmosphere it would only be 14.7psi pressure difference… Your flight is probably not that high 😉

Airline may ask if you’ve deflated tyres (i’ve never been asked), if so, say yes.

Enjoy your hols!

Even if you were in space there is a 1bar (14psi) difference from sea level so the pressure isn’t that different. Tyres might suffer if they are already quite hard but shocks would be fine.
That said, safety regs for planes would almost certainly dictate pressure vessels such as shocks are empty. For dive cylinders they also require them to be open.
Basically, ask the airline and they will tell you their policy 🙂

I increase my tyre pressure when packing the bike for a flight. I don’t want some baggage handler twating my rims when they drop it.

Leave it exactly as is.

I increase my tyre pressure when packing the bike for a flight. I don’t want some baggage handler twating my rims when they drop it.

Either a very badly designed bag or running extremely low pressure?

Low pressure. I only take them up to 40 psi. It’s an evoc pro bag. Done 8 flights in total now but looks like it’s been towed behind the plane rather than loaded on to it.

Never trust a baggage mangler!

If they ask if you’ve deflated the tyres, respond by asking if the planes tyres will be deflated…

Just say yes. It’s practically true, you will have deflated your tyres at some point.

The airline will probably ask you to deflate tyres partially which is daft because even at high pressure they don’t explode with my fat arse landing hard from a jump, so the 20% or so increase in pressure won’t hurt them.

As for shocks – when you bottom out the pressure is probably thousands of PSI so they can take it easily. Airlines probably won’t be savvy enough to even ask about shocks.

aircraft not exploding in mid air.

Yep … I’d go along with just telling them they are deflated.
After all compared to a road bike they are deflated… with tubeless I’d probably say 20 psi … as your effectively putting them up at 10’000 equivalent (which is from memory about what pressure is set to)
Obviously the hold is also pressurised or there would be dead dogs and cats at the other end.

I’ve had Samsonite Oyster’s destroyed by baggage handling… (how I never did work out) so I’d definitely want to protect the rims but also you don’t want them possibly popping off the rims at the reduced pressure in the plane.

The effect on shocks … has got to be somewhere between negligible and laughable…

The airline will probably ask you to deflate tyres partially

Ask them to do the same for the ones on the plane 😉

Cabin/hold altitude on airliners is maximum 8000′, often lower. Would you empty your tyres and shock to ride in the Alps??

The change in pressure due to altitude isn’t that great. The danger is if there’s a fire, then things like aerosol cans, shocks, and forks will explode. I suspect that emergency crews aren’t big fans of exploding luggage. If the plane catches fire, you should run away as fast as you can.

tomhoward – Member
If they ask if you’ve deflated the tyres, respond by asking if the planes tyres will be deflated…

I reckon the tyres on a 767 are sturdier than your Exo sidwwalla.

Would you empty your tyres and shock to ride in the Alps??

If you checked your tyre pressures at altitude, you would need to let some air out to maintain your regular pressure.

The fire point is a good one actually.

Also, if you deflate your shock your bike might fit in its bag better.

I think if there was a fire in the cruise a few bursting bike tyres would be the least of your worries. Even an exploding shock, if a shock would explode. I suspect the rubber seals would melt and fail long before the pressure got too high resulting in more of a wet fart like release of air rather than a shrapnel loaded explosion. Of course pressurised containers are a different thing. You’ve only got a few hundred psi in your shock. That’s nothing. The latest crop of airliners have hydraulic systems running at 4000psi.

I suspect it’s more of a case that Airlines just don’t want unexpected bangs occurring mid flight. They tend to spook passengers. That’s why they put soft close toilet seats on planes to stop them banging shut in turbulence scaring the crap out of passengers after us men leave them up.

I can assure you if there is a fire in an aircraft hold, exploding MTB shocks/forks is the least of your worries.

A/c wheels are outside the pressure skin of the aircraft, so subject to full atmospheric pressure differentials and temperatures, whereas your bike is in the hold.

Should you deflate? Yes, because your T&Cs agree that you will. Will anything happen if you don’t? No.

^^^^ I’m pretty sure Wobbliscott & I are in the same profession, and certainly I’ve never flown round wondering if all the bike tyres in the hold are depressurised!!

We carry an on-board wheelchair. The tyres on that certainly don’t get deflated every flight either!!