Reminder please, Taking my my bike on a plane

So, next week I’m taking my bike on a plane. First time for some 20 years. It’s an experiment in making more trips with my bike and riding when I’m there.

I have a bike bag  a scicon

Just wondering about air pressures in the shock, forks and tyres. Should i lower them? empty them?

and if so what about the seat post? The bag holds it’s shape better if the seat post is up. Does this mean that the pressure is lower in this position and therefore less affected by the altitude or should I delate it as well or will none of the above be affected and I’m over thinking it.

Advice welcome

I’ve never come to a conclusion if it makes any difference, but I usually:

– let the tires down (I usually have to now with 29″ and chunky rubber else they dont fit in my bag)

– let some air out of the suspension

I have previously forgotten to deflate forks and they were ok, and I’ve never considered my seatpost although the same logic certainly applies there. On that note though I’d slam your post down if you can, if its extended its more likely to get hit, and the longer length = more likely to bend.

thats my 2p anyway

Passenger airliners have pressurised cargo holds so deflating things doesn’t make any difference. Even an unpressurised hold would only add a maximum of 1.013 Bar which is within the safety margin of your tyres (with the possible exception of hookless rim / road tyre combos). Likewise the fork and shock can take much higher internal pressure than the marginal loss of external pressure causes.

However

Most airlines seem to want you to deflate the tyres. I don’t let them fully down in the hope that the tyres will remain seated on the beads. I’ve never even been asked about fork/shock/dropper.

I don’t ever deflate anything. There’s no need.

But if asked whether I have deflated the tyres. I just say yes.

And when asked if I have any CO2. I say No.

Passenger airliners have pressurised cargo holds so deflating things doesn’t make any difference.

Airlines typically want you to deflate the tyres. It doesn’t matter whether it makes any difference or not, if you argue with them, you won’t be getting on the plane. Do you want to enjoy your trip or prove that you’re right about some technical pedantry? I would release the pressure from the suspension too, it’s a 2-minute job to pump them back up again. I wouldn’t worry about the seatpost.

As Thols2 suggests, it’s about compliance, not any really technical need.  Just obey or say you’ve obeyed and it’s fine. I normally drop them down to about  15psi.  You don’t want them to release tyre jizz everywhere.  I don’t bother with shocks or the fork and the seat post remains fitted and down. The whole aircraft remains pressurised to about 9000’, I’ve ridden higher than that.

Other things to do: mech off but not off its cable and hung in between the swing arm. Bit of cut up kitchen waste pipe in between the dropouts with the axles back in to stop them being crushed. Pedals off. I also remove the discs, which get put in a rigid cardboard envelope also placed  inside the swing arm.  An old credit card folded in two makes a great brake pad retainer. Take a spare hanger. Carry it always. 

‘Have you deflated the tyres?’

’I have. Has the pilot deflated the tyres on the aircraft?’

hehehe.

Hot_fiat has good advice. Also: don’t forget a tool that has all the bits you need to put everything back together!

‘Have you deflated the tyres?’

“They are at low pressure”  is my normal response.  I don’t usually bother unless it’s a faff to get the wheels into the bag.

Have you deflated the tyres?

In my mind, I’m asking, from what psi to what psi?

On my recent trip, the only pressure adjustment was letting the front tyre down a bit to fit it in the bag. I want the bead to remain sealed and the rubber to cushion the carbon.

As for CO2, British Airways allowed 4 per passenger so I put 4 in the side pocket of the bike bag wrapped in a print out of that rule in both English and Spanish.

Reminds me, don’t take CO2 as hand luggage. I forgot to take mine out of my riding pack/handluggage. Security really don’t have a sense of humour around that sort of thing…

Airline worker here. Your airline will have its own rules and requirements. You’ll find them on their website or ring them up, not on STW forum.

First point – the technical. The aircraft hold is pressurised to the same altitude as the cabin – so around 8 to 10000ft altitude. Maybe 7  psi difference compared to sea level, often less. Nothing on a mountain bike is going to pop. Your bottle of suncream might leak a bit if your unlucky.

Second point – the reality. If your airline has asked you to let your tyres down a bit – just bloody do it.  And when they ask you at the check in desk if you have complied with all their requirements, including those on carriage of dangerous goods (CO2…), then make sure you say yes, and that ‘yes’ is truthful.

The absolute last thing that poor check in desk operative needs is you getting all nasally and telling them about your tubeless tyres and your shock pressures. Just do it. Because if they dont like what your saying, its going to ruin your day (you wont be taking your bike on holiday) a lot more than it will ruin there day (ie, not at all).

Enjoy your holiday 😀

Just wondering about air pressures in the shock, forks and tyres. Should i lower them? empty them?

If you ride in the Alps, your bike will experience lower pressure atmosphere with you riding it on any high passes (over 2500m asl) than in an Airline hold (equiv to 2000m asl)…

If you ride in the Rockies eg I’ve ridden at over 5000m, you go much lower…

The check in staff have been told the tyres will explode in the hold if you won’t lower the pressure to some unspecified magic number no one knows….

Regarding the seat post, I set it at the appropriate height to fill the gap in my bag.

I haven’t deflated anything, nor have I been asked. I will say add an AirTag to the bag. Nice to know if it made it into the plane. Also d not take any multitool with a screwdriver blade in hand luggage. Nor a pedal spanner. In fact any tool someone might think you can disassemble the aircraft with could be fair game. Painful if you need to reassemble on the other side.

My clubmate used a Scion with the metal bike frame. Someone dropped it and cracked the carbon fork. He only discovered it at home later. My frame sits inside a different bike brand hand has been great.

Pad it well. Stuff gets thrown around.

Even the possible increase from hold depressurisation will not damage suspension.
very small chance it would push road tyres over the limit. Not mtb, generally rated to 45 psi, ridden by normal people in the low 20’s.

however, I guess someone once smuggled something in the tyres, so if you are going to visit an authoritarian regime with over enthusiastic security procedures like North Korea or the United States, they may want to check by squeezing the tyres down to the rim.
TSA let mine down further (I already left them soft, and left the valves at the top of the bag to help them).
Europe almost certainly not an issue.
no idea what happens with inserts?

Road bike, I’d drop some pressure out of the tyres, just so they could pass a squeeze test. MTB are soft enough already. (unless you have to fully deflate to fit a 29er wheel in an old school 26er bag!

Shocks/seatpost – meh, I doubts if your average check in person is even aware they have air in them.

I’ve never bothered with protecting the frame tubes in the bag – my feeling is that if your bike is hardy enough to be thrown down a mountain, its not going to be mild knocks that do the damage, its going to be getting run over by the fuel truck that crushes bags and everything within entirely – a bit of pipe lagging is going to do dick all. I may feel differently if I was travelling with a silly light carbon roadie, mind…

I un bolt the mech hanger complete with mech; brake calipers (with spacers between the pads) and put them in jiffy bags taped inside the rear triangle or between the fork legs. Bits of correctly sized pipe between the dropouts with the axles installed to stop the dropouts getting crushed. Stanchions get my knee pads taped round them to avoid any abrasion issues. Disc rotors removed, bagged up and taped to a bit of ply.

Airtag is good for confidence. Nice to know that your bike has made it on the plane with you!

The absolute last thing that poor check in desk operative needs is you getting all nasally and telling them about your tubeless tyres and your shock pressures. Just do it. Because if they dont like what your saying, its going to ruin your day (you wont be taking your bike on holiday) a lot more than it will ruin there day (ie, not at all).

This (or at least enough to show willing!)…. Remember Rule 1!

I flew spain to uk with a checked in bike, i cant remember being asked anything. I actually saw it being loaded on the plane and the ground staff handled it really carefully, moving it v gently, it even arrived at the cargo hold on a separate trolley with nothing on top.

It had been packed to withstand an 8ft drop as thats what i read worst case scenario was.

I was massively impressed.

A lot of people say they don’t bother to remove disc rotors and I was one of those people until the recent trip to Spain where the rear disc got mullered and the place we went to didn’t have even a basic bike stand. I’ll always remove them now for the 5 minutes it takes.