Airplane travel with bicycles - Page 12 - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

01-17-2005, 08:16 AM

Dominic Sansom wrote:
> Beaker Wrote:
>> On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 16:54:01 +1100, Dominic Sansom quoth:
>>>
>>> I had two tubes blow on separate occasions while flying. Both were
>>> on road bikes (never had a problem with lower pressure MTBs) and
>>> they were inflated over 110psi.
>>> I now make sure I deflate all tubes when I fly.
>>
>> That's quite odd, since the change in tire vs. outside air pressure
>> difference has to be less than 14PSI...probably only 4-6PSI.
>>
>> bkr
> Odd?... I thought so too at the time of the first blow out. So I did
> some research and like you say the difference should be no more than
> one atmosphere (15psi) so the next time I flew I left the tubes at
> full pressure... and one blew again. Weak tubes? Coincidence ? Who
> knows... but the hassle of changing tubes at the start of a cycling
> holiday, twice, made me a confirmed deflater.

Why is it all or nothing? Seems like one could let some air out -- down to,
say, 70 psi or so -- and not worry about popping tubes. Wouldn't pumping
'em back up to full pressure be quicker and easier that way?

Just a thought...

01-17-2005, 08:16 AM

Dominic Sansom wrote:
> Beaker Wrote:
>> On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 16:54:01 +1100, Dominic Sansom quoth:
>>>
>>> I had two tubes blow on separate occasions while flying. Both were
>>> on road bikes (never had a problem with lower pressure MTBs) and
>>> they were inflated over 110psi.
>>> I now make sure I deflate all tubes when I fly.
>>
>> That's quite odd, since the change in tire vs. outside air pressure
>> difference has to be less than 14PSI...probably only 4-6PSI.
>>
>> bkr
> Odd?... I thought so too at the time of the first blow out. So I did
> some research and like you say the difference should be no more than
> one atmosphere (15psi) so the next time I flew I left the tubes at
> full pressure... and one blew again. Weak tubes? Coincidence ? Who
> knows... but the hassle of changing tubes at the start of a cycling
> holiday, twice, made me a confirmed deflater.

Why is it all or nothing? Seems like one could let some air out -- down to,
say, 70 psi or so -- and not worry about popping tubes. Wouldn't pumping
'em back up to full pressure be quicker and easier that way?

Just a thought...