Air travel with tubeless tires

[Jay_B]

Hey guys

 

Im flying to Cape Town tomorrow morning and taking my bike with, however im not to sure about what to do with my tubeless tires. The airlines ask that the tires be deflated howver doing this will cause sealant to end up all over the place.

 

Can i deflate the tire only a little bit and then just pump it up when i get there?

 

Thanks alot

[TheV]

Don't know, you dont want to risk your tyre's exploding... you also don't want to risk them leaking because you deflated them even a bit in any case.

 

Take them off and use tubes for your stay in cpt would be my suggestion (beats the hassle of re-doing it again on your way back).

 

 

You need to change sealant every six months or so in any case.

[ibruegge]

There is no risk of tires exploding. Luggage compartment is as pressurized as passenger compartment. Else all exploding deodorants bottles, dogs and cats and other things pressure-sensitive would have brought down many planes... #mythbuster

[kosmonooit]

no problem, maybe just lower them to one Bar if they get fussy but they have never asked me. Just don't take any bombs, either on the bike or in your luggage and no bike tools in your hand luggage

[SwissVan]

Hey guys

 

Im flying to Cape Town tomorrow morning and taking my bike with, however im not to sure about what to do with my tubeless tires. The airlines ask that the tires be deflated howver doing this will cause sealant to end up all over the place.

 

Can i deflate the tire only a little bit and then just pump it up when i get there?

 

Thanks alot

 

I flew from EU to SA and JNB to CT and back to JNB with tubeless and sealant, all i did was lower the pressure considerably but not enough to break the seal on the bead. My wheels were well packed away in a proper bike box so no risk of the bead popping off, if you "wheel" bike on its wheels you probably need to be carefull how much air you let out.

[TheV]

I flew from EU to SA and JNB to CT and back to JNB with tubeless and sealant, all i did was lower the pressure considerably but not enough to break the seal on the bead. My wheels were well packed away in a proper bike box so no risk of the bead popping off, if you "wheel" bike on its wheels you probably need to be carefull how much air you let out.

 

They should call your SuperVAN.

[Andro]

Good point, i would take them off clean then out and leave then uninflated.

 

Only a problem if you planning to cycle from airport to where ever you going to stay.

 

Do some planning, find out where you can drop it off on way to you place of stay to have it topped up and inflated/bombed. Call them, maybe do it while you wait, it’s all in the planning. Or do it the following day.(this if you cant do it yourself)

 

This should be a head ache.

 

All the best for your stay in Ctn.

Edited June 22, 2012 by Andro

[SwissVan]

They should call your SuperVAN.

 

Oh sorry I forgot to include the return trip back to EU

[rudi-h]

deflate to 1.5 bar if you really want to. i wouldn't bother

[Eldron]

And now for the science...

 

The maximum difference in pressure between sea level and the vacuum of space is 1 bar.

 

So all you need to do is drop your tyres by 1 bar and all is hunky dory.

 

Me - I don't bother because I ride my tyres at 7bar and the max inflation is 10bar. If the hold is not pressurised at all the tyres will go to 8bar.

 

Simple really.

 

 

Edit: I run my mtb tyres at 2bar and the tyre is rated at 4.5bar max so no deflation required there either.

Edited June 22, 2012 by Eldron

[andydude]

no problem, maybe just lower them to one Bar if they get fussy but they have never asked me. Just don't take any bombs, either on the bike or in your luggage and no bike tools in your hand luggage

 

And never mention "bombs" when they ask about pressurised containers!

[RocknRolla]

no problem, maybe just lower them to one Bar if they get fussy but they have never asked me. Just don't take any bombs, either on the bike or in your luggage and no bike tools in your hand luggage

 

thank you captain obvious. unless you are a fundamentalist of course.

 

if you do hapen to take co2 cartriges, for the love of peace on earth, when asked "what are those" - do not refer to them as "bombs"

 

for some reason airlines frown upon the mention of bombs....

[NeverEnder]

I have had this discussion a number of times with my teammates but am still not sure if they have grasped the concepts of gauge pressure, absolute pressure & pressure differentials.

 

So the exact numbers - maybe it can help some of those scientific neanderthals I am cycling with as well. For this example I will take a MTB tire.

1. At sea level your pump's gauge shows 3 bar ( about 303 kPa) - This means the absolute pressure in the tire is 4 bar (404 kPa), since the atmospheric pressure is also 1 bar.
   
2. If you get into a plane the bulkhead is pressurized to equal a "relative elevation" of around 2400-2500 meters above sea level. (i.e. the pressure in the plane is the same as you would experience if you are standing on a 2500m high mountain). You can check this with a Polar RS 800 (or a sensitive diving watch) that registers elevation based on the barometric pressure next time you are flying.
   
3. The atmospheric pressure at 2500m is equal to about 0.75 bar (76 kPa)
   
4. The absolute pressure in the tire does not change (except if your tire is leaking) and is still 4 bar
   
5. That means the gauge pressure (as measured by your pump) would now be 404kPa - 76kpa = 328 kPa.
   
6. So the change in pressure experienced by the tyre is LESS THAN 0.3 bar. Meaning your mtb tire's pressure would chage from 3 bar to 3.3 bar when flying - It should be OK.
   
7. Of course the same hold true for a road tire - were 0.3 bar pressure difference would have even less of an impact
   

Sorry for the long explanation - But its specifically for the benefit of Andydude who is still struggling with his physics...