Flying with pumped up tyres?

[andrew_s]

If you leave them pumped up the baggage handler may let them down or your bike may be loaded as is.

British Airways say it's fine to leave the tyres inflated.
This doesn't mean that some baggage handler who remembers the rules for some other airline he worked for several years ago won't insist on letting the tyres down though.
As stated, as far as the bike tyres are concerned, going in an airplane baggage hold is much the same as riding to the top of the Col de Galibier.

The airplane's own tyres are inflated to a much higher pressure (200psi) and are much bigger (== lots more energy to do damage with). They are also not in a pressurized environment.

 

[Brains]

As for the sound of a bursting tyre causing the plane to make an emergency landing, have you heard the cacophany of horrible noises that Airbuses make when the flaps are moving or the wheels being raised or lowered? Do you think a passenger would hear a bust through the bike box, the luggage container and the floor and then report what they heard to the crew, especially if the plane was still flying in a straight line and their can of Carlsberg Euro-piss was still fizzing away on the tray? No.

Errr.... I beg to differ.
I spent an extra night in Geneva once, as some passenger had packed an alarm clock in the hold, which then went off every few mins. The crew were unable to trace the noise, so we went back to the terminal and offloaded a load of the baggage until the offending clock was found. It was switched off, baggage reloaded and then joined the back of the queue to take off, after about an hour the crew were over their hours, so back to the terminal again, all the baggage off, and night in a hotel for 150 people.

I think a tyre going BANG! would have had a similar effect.

 

[HJ]

Don't you take a pump with you? Where is the problem with putting a wee bit of air in the tyres when you get there?? The recommendation that you let the tyres down is to avoid damage to your property, yes the hold is pressurised but de-pressurisation during a flight is not unknown (I know a couple of people who have suffered bust eardrums that way), replacing blown tyres and/or rims is a lot more hassle than putting a wee bit of air in the tyres when you get there...