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#1
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bikes on planes revisited
A while back I posted a brief rant about how Lufthansa made me deflate
the tires on my bike before they would accept the bike as checked baggage, how I ended up re-inflating a pair of fat touring tires with a hand pump in the arrival area of Florence Peretola Airport while in a jet-lagged, sleep deprived stupor, and how I had sent an e-mail to Lufthansa customer relations politely questioning the need for such a policy. I came home from work last night to find a message from Lufthansa on my answering machine, from the same customer service rep I spoke to after sending the e-mail. The lady told me that Lufthansa had re-evaluated the policy, they had determined that it was not necessary to deflate bicycle tires for air travel, and they were revising the policy regarding bicycle tires immediately. I was gratified to hear that Lufthansa reexamined their policy and changed it because of my e-mail, and I was pleasantly surprised to get a phone call from them telling me that they had changed their rules. I hope to do another Italy trip in about two years time, and I will probably fly Lufthansa again. My guess is that I spent a lot less time e-mailing and calling Lufthansa and posting to this newsgroup about this issue than I would re inflating my tires before I can ride out of the airport on my next tour. mark |
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#2
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bikes on planes revisited
mark wrote:
A while back I posted a brief rant about how Lufthansa made me deflate the tires on my bike before they would accept the bike as checked baggage, how I ended up re-inflating a pair of fat touring tires with a hand pump in the arrival area of Florence Peretola Airport while in a jet-lagged, sleep deprived stupor, and how I had sent an e-mail to Lufthansa customer relations politely questioning the need for such a policy. I came home from work last night to find a message from Lufthansa on my answering machine, from the same customer service rep I spoke to after sending the e-mail. The lady told me that Lufthansa had re-evaluated the policy, they had determined that it was not necessary to deflate bicycle tires for air travel, and they were revising the policy regarding bicycle tires immediately. I was gratified to hear that Lufthansa reexamined their policy and changed it because of my e-mail, and I was pleasantly surprised to get a phone call from them telling me that they had changed their rules. I hope to do another Italy trip in about two years time, and I will probably fly Lufthansa again. My guess is that I spent a lot less time e-mailing and calling Lufthansa and posting to this newsgroup about this issue than I would re inflating my tires before I can ride out of the airport on my next tour. Nice when something goes that way, eh? Thanks for posting it. Bill "frustrated dealing with corporations lately" S. |
#3
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bikes on planes revisited
mark wrote: A while back I posted a brief rant about how Lufthansa made me deflate the tires on my bike before they would accept the bike as checked baggage, how I ended up re-inflating a pair of fat touring tires with a hand pump in the arrival area of Florence Peretola Airport while in a jet-lagged, sleep deprived stupor, and how I had sent an e-mail to Lufthansa customer relations politely questioning the need for such a policy. I came home from work last night to find a message from Lufthansa on my answering machine, from the same customer service rep I spoke to after sending the e-mail. The lady told me that Lufthansa had re-evaluated the policy, they had determined that it was not necessary to deflate bicycle tires for air travel, and they were revising the policy regarding bicycle tires immediately. I was gratified to hear that Lufthansa reexamined their policy and changed it because of my e-mail, and I was pleasantly surprised to get a phone call from them telling me that they had changed their rules. I hope to do another Italy trip in about two years time, and I will probably fly Lufthansa again. My guess is that I spent a lot less time e-mailing and calling Lufthansa and posting to this newsgroup about this issue than I would re inflating my tires before I can ride out of the airport on my next tour. mark This was probably asked and answered on the prior thread but just in case... If the tires are fully inflated and the luggage compartment is not pressurized, what will happen to the tires? I envision you arriving at your destination having to replace two tires rather than simply having to inflate two tires. Jeff |
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bikes on planes revisited
wrote:
If the tires are fully inflated and the luggage compartment is not pressurized, what will happen to the tires? I envision you arriving at your destination having to replace two tires rather than simply having to inflate two tires. Not to worry. Even if the plane flew into space from a sea level airport, there would be less than a 15psi relative increase in the tire air pressure. So unless you're pumping your tires to within a few psi of blowing off the rim when traveling, this is a virtual non-issue. Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles http://www.habcycles.com Home of the $795 ti frame |
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bikes on planes revisited
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#7
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bikes on planes revisited
"mark" wrote: (clip) If the rim is already damaged (scored by a sharp rock that got caught in the brake pad is a common scenario) it's possible that such a pressure fluctuation would accelerate the onset of rim failure, but in such an instance the rim is already damaged and should have been replaced before traveling anywhere with the bike.. Ditto for sidewall cuts, etc. in the tire. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This is exactly right. We do occasionally hear about tires blowing off that are on the ground. However, realistically, if the airline continues this relaxed policy, eventually someone us going to have a blowout in the luggage compartment, and the "experts" at the airline will initiate a policy requiring that all tires be deflated. |
#8
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bikes on planes revisited
Leo Lichtman wrote:
"mark" wrote: (clip) If the rim is already damaged (scored by a sharp rock that got caught in the brake pad is a common scenario) it's possible that such a pressure fluctuation would accelerate the onset of rim failure, but in such an instance the rim is already damaged and should have been replaced before traveling anywhere with the bike.. Ditto for sidewall cuts, etc. in the tire. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This is exactly right. We do occasionally hear about tires blowing off that are on the ground. However, realistically, if the airline continues this relaxed policy, eventually someone us going to have a blowout in the luggage compartment, and the "experts" at the airline will initiate a policy requiring that all tires be deflated. Which is exactly why I don't fly commercial anymore. Air travel has gotten ridiculous and I don't want to be one of the sheep that puts up with it. It was bad enough back in 2001 when every single seat was sold out on every flight and it was like being in a sardine can at 30,000+ feet. Now with the security checks and waits I can probably drive there faster and not have to rent a car when I get there. OT, the blowout scene is absurdly unlikely, but the bang in the baggage compartment might cause mass panic. Of course it makes no sense to panic if you just heard the plane blow something at 30,000 feet because at that point you kind of know you are screwed anyway. On one of my last voluntary commuter trips I was in the back of a 727 trying to get to know a real fox over the noise of the center engine when we both heard a loud THUD and it got quiet enough to talk. Then the captain came on and said we would be flying at a slightly reduced speed so expect to arrive late. He never said anything to the passengers, but after I got off the plane in the grey bowl of Los Angeles soup I saw the plane being moved to the maintenance hangar. Makes you wonder how much really goes wrong that you never hear about. Bill Baka |
#9
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bikes on planes revisited
Leo Lichtman wrote:
"mark" wrote: (clip) If the rim is already damaged (scored by a sharp rock that got caught in the brake pad is a common scenario) it's possible that such a pressure fluctuation would accelerate the onset of rim failure, but in such an instance the rim is already damaged and should have been replaced before traveling anywhere with the bike.. Ditto for sidewall cuts, etc. in the tire. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This is exactly right. We do occasionally hear about tires blowing off that are on the ground. However, realistically, if the airline continues this relaxed policy, eventually someone us going to have a blowout in the luggage compartment, and the "experts" at the airline will initiate a policy requiring that all tires be deflated. Hopefully the airline will do what British Airways does, which is to put a note on the website telling travelers that they *may* wish to partially or fully deflate their bicycle tires, and that the airline is not responsible for any blowouts, etc. mark |
#10
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bikes on planes revisited
Jeff who? writes:
This was probably asked and answered on the prior thread but just in case... If the tires are fully inflated and the luggage compartment is not pressurized, what will happen to the tires? I envision you arriving at your destination having to replace two tires rather than simply having to inflate two tires. How do you arrive upon that conclusion? Consider that if the bicycle were placed in a vacuum the effective pressure on the tires casings would increase by about 14.7 psi. Note that most good road bicycle tires will withstand 200psi but we don't generally ride that way except for tire tests. All that aside, commercial aircraft are pressurized so that pets traveling in a shipping cage are relatively comfortable in a heated pressurized baggage compartment... along with the bicycles and bags. Jobst Brandt |
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