I've flown several times with my mountain bikes that have disc brakes and did nothing but put a piece of cardboard between the brake pads.

No need to bleed.
Put something between the pads (preferable the spacers that came with the brakes, but anything will do).
The quick connect hoses aren't that helpful.
(E.g. you do not completely disengage your brake or shift lines, no need to do so for hydraulic)

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need for quick disconnects will depend on your bike case and how you pack it.

I've flown once with a gravel bike with hydraulic brakes (sram). All I did for the brakes was stick the plastic spacer they came with between the pads. No issues after the flight to my destination or back home.

During cyclocross season, I fly with my wife’s 2 bikes. About 10 flights a season. So that’s 40 chances for the hydraulic lines to get messed up in air.

Zero issues. Just place the plastic spacer in the caliper (assuming disc brakes and not rim brakes) and you’re all set.

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Alex Arman

Strava

I've flown with my CX bike in an Airport Ninja that requires taking off the fork.

I do suppose that's a positive of external routing...

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If you don't have the plastic spacers that came with the bike you can fold a business card and place it between the pads. Works just as well.

Flown with my internal routing and Ninja and no issues at all. Spacers and taking off the discs to make sure they dont get bent.

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Looking at this old thread and have a question. I have to take my fork off with my bike case. Brake hose is internally routed but it does have one of those cable junction things. If I disconnect hose here, do I need to plug anything? Will I likely need to bleed front brake?

I might have enough slack to take off handlebars and keep everything connected but working under assumption that I cannot.


I have Shimano brakes fyi.

If you disconnect a Shimano easy junction, the oil will leak all over the place. They are designed to be installed easily, not disconnected and reconnected.

Fair, but GCN showing not much going on with fluid, am I righ (see below)t? Is there a way I could disconnect just for fork removal?

Yes, you can disconnect it for fork removal, but if you leave it disconnected during travel, it will leak all over the place. If you lose even a few drops, you will need to bleed it.