Shipping or flying with bike

[OakLeaf]

I know this topic must've been discussed before, but searches just bring up everything regarding online sales :o

If I'm going to do the LoneStar ride this September (not definite yet) I'm going to need to get my bike from Point A to Point B.

I'd like to hear from anyone who's flown with or shipped a bike - what crate you used, what carrier you used, how was your experience.

I'm leaning toward shipping. For one thing I don't want to push my luck with TSA - we've had experiences before where they've opened a case containing expensive equipment and not closed it up again properly. Luckily nothing's been lost or damaged so far, but I don't want to tempt fate. For another thing that's just one less huge piece I'll have to schlep through the airport.

TIA!

[mimitabby]

we have bike boxes. Ours are hardshell plastic luggage
but here's one: http://www.stacksandstacks.com/html/100343_bike-box-waterproof.htm

it's definitely cheaper and less of a hassle to ship. Airlines have gotten really expensive to ship oversized stuff.

[Blueberry]

No personal experience (yet), but this might help: http://www.bikeaccess.net/bikeaccess/

CA

[uk elephant]

I brought my bike from UK to US in hard shell bike case as extra luggage. No extra fee going to US (guy was being nice as it was for a charity ride), but I did pay $25 in excess baggage fee to get it back. Bike arrived safe and sound both ways. Only annoying thing was travelling through London on the tube with suitcase and gigantic bike box. But even with the cost of renting the box for three weeks and paying the $25 each way for oversized baggage it wound up cheaper than shipping.

[Harley]

Before you decide...
Check with your local UPS or FedEx store for shipping prices. Give them the dimension of the box, approx weight, insurance amount, destination zip code and they can calculate cost. Shipping rates are going up drastically (like everything else) and bicycles are oversize boxes.

Don't depend on the internet rates, as they do not include all actual costs.

Be sure and allow enough time for transit. Pad all parts if using a cardboard box, and lots of fiber tape to hold the box together.

(we own a small parcel service)

[OakLeaf]

I just priced FedEx (internet rate - but I'm pretty sure the rate is guaranteed when you print the label yourself as long as the weight and dimensions are accurate) and it definitely isn't cheaper than flying with extra luggage! (I wouldn't trust UPS with a Wal-Mart bike.)

But it's probably more secure and definitely less hassle.


Elephant and Mimi, what case did you use? (unless I read you wrong Mimi, you didn't use the CrateWorks box?)

[mimitabby]

$25!! that's really cheap. We paid $50 each way per bike box.
and that was within the US. We heard horror stories about what people paid to get their bikes to France last summer for the Paris Brest Paris ride.

[aka_kim]

I have (well, actually it's borrowed) a Trico Iron Case to hold my bike. I've flown with it several times, mostly without incident (once TSA apparently opened it but didn't close it too well). I think I paid $50 to $80 each way, but bike fees are really capriciously applied, so in the past you could occasionally find an agent or curbside guy who would waive the fee.

I'm taking my bike to a tour this summer, but after seeing some of the current bike fees ($100 on United, $80 UsAir) decided to try shipping it. I'd heard good and bad about UPS and Fedex shipping, and finally decided to try http://www.sportsexpress.com - they provide door-to-door service, a guarantee of some sort, and deal with the actual carrier for you.

There's an active thread on this subject over at Bike Journal now too.

[uk elephant]

$25 was with Virgin Atlantic. From my impression a very good airline all around, but I've only flown with them on that one trip yet. They charge $25 as a standard fee for any outsized/overweight bag regardless of what you put in it.

I don't know what the name/brand of the case was unfortunately. Just whatever the bike store was renting out. Very large which was cumbersome on crowded London trains, but easy for packing the bike.

[sundial]

I just priced FedEx ......(I wouldn't trust UPS with a Wal-Mart bike.)

Oakleaf, I have found FedEx to be a better shipping service when it comes to large, fragile items. I use them to ship my art. And when hubby and I travel, we tend to ship stuff home rather than carry it on board. If we were to travel with our bikes, we would probably ship them via FedEx to our destination.

[tulip]

I recently purchased a Bike Friday for traveling. It folds up into a suitcase and is considered regular luggage. If you only travel once, it's not worth it, but I plan on traveling with my bike alot, and it's sure more convenient than dealing with a bike box.

I rode a metric century on Saturday on the Bike Friday, and it was just great. It was my longest ride of the year so far, and the longest on that particular bike. The bike is fantastic to ride, and it feels like a full-sized bike.

I'm taking it to France on Sunday for a few weeks of touring, including some getting from place-to-place on trains.

If you have questions about the Bike Friday way of doing things, feel free to send me a PM.

[Tokie]

I recommend shipping too, have used Sports express with good satisfaction. Bike Fridays got a bit messed up by TSA - beware Tulip, bring extra spokes, my husbands wheel sustained spoke damage after TSA checked his BF.There is a good web article on packing your bike for shippping on a triathalon website, but I can't remember where! One thing I liked was wrapping the frame with foam pipe insulation. Tokie

[DebW]

I have an S&S coupled bike that travels great. Though it takes an hour or two to pack and unpack it each time. For maximum travel protection, wrap each tube in padding and secure everything so that nothing can rattle around inside the case. The S&S website offers frame padding (http://www.sandsmachine.com/ac_cover.htm), compression members (http://www.sandsmachine.com/ac_comp.htm), and a security net (http://www.sandsmachine.com/ac_net.htm). I also use fleece fabric pieces and Velcro One-Wrap to cover brake calipers, cranksets, etc. Plastic dropout spacers and axle end caps are also excellent things to have. Though TSA has opened my case, nothing has been distrurbed with the security net holding everything together.

[Aint Doody]

For the last few years I've flown with my bike in a Serfas case. The case is great. And I've been lucky enough to be able to talk the gate agents out of paying anything as it weighs under 50 lbs. The case has wheels and a strap.

However, this year on my way to Cycle Zydeco it seemed that I was going to make up for all those "freebies." I flew out of Pendleton, OR, to Portland on a separate ticket than the rest of the flight. The agent in Pendleton was going to charge me $75 for my bike to fly 250 miles! My cost for me for that leg was $74.95. I talked them into $50. Then the next leg on a separate ticket was $80 for my bike. I whined, pleaded, begged, batted my eyes--all to no avail. I've always had good luck with airlines before. But I think the fuel costs have them charging everywhere they can. I cannot blame them. But it does gall me that golf clubs go for free--they weigh more and some golf cases are quite bulky. Maybe I should have said it was golf clubs.........

Well, after that experience, my return included a leg to Memphis to spend a few days with Momma. I figured I'd probably have to spend $240 to get Doody home. I wasn't too keen on that. Sooooo--I went online to ship her UPS (we have a UPS acct. as a retail business.) I wanted to do 3 day, but that was $230! So I opted for ground--a week getting here. It appeared to be a charge of $130. Still cheaper than flying.

When I got the invoice from UPS, they had charged me $100. But here was the rub--The package weighed 40 lbs. Because it was oversized they charge as if it weighs 90 lbs. OK, I can buy that, but then there was a $45 "oversize charge." I called on that--do one or the other, but not both. I was fortunate to find a sympathetic supervisor who took off the $45 charge. So Doody went from Gulfport, MS to Pendleton, OR for $60.

All that said, I think that I'm going to look into a Bike Friday or renting at my destination. I just worry too much about what couldhappen.

[brittmix]

i have a question about shipping also - i need to ship my bike (and my soon-to-be-husband's bike) from raleigh, NC to barcelona. i looked at that sports express page, and it was quoting me over $1000 each way...
obviously, i'd rather pay the $80 to put it under the plane, but my question is - has anyone had any luck with asking the baggage checkers to just let me put it on the front of the plane? also, is putting the bike in a box the only way to ship it? if i took off the wheels, seat and handlebars, and then maybe laid the fork down alongside my frame, and wrapped it all up, could it be considered normal sized baggage? we're only checking our bikes and whatever we can fit in panniers, and while my steel framed bike isn't the lightest thing, it still isn't over the allowed baggage weight. just wondering if we can do this thing any cheaper, because we're going to have to fly our bikes from US to Spain and then Rome to Tanzania, and then Tanzania to US. any suggestions?

[ginny]

Hi - I have a friend who routinely ships his bike for big touring trips he does. He goes to whatever LBS happens to be around, they will often pack and ship it for you in a bike box at a cheaper (can you believe it?) rate than fed ex or UPS at their stores. If it was my bike, I would go to LBS and get a box and pack it myself and have them ship it. They often will ship it to a bike store wherever you are going and you can just pick it up there. I can get specific details from my friend if you are uber interested in this route.

[DebW]

But it does gall me that golf clubs go for free--they weigh more and some golf cases are quite bulky. Maybe I should have said it was golf clubs.........


At the UBI bike class last week, one guy brought his bike by plane in a large oversized case. He had painted "PRO GOLF" on the outside of the box, and it went for free!

[Aint Doody]

At the UBI bike class last week, one guy brought his bike by plane in a large oversized case. He had painted "PRO GOLF" on the outside of the box, and it went for free!

I knew I was on to something! I'll call it anything to take it for free. I hate being discriminated against for trying to be healthy.

[tulip]

i have a question about shipping also - i need to ship my bike (and my soon-to-be-husband's bike) from raleigh, NC to barcelona. i looked at that sports express page, and it was quoting me over $1000 each way...
obviously, i'd rather pay the $80 to put it under the plane, but my question is - has anyone had any luck with asking the baggage checkers to just let me put it on the front of the plane? also, is putting the bike in a box the only way to ship it? if i took off the wheels, seat and handlebars, and then maybe laid the fork down alongside my frame, and wrapped it all up, could it be considered normal sized baggage? we're only checking our bikes and whatever we can fit in panniers, and while my steel framed bike isn't the lightest thing, it still isn't over the allowed baggage weight. just wondering if we can do this thing any cheaper, because we're going to have to fly our bikes from US to Spain and then Rome to Tanzania, and then Tanzania to US. any suggestions?

Great trip!

No, the airlines will not let you just put a bike in the front of the plane. At $100 per bike per flight, you're looking at $1000 easy. Maybe there's some European bike rental agency from which you could rent a bike from Barcelona to Rome. Or you could buy used bikes in Barcelona and sell them in Rome.

Or get Bike Fridays :)

[tulip]

Bike Fridays got a bit messed up by TSA - beware Tulip, bring extra spokes, my husbands wheel sustained spoke damage after TSA checked his BF.There is a good web article on packing your bike for shippping on a triathalon website, but I can't remember where! One thing I liked was wrapping the frame with foam pipe insulation. Tokie

I have spokes. I also have printed photos of the packed bike and a big note in English and French explaining that the bike only goes in one way, please be careful, etc. taped to the inside of the case. Other Bike Friday folks have reported that this works well. I'll report back after the trip.

I also heard that in one instance, the ticket agent still wanted to charge for a bike for a Bike Friday in a suitcase. The owner got around that one by saying that it's actually bike parts, which it is (took me 40 minutes to pack!)