Shipping horror stories?

[Robbin_G]

Does anyone have any nightmare stories when shipping their bike? If I thought I was going to do tons of flying with my bike, I'd spend the $300 on the Trico case but I'm not sure yet. I'm just trying to get my bike back to mom's until post graduate school life gets itself figured out, but putting my precious Coppi in a cardboard box scares me.

Does the LBS normally do this for a fee? I'm not even sure I'd pack it right.

Thanks!

[betagirl]

I've never shipped my bike, but a friend of mine does every year for RAGRBAI (in Iowa, he lives in Georgia). He's done it 11 years or something crazy, and last year was the first year he had a problem. UPS lost it temporarily. Which gave him a major heart attack. But they found it and got it to its destination in time for him to do the ride, but barely. I think it showed up the morning we left for the start town. A lot of the guys on my team for RAGBRAI ship their bikes. You can rent one of those cases from your LBS for like $40 or something similar.

Good luck :)

[Robbin_G]

I've never shipped my bike, but a friend of mine does every year for RAGRBAI (in Iowa, he lives in Georgia). He's done it 11 years or something crazy, and last year was the first year he had a problem. UPS lost it temporarily. Which gave him a major heart attack. But they found it and got it to its destination in time for him to do the ride, but barely. I think it showed up the morning we left for the start town. A lot of the guys on my team for RAGBRAI ship their bikes. You can rent one of those cases from your LBS for like $40 or something similar.

Good luck :)

I'm moving so I can't rent....they'd never get it back. :-) I guess the lack of response of this question is a good indicator.

[Grog]

Maybe consider instead a bike bag?

In the $200 range you should find something decent. Easier to carry than a box, too.

[DeniseGoldberg]

Does the LBS normally do this for a fee? I'm not even sure I'd pack it right.

A decent bike shop will certainly pack a bike for a fee. When I first started traveling with my bike - in the days before I was riding a folding bike for ease of traveling with my bike - I spent a couple of hours at my LBS learning to pack my bike. I could have paid them to pack it for me, but I chose to have a one-on-one class with a mechanic. I packed the bike with his guidance. So that's another option.

And while a hard case certainly sounds safer, bikes are shipped in cardboard boxes (on their way to the bike shops), and most of them make it ok. Once you have it packed then you can choose to ship via a service like UPS or Fedex or... or you can check it as baggage if you are flying to your destination.

--- Denise

[SadieKate]

I've only shipped via FedEx and it was fine. From what I've read, both UPS and Fedex are not only kinder to the bikes but the insurance is better.

I had an LBS do the packing both ways because I'd never done it, took it over to the shipping place and made sure the insurance would cover full replacement value.

[tprevost]

I just sold my touring bike on ebay and my LBS packed it in a box they had rec'd another bike in for $40. The bike made it to the east coast safe and sound. Of course, the shipping was another cost but it was packaged pretty well for the trip! ;)

T~

[shadon]

Four friends did RAGBRAI last summer and paid to have their bikes packed by a LBS in Iowa, at the end, and shipped home via UPS. They paid for insurance. When the bikes arrived in San Francisco, ALL of them had signifigant damage, two beyond repair. UPS has been no help whatsoever. The insurance that they paid for appears to be useless.

If I were shipping my bike, I'd buy a case, and I wouldn't use UPS.

[Duck on Wheels]

My bike shippings have gone OK so far. Just a couple small parts gone missing through cracks in the box. But UK Elephant had to ship her bike when she moved to UK. That's over 6 months ago now, and the bike still hasn't arrived. Nor have 2 other bike boxes packed with paintings. Either the company has a bike thief somewhere along the line, or they're simply incompetent. They couldn't fit the bike boxes into the shrink wrap on the pallett and so stacked them separately. Maybe somewhere along the line they got forgotten and are simply collecting dust in some warehouse.

And the company's response? First they said it was not their problem that she hadn't insured. She had to send them a copy of the insurance documents before they (claimed to) try to locate the boxes, then paid out the insurance. Way too little to cover the cost of a new bike, and the paintings were irreplaceable. So here's another warning to add to the growing list: Never ship with that company -- I think the name is Tolbers.

[VenusdeVelo]

We've had decent luck shipping bikes (overseas primarily). We have a good strong case (Competitive Cyclist is where we bought it). Personally I would not trust my bike in a cardboard case...I would just worry about it.

Flying internationally though, although you can check as luggage, they generally charge an add'l fee for the bike. Very few airlines will do it free anymore. Ours was I think $50 or $75 last trip on KLM from Netherlands to Chicago (each way). Each airline has a section on their website as to charges.

I agree, shipping with UPS and Fedex is about the safest I think. Our last time shipping skis and bikes with Fedex was a very good one. You can pre-ship and make sure it's there when you arrive so it works out well and now that airlines are charging anyway for the bikes packed in the sturdy / larger cases, it's worth the few more $$. (No lugging it at the airport either!)

[SalsaMTB]

My husband ships bikes out through his shop. There is a fee associated with the packing of the bike. He actually likes the US postal service for shipping but bike boxes do not meet their max dimensions so you can not ship through them. He's had bad experiences with UPS so he will not use their services anymore. He used FedEx and has had good luck. I would recommend going fedex instead of UPS based off his experiences.

Also, like someone else said, shops received their bikes in boxes, so it's OK to ship using a box. Just make sure you go to someone you trust to pack your bike properly!

ETA: I should clarify, I'm not sure that his bad experiences w/ UPS were with shipping bikes out. It was more with other items he has shipped and bikes he has received through them some (not most) of the boxes have been pretty beat up.

[uk elephant]

I have shipped my bike a few times. First when moving from Norway to Wisconsin. That time I just checked it in as luggage with my suitcases. Everything arrived without any problems. Second time when moving back to Norway. This time with a shipping company together with all my other boxes of random stuff. All arrived without any problems. This last time, when moving to UK, the shipping company lost all bike boxes including the one with the bike in it.

As for packing, I just did it myself. Went to the LBS and asked for an empty bike box which they let me have for free (they always have stacks of them in the back somewhere). When moving from Wisconsin back to Norway, the LBS was right across the street. When I picked up the box, they gave me some quick instructions on how to pack the bike. I then had to go back a few more times to borrow the necessary tools (I never had much and what I had was packed up). The guy was very helpful and all was free of charge even though I had never actually bought anything in there. It never hurts to ask....

But now that my latest bike shipment got lost/stolen, I'm a bit more nervous about shipping my bike. And I'll need to ship again next year when Trek420 and I are doing the AidsRide. Hopefully the guys in my LBS here where I bought the bike will be as helpful as the guys in WI. The bigger problem will be how to get the bike moved once it's in the box.....Diffucult to cycle home from the LBS with the bike packed up.....

[Bad JuJu]

Never shipped my bike, but I know several people who have shipped theirs via UPS for one of the AIDS rides, and they reported no significant issues.

[DebW]

When I worked in a LBS, we'd unpack about a dozen bikes a day from boxes and seldom found any damage. But they came in a UPS truck with dozens of bike boxes together and we helped the driver unload, so they got treated well. One bike box among other stuff that makes several transfers might not. I used to pack my bike in a box and take it by plane twice a year from home to college (that was 1974-78). It got damaged once and the airline refused to pay since I didn't report the damage before I left the airport. Was I supposed to put the bike together and ride it around the terminal before taking it home? I rode with a slightly bent fork for the next 20 years (but there was a notch in the headset to compensate). Make sure you put a rigid spacer between the fork tips and dropouts when you pack a bike.

[Duck on Wheels]

The bigger problem will be how to get the bike moved once it's in the box.....Diffucult to cycle home from the LBS with the bike packed up.....

I recently did this when doing a smaller ride with Trek. DHL will pick up from the bike shop. I happened to have a car and drove the box out to their office, which is cheaper, but I don't think the pick-up fee is prohibitive. The bike was delivered on time and in good shape.

[Tuckervill]

Couldn't you just rent the hard case and ship it back empty to the bike shop?

Karen