Shipping or flying with 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, compression members, and a security net. 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.

[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]

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!)