Due to where I live I have to ship my bike a lot. A reputable local bike shop can pack it in a double bike box with lots of protection and it should be fine. However, personally, I own a Trico Iron Case and my bike has survived several trans-Pacific and trans-USA journeys unscathed. I've also used a doubled bike box from a LBS in a pinch. I do the packing myself. As others have mentioned, mark the seatpost with some tape, so you know the exact height. The seat angle and fore-aft position should not be touched on the seatpost. Just remove the seatpost/seat as a unit. When you remove the handlebars, just remove the stem from the fork post/steering tube as a handlebar/stem unit....do not take the handlebars from the stem. Remember how many spacers you have below and above the stem on the fork. That way the handlebar position will be exactly preserved. Make sure that when the bike is packed the front and rear dropouts are braced so they won't be squished....I use a bolt with four wingnuts that I wedge in the dropouts to mimic an axle. The pedals may have to be removed. I remove the rear derailleur and zip tie it and the chain together with bubble wrap. I also use the cheap gray pipe insulation you can find at hardware stores/Home Depot to protect the frame. It comes in various diameters and I zip tie this foam to the frame. The wheels need to be separated from the frame by some additional cardboard or foam and also from each other. This has worked for me so far. Hope this helps...good luck.