Moving with our bikes

[Flur]

My husband and I are being relocated to Seattle (Yay!) from Minneapolis. A moving company will be packing our stuff and moving it across the country, and since we don't have an apartment yet, our belongings will be put into storage for a month while we're in corporate housing. I'm wondering what the best thing to do with our bikes is. I was thinking it would be best to have our LBS box them for shipping, but I've got my bike just the way I want it (handlebar angle, seat height and positioning, etc.) and I hate the idea of having them take it apart and then having another bike shop put it back together (I'm not savvy at doing that myself). Has anyone done this before, and do you have any suggestions (whether you've done this or not)?

Thanks in advance!

[NbyNW]

I just moved from Seattle to Edmonton and our things were in storage for nearly two months.

I put my clunky old mtb and my Dahon in storage, and my road bike came with us in one of our cars -- we decided to drive up rather than ship our cars, since we did not want to put our dog on a plane.

If driving is not an option, why not ask your LBS if they can mark/record your setup if you have them pack your bike? That might help set your mind at ease.

I'm sure other Seattle people will chime in, but I think you can run a search for favorite Seattle/PNW LBSs and bike fitters who can help you on the re-assembly side.

Good luck with your move!

[OakLeaf]

Re: reassembling your bike after shipping, you'll want to know where everything was regardless of who reassembles it.

So put a piece of masking tape around your seatpost.

Mark your stem and handlebars unobtrusively with dots from a Sharpie (a silver one, if your stem and bars are black).

You shouldn't have to take your saddle off the seatpost, but if you do, you can mark the rails and the tilt adjuster with a Sharpie, too.

Or if you can't stand the thought of marking it all up, take measurements and record them.

[GLC1968]

When we made the move from North Carolina to Portland, OR, we both picked out one bike that we figured would work for the most situations (it was winter, so we picked good rain bikes) and we brought those bikes across the country with us on our car (we also drove to avoid putting two dogs and a cat on a plane in the winter).

Our stuff went into storage for months (including our 6 other bikes) and we lived with just one bike each for awhile. The bikes in storage went just as they were - no modifications. The moving company was very careful with them and we had no issues at all. We did not box them up - we just made sure to tell them how precious these bikes were to us and they kept an eye on them. I would be worried boxing them up that that would give them licence to be rough with them or to store them on the bottom of a huge pile of books or something. But I have also since recommended these movers to everyone I know - they did a fantastic job....and I've moved a lot in the past, so I've got a lot to compare them to!

[uk elephant]

I'm hate to chime in with a scare story, but make sure you really trust the shipping company. Ask around for recommendations or some such tactic. I obviously didn't do my homework on that front and the two boxes that were clearly bike boxes (one containing my bike, one containing paintings made by friends) were stolen along the way and never arrived.

As for shipping my bike when travelling on holiday, I've just done the packing and re-assembly myself using the marking tips suggested by others and not had a problem.

[tulip]

If you are driving your car(s), you might want to consider taking your bikes with you.

[Fredwina]

I've also had very good luck with leaving the bike as-is and letting the movers do their job with a couple of moves

[mauisher]

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.

[mauisher]

Whoops, forgot to mention that both FedEx and UPS allow you to ship your bike insured. I've found FedEx Ground to be the cheapest, but it may be different for you. If you ship them to your corporate apt you can use them right away rather than wait for your household shipment to arrive. Aloha!

[OakLeaf]

I knew I had a link somewhere...

http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6...1060-1,00.html

My personal experience is that I don't trust UPS with an empty roll of bubble wrap. I know others have said the same thing. If you're absolutely stuck with having to use UPS, choose air not ground, even though it'll cost more. If you have someone you know on the opposite end to receive your shipments (or will be arriving at your apartment before your boxes), FedEx Home is really inexpensive.

[bmccasland]

I'm still waiting to hear if I get the job in Seattle. If I get the job, unfortunately I don't get to choose my moving company - provided by Uncle Sam. And with three kitties and a dog, there's no room in the car for my bike too. I figured I'd have my LBS pack it, then have a Seattle bike shop reassemble it and refit me. Considering the knee issue I had on the MS tour, I could probably use a new fitting anyway. No, I haven't been on my rode bike since.

[NbyNW]

And with three kitties and a dog, there's no room in the car for my bike too.

Definitely some packing logistics were involved, as we also had to carry enough clothes to deal with the drop in temperatures over potentially 2-3 months.

We've got just the one dog, but we got a roof-top cargo box for my wagon, into which we stuffed our winter coats and a few bags of clothes. With 1/3 of back seat down I could get my bike in standing upwards with front wheel off. That way dog had 2/3 of the back seat, and I still had a good amount of trunk space, and I didn't need to pile things up so as to obstruct my sightlines.

Carrying the bike on top would have been the next option, but I just felt that the bike was safest inside the car.

Plus, it's a little weird knowing that with cargo on top, the vehicle is a bit taller than your used to. Center of gravity goes up and you have to pay more attention to clearances. The car is still not taller than most SUVs, though, so I haven't run into any problems.

[OakLeaf]

Clothes you won't need in transit are the easiest and safest thing to ship. Jam 'em in a box, suitcase or plastic tub, use them to wrap anything fragile, drop the containers off at FedEx and they're at your destination like magic.

Use them to pad your bike, even (with care so nothing gets greasy, of course).

[GLC1968]

Yeah, our bikes were both on the back of the Prius for the drive. Bad move. Two bikes on the back of a Prius acts like a sail. Our MPG dropped to BELOW what the Matrix was getting (we drove both cars - too much stuff with two 70+ lb dogs). We found an ACE hardware and bought a socket set to switch the bikes to the Matrix and were amazed at the change in gas milage. It barely lowered the Matrix MPG at all and the Prius went right back up to where it belonged. It was all about aerodynamics and the shape of the two cars (and the engine size)... Live and learn.

Oh, and I have NEVER seen dirtier bikes before! We spent hours cleaning them up once we got to our destination. I am SOOO thankful we opted to take the 'rain' bikes on the car and not our nice road bikes!