Shipping a bike

[Gus]

Does anyone knwo where is the best and cheapest place to ship a bike ?
It needs to go to fargo this week. checking ups on ym way home tonight sounds like about 25.00

[berrywise]

If ya know someone with a Spee Dee Delivery account it would probably cost ya $8.81 to send it (based on a forty pound weight).

If not I have found that Fedex seems to get a little better price than UPS on oversized packages.

[Gus]

I have a spee dee account throiugh work I didnt even think of that we mostly use ups ....thanks

[SpecHR55]

I heard that if ya ship it as art its cheaper.

[stoneage]

I heard that if ya ship it as art its cheaper.
My friends and I used to tell the airport check in that we had manufacturer samples and the bikes would fly free. That was always one of my pet peeves; golf clubs and skis fly free, but they charge for bikes. WTF!!??? Is that just catering to the business traveler, or what? :confused:

[jitterjepp]

My friends and I used to tell the airport check in that we had manufacturer samples and the bikes would fly free. That was always one of my pet peeves; golf clubs and skis fly free, but they charge for bikes. WTF!!??? Is that just catering to the business traveler, or what? :confused:
They used to have that bikes fly free program with America west and Adventure Travel if you had an IMBA membership. I used it a few times but I think the program is gone now. You're right Bill it does suck that they allow other people to bring stuff that weighs as much and is just as big and not charge them. I've heard of people taking apart road bikes and putting them in those big old hard suitcases to avoid the $80 charge on Northwest.

[soupboy]

Call a LBS that carries CrackNFail bikes (Erik's) and ask if they've got an extra bike box. The C'Fail bike boxes are best...you've got to remove both wheels but the overall dimensions are the smallest. This can help keep the package from being deemed "oversized".

I used to use UPS for bikes/frames but now use FedEx Ground exclusively. UPS got really pricey and weird about bikes.

Pack it light and you might be able to ship for $25, but probably a little more.

[JBergland]

FedEx and UPS can both be a little hit-n-miss with their shipping charges. I've had better luck with UPS. However, I also go directly to a shipping center (vs. a UPS Store). Bike boxes generally come in two sizes. If you can get the smaller one, it will make it much easier to ship it for the $25-$30 range that has been mentioned.

Good Luck!!

JB

[crux]

Best that I've seen is a Dulie with the rear triangle mounted forward, wheels side be side. Parts such as helmet and shoes thrown into the mix as well in an old school hardcase suitcase with a section added to the center making it a double wide. Guy flew from BC to AZ with out being charged the crazy fee. Ever since I have been checking thrift stores for a similar case to modify
for this purpose.

Since you need it near term hit up a local shop and grab a bike box then head over to FedEX. Have had to many issues with UPS to trust them with any of my bikes.

[gopherhockey]

Here is another thread with some info that might help

http://www.morcmtb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=12257

[jzipfel]

I've heard of people taking apart road bikes and putting them in those big old hard suitcases to avoid the $80 charge on Northwest.


This is what I do but not the road bike. The FS MTB works great. About ten minutes to tear down and 10-15 to put it back together.

http://gallery.mtbr.com/showphoto.php/photo/7288/cat/500/ppuser/236504

[GearDaddy]

There isn't a hard and fast rule on which is the best way to send the bike. It very much depends on where you are going. On a trip to San Diego I checked into options. UPS was way expensive. Fed-Ex Ground's estimate surprised me as being more expensive than I thought it would be. This was due to the fact that San Diego was one of the furthest "zones" and it was nearly impossible to get the box down to a size that would qualify for a cheaper price. It turned out that just checking it on my Northwest flight was the cheapest. They only charged me $40 for the flight to San Diego, and they charged me nothing on the way home! I should note that Northwest didn't really allow me to reasonably insure my package. Also, I used my own box, and stuffed a bunch of other gear in with it, so it easily weighed over 50 lbs.

Don't just look at the websites. Call around and get the real info on what they'll charge.

[soupboy]

When was that? That was a great deal but I'm pretty sure it's at least $75 each direction now - at least it was last May.

They only charged me $40 for the flight to San Diego, and they charged me nothing on the way home! I should note that Northwest didn't really allow me to reasonably insure my package. Also, I used my own box, and stuffed a bunch of other gear in with it, so it easily weighed over 50 lbs.

[GearDaddy]

When was that? That was a great deal but I'm pretty sure it's at least $75 each direction now - at least it was last May.

It was about a 1 1/2 years ago. I fully expected to get charged more by Northwest when I checked, but I was OK with that because it was still cheaper than other places I checked out. It was unexpected that they didn't charge me anything on the way home too. They just took the box like it was any old checked luggage. Sometimes I think it depends on how full the flight is as to whether they care to charge or not. I'm not sure.