Discussion: How to ship a Bike?

How does one ship their bike if you plan to fly to a race? Never done it before and was looking for best (and reasonable priced) method to do it. Time is not necesarily of the essence.

Thank you!

(I posted this on the AR page, but that doesn't seem to get too much traffic)

There's several different ways you could go about this. If you have a decent hardshell bike box I would suggest taking on the plane with you as a check-in piece. The price is dependent on the airline but generally ranges between $50-$100 each way. Southwest charges $50 each way. Downside is if you have connecting flights there's the chance of the airline losing/delaying your bike. Although I have flown a lot with my bike and this hasn't yet happened to me.

The other option is shipping your bike via a courier like UPS or FEDEX. This usually means more breakdown/taking apart of your bike and assembly once you get to where you are going. Some people have the bike shipped to a bike shop near the race HQ to have them reassemble the bike. This is all too much of a hassle for me and with courier prices as they are these days and then having to time the bike arrival with your own arrival, I prefer to fly with my bike.

Another option I've only heard of friends doing is to fly with your bike, but without a bike box. Seems crazy to me but most airlines allow it from what I understand and the idea is that the luggage handlers are more careful with the bike because it's unprotected. Seems pretty crazy to me, but I know people that swear by this method of travel.

Another way, that doesn't require much of a breakdown, is to ship on AMTRAK. For $15 Amtrak will provide a large bike box, into which the bike can be wheeled, after lowering the seat, removing the pedals, and twisting the handlebars..the wheels don't even have to be removed. The box goes aboard daily passenger trains in baggage cars, so delivery is quite prompt and cheap, to any Amtrak station.

If you personally travel on Amtrak with your bike, the charge is only $5, plus the $15 for the box. And there are certain trains that allow you to wheel the bike right aboard with you...so no box needed.

When you get to your destination, you can use your bike to get you from the train station to the event, and dispense with any rental car. A couple days' warm-up ride can be most enjoyable.

I think most of us just fly with it in hard bike boxes. Sucking it up and paying the fees. The trick is if you have to pay for it, just load it up with all your heavy stuff (up to 100lbs). Your standard bags are typically 50lbs (keeping it in US units..;-).

In principle most U.S. carriers are supposed to charge you for overweight on a bike, too. Not for oversize, but yes for over 50 lbs or 70 lbs, depending on your FF tier.

I have seen college bike teams travel with pairs of wheels as carry-ons. I assume that the frames travelled as checked baggage. Maybe they pack multiple frames per box.

Flying with bikes is a nightmare. Especially if you are travelling US airways of Delta. Delta charges at least $175 each way( $100 becaus eit is a bike and $75 because it is oversize) they will charge you even more if you have two other bags. alaska is the best. they usually charge $50 one way. But in most cases you bike will be damaged. Even if it is packed in a hardshell case. Usually TSA opens it and it doesn't get repacked properly and then the luggage tossers bust them up. A also there is a 50-50 chance that it doens't make it through with you and you wait a few days for it to arrive.

The best i have found is to take it to your local bike store and have them ship if for you. It is usually shipped at there cost. If you pack it great if they pack it they will charge you a bit more.

Thanks everyone! It doesn't seem quite optimistic, but at least I see there are some options.

So, for flying it with you, any recomendation on the bike box (idiot proof packing and sturdy)?

The amtrack sound pretty reasonable. Chitown, have you personally done that a few times? (i know I'm not supposed to be attached my material things, but i do like my bike:)

There is no real good way to pack for flying. I traveled with my bike about 5 times last year. every time it was opene by tsa. Once I used a friends jumbo hard case box and the box was broken in the corner when it came off the flight (I assume by luggage guys throwing it). I used my smaller bike case and the brake got broken when tsa didn't repack it properly. no matter how much packing material my bike was always scratched badly because it was repacked improperly by tsa

Do not put anything in your case with your bike or it will be lost by tsa or cause delay and possible delay of bike while tsa investigates.

i can not tell you how good it was to use my LBS. i packed my bike in my box and they charged me $125 with 5k of insurance. It was at my hotel when I arrived and the bike was just as I packed it. Also, i didn't need to lug it out of the airport. On a return trip from moab Spyder bikes shipped it home for only $60. that was the best deal i ever got.

A number of years ago, when my brother used to travel with a bike a lot, he tried a lot of different things. The most interesting, which he had heard of other people doing, was to get the entire bike into a garment bag and take it as carry-on luggage. He did pull that off successfully once, but it was too much hassle to be worth doing again. I kind of doubt it could be done these days at all.

jjcote, and I've heard that if you dress in business attire and try and pan it off as a trade show display, it has been known to work. But...well airport security doesn't really seem like a bunch that would get the joke.

Re Amtrak: I've done bike trips all over the US. And after incurring disabling damage, and high cost, transporting my bike by plane and car, I've fallen in love with the convenience, economy and care on Amtrak.

Amtrak is a broken system; doesn't compare with European trains. Trackage and equipment are so worn, outdated and barely-maintained that each trip is an adventure. But the enthusiastic spirit of most Amtrak people keeps the system working, and somehow, you and your bike will get to your destination. While most things on Amtrak may be broken, so are the rules regarding bikes. For example, even tho the "rules" don't permit it, if you show up with a bike, the conductor will probably find a spot on the train for it, perhaps behind the engine. Especially if you tip him $10 or so. They make it work! You definitely get the message that Amtrak wants every passenger it can get...and that you're important to them.

Here's an example: Most Amtrak trains have baggage cars, so require you to box your bike and put it on, and take it off, only at stations offering baggage service. But I may be traveling to a station that doesn't have baggage service. So I check my boxed bike between baggage-service stations. And when the train arrives close to my destination, at the preceding baggage-service station, I've already set it up with (tipped) the conductor so he'll hold the whole train for me, while I grab my boxed bike off the baggage cart, and bring it back aboard. Then I unbox the bike and reassemble it, as the train travels on to my station, where there is no baggage service. And when it arrives, I detrain with my bike, panniers and empty box which I usually induce a local merchant to store for me until I return. If I'm at a different station at the end of my ride, I just hoist my unboxed bike into the baggage car when it is opened...and I've never had a bit of damage.

There are many other subtle benefits of train travel: Amtrak stations are usually in the heart of cities, and connected to a whole web of bikable roads. When you fly, often you're stuck at a remote airport, connected only by expressways where no bikes are permitted.

And your bike route can be more interesting since you don't need to plan a loop trip, to "return to the car." Instead you can bike point-to-point from one Amtrak station, to end up at another, hundreds of miles away. If you're going to a race, select arrival and departure stations to give you an interesting warm-up ride the day before and a cool-down ride the day after. Make your bike a valuable resource, rather than a cumbersome load.

And probably the largest plus of train travel: No inane security or TSA people to deal with.

I've never had a bad experience on Amtrak; every trip on the train has been an adventure, of one kind or another. And sometimes the Amtrak part was the best part of the vacation.

An option that hasn't been mentioned is renting a bike at your destination. Probably won't be quite as nice as your own bike, but it will be cheaper and less hassle. Depending on where you are going, it may or may not be difficult to find a place to rent a bike. Renting a cheap one is easy here in St. Louis because so many people cruise the Katy Trail on rentals. Finding a decent one takes more work, but can be done. If you can plug into the local bike junkie scene, you can probably find somebody about your size who would rent you their personal ride. I've got eight bikes in the garage and I certainly can't ride them all at once.

Renting a bike is definitely the way to go, especially if it is just for training. You can rent high-end road bikes from the right shops if you call around, although most of them will first try to sell you on a 45lb full suspension Huffy.

That said, every time (4 flights) I've flown with a bike its been fine. I usually strip it close to bare and just rebuild it once I arrive. If TSA can see everything in the box, they won't have to take the bike out. Use duct tape to attach tools, brakes, derailleurs, whatever else you take off to the inner sides of the box, so they can't move.

Also, a hard plastic box, while expensive, offers far more protection than a cardboard bike box. Check the airline's website for fees before you get to the airport so you know whats coming...

urthboy thats funny. we went to one event where our partner was able to pass off his bike as medical supplies on the way there. We paid delta $175 and he got away with $50. I couldn't believe it.

On the way back they didn't buy it.
him: It med supplies
them: it a bike
repeat until
Them: lets open it and see
him: they only charged me $50 on the way here
them: we can fix that
him: here is my $175

We were watching and laughing as we offered him some KY jelly

The other interesting one my brother was involved with was when his wife checked her frame and boxed the wheels for carry-on (I think). In any case, she said that what she was carrying was a "spinning wheel", which isn't exactly untrue, and she can fake the requisite granola-crunchiness to pull that off.

My brother has given up on these approaches, now preferring to have bikes stashed in strategic places, and enough connections to borrow or demo a bike pretty much anywhere he goes. He just brings shoes and pedals.

Sometimes, it is convenient when the airlines lose your luggage. Back in the late 80's I spent a year in Norway. I headed off with a bike-box (crammed with bike and gear), a ski bag (crammed with skis and gear) and a backpack. When I arrived in Oslo, only my backpack arrived. So, I spent a couple days with a friend, then headed off by train to the school I was attending. Upon my arrival, my bike and skis were already there - delivered by the airline! That saved me a heck of hassle lugging skis/bikes etc. from airport to city, to train, to taxi, etc.

Also, if you happen to be traveling with a full-size concert harp in a case, I understand that there's enough extra room in there to pack a bicycle. Plus all of the sheets, blankets, pillows, etc. that you might need for college.

thas is hilarious. thank you, guys! I guess it's all about thinking outside of the box :)

re: med supplies. If you ride the bike to potentially save someone (could be your AR partner that needs, say, a blister bandaid from the first aid kit you are carying), I'd say that totally qualifies the bike as med supplies!

I have no personal experience shipping bikes, but used to work once a year in Clemson with a couple of bicyclists. They sometimes shipped to the local shop and sometimes checked it in hard-case, claiming it was either "medical supplies" or "high-tech gear". As of a few years ago, they reported that the airlines were wise to both of those claims and were always asking to see the goods. Now they both ship to the shop.