shipping a bike to the states?

[Simon Hodgson]

Does anyone know the cheapest way to ship a road bike to the states? I've tried Parcelforce but they
won't touch the parcel because it's a bicycle (very strange!). Any ideas?

cheers Simon

[Tim]

Simon,

Get parcelforce to do it.
1. Don't tell them it's a bike
2. Describe it as 'transport machinery'

T

"Simon Hodgson" <cop01sh@shef.ac.uk> wrote in message news:biiilp$4n0$1@hermes.shef.ac.uk...
> Does anyone know the cheapest way to ship a road bike to the states? I've tried Parcelforce but
> they won't touch the parcel because it's a bicycle (very strange!). Any ideas?
>
> cheers Simon

[Colin Blackburn]

In article <biiilp$4n0$1@hermes.shef.ac.uk>, cop01sh@shef.ac.uk says...
> Does anyone know the cheapest way to ship a road bike to the states? I've tried Parcelforce but
> they won't touch the parcel because it's a bicycle (very strange!). Any ideas?

Parcelforce have delivered bikes to me before. In both cases they were boxed. An LBS might have a
suitable box.

Colin

[Rg]

"Colin Blackburn" <colin.blackburn@durham.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:MPG.19b6e314fca19bd6989be4@localhost...
> In article <biiilp$4n0$1@hermes.shef.ac.uk>, cop01sh@shef.ac.uk says...
> > Does anyone know the cheapest way to ship a road bike to the states?
I've
> > tried Parcelforce but they won't touch the parcel because it's a bicycle (very strange!). Any
> > ideas?
>
> Parcelforce have delivered bikes to me before. In both cases they were boxed. An LBS might have a
> suitable box.
>
> Colin

If you pack the bike in a used carton from the LBS or Halfords with plenty or rolled up newspaper as
padding (turn or remove handlebars, remove front wheel and pedals) the you have a "shippable"
package BUT it will probably be too big for Parcelforce to take (they have a height + length + width
limit like airline suitcase rules)

I have shipped a couple of bikes overseas (USA and Japan) using DHL - not cheap BUT 100% reliable
and 2 days service. (UPS also ship packages this big)

RG

[Digweed .. ;\)]

Simon Hodgson tried to scribble ...

> Does anyone know the cheapest way to ship a road bike to the states? I've tried Parcelforce but
> they won't touch the parcel because it's a bicycle (very strange!). Any ideas?

Just dropped my mum off at Stansted for a trip to France via Ryanair .. There were two bikes,
obviously bikes as they were wrapped in 'see-through' bubble wrap, and the handlers were great
with them. Course, I didn't see how they were loaded onto the actual plane, but within the
confines of the terminal the bikes were passed between three different handlers and they were all
taking great care.

Maybe the trick _is_ to make a bike look like a bike .. ;)

Or wrap it so firmly and blandly (stick it in a box with foam etc) that it can be chucked about with
impunity .. ;)

--
Digweed

[Fraggle]

Doesnotcompute <dncDELETE@ukbodyart.org> wrote in news:biiock$910d8$1@ID- 30778.news.uni-berlin.de:
><bike transport to the US of A>
>
> Why not use a better suited service? I can name a dozen or more airfreight or ocean freight
> companies who would carry your goods across the atlantic.
>
> --
> Dnc

The OP would probably be happy if you did ;)

Fragg

[Doesnotcompute]

Fraggle wrote:
> Doesnotcompute <dncDELETE@ukbodyart.org> wrote in news:biiock$910d8$1@ID-
> 30778.news.uni-berlin.de:
>
>><bike transport to the US of A>
>>
>>Why not use a better suited service? I can name a dozen or more airfreight or ocean freight
>>companies who would carry your goods across the atlantic.

> The OP would probably be happy if you did ;)

If the OP gives me a clue to the desired method, I will give a list of reasonable companies and
contact details when I'm back in the office.

--
Dnc

[Mark]

"Digweed .. ;)" wrote
>
> Just dropped my mum off at Stansted for a trip to France via Ryanair .. There were two bikes,
> obviously bikes as they were wrapped in
'see-through'
> bubble wrap, and the handlers were great with them. Course, I didn't see how they were loaded onto
> the actual plane, but within the confines of the terminal the bikes were passed between three
> different handlers and they were all taking great care.
>
> Maybe the trick _is_ to make a bike look like a bike .. ;)
>
> Or wrap it so firmly and blandly (stick it in a box with foam etc) that it can be chucked about
> with impunity .. ;)

British Airways has reportedly told customers that they would prefer just that. Turn the handlebars
sideways, reverse the pedals, and wrap it in plastic. Most baggage handlers have no particular wish
to smash up anybody's belongings but they are frequently under a good bit of pressure to get the
plane loaded as quickly as possible. If an item obviously requires careful handling they will do
their best, but to a man in a hurry a cardboard box does not look like anything requiring special
handling. Getting the bike to the check in counter well ahead of flight time would probably help a
great deal, as would travelling outside of peak travel periods.

If the OP is planning on travelling to the US with his bike, most airlines will accept a bicycle as
checked baggage, at no charge on flights from Europe/UK to the US. Flights within the US are a
different story, however.
--
mark

[Simon Hodgson]

> If the OP gives me a clue to the desired method, I will give a list of reasonable companies and
> contact details when I'm back in the office.

Thanks to everyone for all your advice. Firstly, I'm not travelling with the bike. I'm looking for
the cheapest method (time is not important). I've had a quick scout around and it seems that most
shipping companies use normal weight and dimensional weight when calculating shipping costs. The
dimensional weight is calculated by (length x width x height in
cm) / 6000. If the dimensional weight is greater than the normal weight then that is used to
calculate the shipping costs. So even though my bike package weight is 12kg, the box is 134 x 20
x 74 cm, giving a dimensional weight of
33.5kg. As you'd expect 33.5kg to the states is quite expensive!

cheers Simon

[B. Lafferty]

You might consider a bicycle hard case that is acceptable to UPS standards. Most LBSs carry them or
can obtain them for you. I have shipped bicycles here in the US in such cases via UPS. They have
been accepted and delivered with no problems. Make certain that the bicycle is insured for
replacement value.

However, why would one travel here to cycle when a Channel crossing is so close at hand? :-)

"RG" <newszzzzzz@bntinternet.com> wrote in message news:biis78$1g3$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
>
> "Colin Blackburn" <colin.blackburn@durham.ac.uk> wrote in message
> news:MPG.19b6e314fca19bd6989be4@localhost...
> > In article <biiilp$4n0$1@hermes.shef.ac.uk>, cop01sh@shef.ac.uk says...
> > > Does anyone know the cheapest way to ship a road bike to the states?
> I've
> > > tried Parcelforce but they won't touch the parcel because it's a
bicycle
> > > (very strange!). Any ideas?
> >
> > Parcelforce have delivered bikes to me before. In both cases they were boxed. An LBS might have
> > a suitable box.
> >
> > Colin
>
> If you pack the bike in a used carton from the LBS or Halfords with plenty or rolled up newspaper
> as padding (turn or remove handlebars, remove front wheel and pedals) the you have a "shippable"
> package BUT it will probably
be
> too big for Parcelforce to take (they have a height + length + width limit like airline
> suitcase rules)
>
> I have shipped a couple of bikes overseas (USA and Japan) using DHL - not cheap BUT 100% reliable
> and 2 days service. (UPS also ship packages this big)
>
> RG

[Doesnotcompute]

Simon Hodgson wrote:
>>If the OP gives me a clue to the desired method, I will give a list of reasonable companies and
>>contact details when I'm back in the office.
>
>
> Thanks to everyone for all your advice. Firstly, I'm not travelling with the bike. I'm looking for
> the cheapest method (time is not important). I've had a quick scout around and it seems that most
> shipping companies use normal weight and dimensional weight when calculating shipping costs. The
> dimensional weight is calculated by (length x width x height in
> cm) / 6000. If the dimensional weight is greater than the normal weight then that is used to
> calculate the shipping costs. So even though my bike package weight is 12kg, the box is 134 x
> 20 x 74 cm, giving a dimensional weight of
> 33.5kg. As you'd expect 33.5kg to the states is quite expensive!

Yup, it's called "volumetric" shipping aka "having their cake AND eating it". Shipping Ocean and
air, is just about the only legal cartel left on the planet and it'll stay that way forever.

At least however you know you can use good quality packaging materials (up to the volumetric weight)
for no penalty.

Where abouts are you and where abouts does the bike need to go? I'll get you some contacts.

Have you sold it? is it a gift? Other? This will make a difference on documents required, or rather
the info on them.

--
Dnc

[Simon Hodgson]

> At least however you know you can use good quality packaging materials (up to the volumetric
> weight) for no penalty.
>
> Where abouts are you and where abouts does the bike need to go? I'll get you some contacts.
>
> Have you sold it? is it a gift? Other? This will make a difference on documents required, or
> rather the info on them.
>
> --
> Dnc
>

I'm in the process of selling it. The best quote that I've had so far is from a very friendly little
company called 'Transglobal Express Ltd', who are available on the web. This place is quoting at
almost half the price of the big shippers DHL, TNT etc. If I can cram my beautiful racing bike into
a 134 x 20 x 74 cm box then it will cost approximately £120, door to door in two days, anywhere in
the states, which I don't think is too bad. Anyway, I hope this info is of use the others in the
same boat!

cheers Simon