Amtrak to ship a bike?

[pinkshogun]

i need to ship a bike to the west coast. the shippee says Amtrak. does anybody have experience using Amtrak?

[tbike4]

I would want to know why. Unless it's one of these.

[pinkshogun]

why you say....for another option. im looking into bikeflights too

[KJMUNC]

Bikeflights has almost always been the most reasonable option, with the exception of shipping abroad. Hard to believe there's another option with the same combination of ease + low cost.

[tbike4]

Bikeflights has almost always been the most reasonable option, with the exception of shipping abroad. Hard to believe there's another option with the same combination of ease + low cost.

^This. Unless the box is originating from a small market. I found this recently with a box going from middle of nowhere in PA to west coast.

[jfowler]

I do not have personal experience using Amtrak. Although I have a good friend who did a long touring ride up the east coast and shipped the bike back to Durham, NC. I helped him pick the bike up and he was able to retrieve the box from their store room, set the bike up, and ride with me to our next destination. Seemed easy and reliable.

[cadence90]

Why?

Options such as Amtrak or Greyhound are not going to ship door-to-door; bikeflights does.

[denapista]

weird.. I work for Amtrak and I'm not sure about shipping a bike on the train. I'm headed to PDX at the end of the month, and I was going to put my bike on the train and fly there, and grab my bike from the station. Granted I can ride the train for free, it's going to be a 29hr train ride to Portland from LA. I'll find out in the morning about shipping options on the train.

Amtrak at one point was the mode of transport for US Postal mail. I'm not sure if we're still working with the Postal Office.

[raygunner]

I did a ride in Oregon back in May. I took the Amtrak out from Chicago with by bike.

But I flew home as a result of using points on Southwest for a free flight.

As a result I just freighted my bike back to Chicago via Amtrak.

It was easy & affordable!

Previously I've shipped a bike using Bikeflights for another trip in Oregon and that was great but it's awesome to have options apart from flying with a bike, since that can be a pain.

[that guy]

+1 on bikeflights. It's about 30-40% off retail in my experience.

[EricEstlund]

I've used Amtrak several time, and so long as the receiver can conveniently get to the station it's been great. Especially for large and fully assembled rando bikes. Easy and affordable.

If you are breaking it down or sending a frame/set then BikeFlights is generally a great bet.

[Don49]

I've shipped a bike twice on Amtrak now. Both times the Amtrak station had bike boxes available ($10?), the pedals had to be removed and the handlebars turned but that's all. Cost was reasonable and they held the bike safely at the destination station. I would recommend calling ahead to the station if you want to insure a box is available.

[weightshift]

I've used Amtrak a couple of times. One was to ship all of my wife and I's bikes from Chicago to San Francisco (techically Emeryville/Oakland). Another was to ship a bike I sold back to a friend in Chicago.

I got the tip from a friend who raced Elite CX and it was a trick that racers did: ship both or the A or B bike to a race and have it there waiting for pick-up.

It's pretty easy. You just find the shipping area (usually down below in the luggage area) or in back if it's a smaller station, take the pedals off, turn the bars, and roll the bike into a box you can purchase there. Never padded or anything and they all arrived fine.

[pinkshogun]

Thanks for the responses. Those who shipped just their bike, how much did it cost?