Best way to ship bike frame to England??

[tv_vt]

I could use some advice - have someone interested in the Merckx Corsa Extra I'm selling, and he's in England. UPS quoted me a shipping cost greater than the asking price of the frame. Obviously that ain't gonna work. Has anyone done this before? What's the cheapest way to ship a frame to England? I see Gothard and others offer bikes for sale in Europe, but their shipping to the US must be totally different than what we have, I assume.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks,

Thom

[David Kirk]

USPS will usually do it for less than $100.

The box needs to add up to less than 108" (add length and girth) and they will only insure it to $600.

The folks at my post office are pretty sloppy with how they measure so make it 106" max so you have some room.

dave

[54ny77]

To the U.K., cheapest is USPS Int'l Priority Mail, which will set you back about $85 with insurance to ~$1k. It's also trackable. You can save a little bit extra by printing out your postage online. BUT, maximum insurance you can purchase online is $500. You'll have to buy more at the local office. If the clerk isn't familiar with that process, prepare to wait forever while they figure it out... :crap:

Make sure the box is less than 108 inches combined.

That's measured as: length + (2 x width) + (2 x height).

Easiest is to get a frame box from an LBS, which will require it be cut down a handful of inches in height only. That's easy. Or, if you get a full bike box, you'll need to cut down both height and length. That's not as easy.

I cut my box to 40 (L) x 24 (H) x 8 (W), which allowed for plenty of room for padding, etc.

Good luck.

[tv_vt]

Thanks. I have a box used to ship a frame to me via FedEx that I was planning on using, but it measures about 111-112 inches girth and length (41x26x8.5), so I'll have to cut it down. Maybe remove the fork (it's threaded, which is more involved than threadless...). Too bad it's a 60cm frame - I need a pretty big box!

[CaptStash]

I opened a Fed-Ex account for shipping bike parts to Canada. Shipping via Fed-Ex Ground or "Home Delivery" is often cheaper than USPS. Just don't go to the local "Mailbox" store as they will quote a much higher price. It's worth checking out for shipping to the UK.

Good luck.

CaptStash.....