What's the best way to ship a wheelset?

[tim11]

As in, how should I pack them up?

I have a nicish 700c set that I'm thinking about selling, but don't want to just cram them in a box and hope for the best. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Monthly Payment]

As in, how should I pack them up?

I have a nicish 700c set that I'm thinking about selling, but don't want to just cram them in a box and hope for the best. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Its worth it to get a box designed for wheels when shipping. I just sold a set on eBay and even if they were pretty cheap wheels, I felt much more confident they would arrive unharmed. This is when its worth it to have buddies at a LBS if you don't have a wheel box handy.

Worse case scenario - use a frame box or equally large box and cut to dimensions. Make a cardboard frame that will hold the wheels in place.

At the very least, use some of those black plastic tabs that slot into the hubs or tape some cardboard to the hubs so the hub doesn't puncture the box.

[dookie]

absolutely hit up your LBS for a wheel box.

if you end up jury-rigging, also be very sure that the hubs don't bang into each other.

[Nil Else]

I'd look into two separate single wheel boxes, ie, if you are getting some from LBS. I've found out that it's much cheaper to ship two individual boxes shipped separately at UPS Customer Center (not the UPS stores and such)... as well as within CONUS shipping to CA always cost the most according to some friendly UPS people I talked to.

[Peter B]

Troy Watson/Ligero Wheelworks sent my last two sets in 'homemade' wheel boxes that worked really well. They appear to be slightly modified boxes from Home Depot. He started with a deep, square box, cut some tapers on the top and bottom flaps, then folded and taped into traditional diamond shaped wheel boxes. Pretty slick. Strong too. PM me your email address and I can forward some photos and dimensions.

[DreaminJohn]

Troy Watson/Ligero Wheelworks sent my last two sets in 'homemade' wheel boxes that worked really well. They appear to be slightly modified boxes from Home Depot. He started with a deep, square box, cut some tapers on the top and bottom flaps, then folded and taped into traditional diamond shaped wheel boxes. Pretty slick. Strong too. PM me your email address and I can forward some photos and dimensions.


I recently sold a set of wheels where I reserved the right to give preference to local buyers for this exact reason. A simple HD solution might be useful for future reference.

[cmg]

make your own. take a bike box and cut it down to size, 28"x28" should do. Place wheels at an angle, cassette side rear placed on the inside between the spokes of the front wheel. take the scrapes of what was cut off and build spacers to keep wheels apart. stuff corners with either paper or more scrape that is the width of the box to reinforce corners.

[zott28]

Shipping them in 2 boxes is sometimes cheaper and safer... and always go to the UPS main office in your area, never a PO box store.

[tim11]

Thanks for all the input. At least I'm not the only one having this problem...