Shipping my bike across country--Advice Please!

[rccardr]

Use Bike Flights and learn how to pack it yourself.

Even better, I live in Burke and have a Bike Flights box, tube insulation, zip ties, etc. I could come over and show you how to do it.

PMme if interested.

[Rapid Tourist]

Thanks very much everyone. This is all very helpful! Looks like I'm shipping the Serotta....

[foo_fighter]

How about an AirCaddy bike box?

[Spaghetti Legs]

Originally Posted by Rapid Tourist

Thanks very much everyone. This is all very helpful! Looks like I'm shipping the Serotta....

Get rccardr to help you out - you won’t regret it. If you do it yourself, you’ll take more time and pay more attention than even an expert bike shop packer (and really you’re rolling the dice and might get the temp, pot smoking summer help)

It cost me about $120 round trip this spring to ship my Tommasini, Virginia to Eroica California, via Bikeflights.

[11.4]

I'd encourage you to use a cardboard box and use Bikeflights. And take your Serotta.

I ship bikes all over the country. A typical trackie takes at least one track frame plus at least one road bike plus at least a couple pairs of racing wheels. That's a lot of boxes. Last major trip I took two track frames, three pairs of track wheels, one pair of road wheels, a road bike, and a box with track pump, extra helmets, tire gluing equipment, both road and track shoes, and on and on. There are a few tricks that can make your trip happier.

First, start searching right away for a good box. A shop will use whatever box is handy, but you want a slightly larger than normal one and one in good condition that hasn't been cut open. Comotion make the best boxes out there, followed by Santa Cruz and perhaps BMC. Trek boxes are ubiquitous but the ones for cheaper bikes are crap while those for the high end Trek bikes are at least better. If you find a really good box -- thicker than the usual, extra quality cardboard, and so on -- you can use it a number of times. I take some large USPS priority boxes and use double-stick tape or 3M Spraymount glue to stick them to all the spots in the box where something might poke through. It stiffens the box, prolongs its life, and protects your bike better. I tape the edges down so nothing catches on the box edge when I'm rushing to get the bikes in the box quickly.

Second, pack some spare parts in case anything gets twisted or kinked. I precut accurate lengths of cable housings and cable, an extra set of cleats, a spare chain cut to length, some and chain quick links, for example, and pack them in a big ziplock bag. I carry a small pair of pliers in the box, allen keys, a chain tool, and so on, so I can do almost any repair I need to.

Third, for packing, you obviously take the wheels off along with the seat post, but I also recommend removing the crankset, rear derailleur, and chain. The crankset (assuming you have a modern external bottom bracket style crankset) is a snap to remove and it lets the frame rest on the bottom bracket shell rather than on chainring teeth. Removing the rear derailleur (don't remove the cable, just unbolt the derailleur from the frame and tape it between the chain stays) protects it from damage. And everything is easier without a chain swinging around and potentially getting damaged. Remove the bars from the stem rather than removing the stem itself; that way the fork stays together nicely.

Fourth, wrap the frame in pipe insulation from Home Depot for the quickest, easiest packing and unpacking. For the wheels, get some of the small flat-rate Priority boxes, assemble them, tape them together securely, then punch a hole in one side that you can shove onto the ends of the axles (remove the quick releases and pack them in a ziplock bag taped to the inside of the box). This does a great job of protecting both frame and wheels. Wrap up and pack a foot pump in the bottom of the box or on one end -- having a true foot pump makes getting ready for a ride each day so much more genteel. If I can avoid breaking down the box wherever I am, I'll cut a piece of rigid foam insulation to fit the bottom of the box and lay it in the bottom. With that you can pretty much just lay the frame in and not worry about wrapping the bejesus out of the bottom bracket and the like. For my favorite frame I have a box that I actually created a shaped bottom for with multiple layers, so it holds the stay ends, the fork tips, and the bottom bracket all at the right level.

Fifth, the best protection you can have for frame and wheels is a big, super-heavy, polyethylene bag. Everything slides over it and it takes an actual dent-worthy hit to get through it (and at that point nothing will really protect you). Bike shops often get them with their better frames, and many frames come with nothing more than the plastic bags and they do great.

Sixth, just consider packing your wheels in a separate box. It gives your frame elbowroom and makes it easier to fit in the bars. And it eliminates the biggest source of scraped paint. That second box with the wheels does not cost a lot. Get a proper wheel box and you'll be so happy. You can also use a small bike box for a kids' frame, for an MTB bike, or the like.

[simplemind]

As a followup, I have followed this method and so far have not had any issues with the results. This is in spite of several damaged boxes, so I think it's a pretty sound methodology.