General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Shipping a bike Rss Feed  
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2014-04-22 8:57 PM

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Subject: Shipping a bike
What is the average cost to ship a bike via ups? I am trying to see if the Tri bike transport price of 450 for them to pack and ship is that far off.


2014-04-22 9:31 PM
in reply to: kstater39

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Subject: RE: Shipping a bike

Depends if you pack it yourself, if you have a box, as well as how big your box is, how far it is going, and how much it weighs.

I have shipped same bike/box many times and price varies often by 100% due to the size issue with bike boxes. If a box is greater than a certain size they charge higher fee and bike boxes measure odd and if you had 10 people measure it they will come up with 10 different numbers.

If you pay someone to pack it and put it together that adds a lot cost.

Most of the time it costs $75-150/each way.  Be sure to insure it. If you are unlucky like me your bike will arrive late and be ruined by Fed Express Ground but in the end they made it right by paying total insurance amount to replace the frame and move the parts. It did put a huge damper on my tri camp experience having to rent a bike for week with 25 hours of riding.

2014-04-22 9:43 PM
in reply to: KathyG

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Pro
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Subject: RE: Shipping a bike

bikeflight.com

UPS?  Hell NO!!  They will be 2 to 3 times higher than Fedex and usually higher than just taking it on the plane.

2014-04-22 10:00 PM
in reply to: Left Brain

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Richland, Washington
Subject: RE: Shipping a bike
I'm with left brain.

I usually just take the bike on the plane in a case.... I don't trust UPS or Fedex.
2014-04-22 10:30 PM
in reply to: kstater39

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Subject: RE: Shipping a bike
I have used Shipbikes.com to print my labels for FedEx Ground and bought a standard bike box from them. The cost of the "e-shipper" BIke Box was something like $50 and I paid roughly $70 one way from Atlanta to Utah, and roughly $65 one way from Atlanta to Dallas. Their site is very easy to navigate to get an idea of pricing. You can include your bike box dimensions for pricing or use their pre-made different bike boxes.

I broke down and packed my bike for both trips without any issues. Plus just shipped the bike directly to the hotel, super easy. I went the inexpensive route with a small box and it takes 30 minutes for me to tear down the bike ( remove wheels, handlebars, seatpost, pedals ) and fully pack it. There are bigger boxes that require less tear down but that = > shipping dollars.

So for 2 round-trips, I am at $320, including the box. I can probably get another 2-3 shipments out of the box as well.


$450, where are you shipping your bike? International?

2014-04-23 7:58 AM
in reply to: Left Brain

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Subject: RE: Shipping a bike
I have shipped 9 or so bikes. LBS will pack it up for varying fees, but usually around $40. shipping with USPS has always been cheaper than fed-ex and UPS, and UPS has some serious delivery issues with bikes. USPS shipping has been the most reliable, and cost has been right around $100.



2014-04-23 9:17 AM
in reply to: #4985478

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Subject: RE: Shipping a bike
That tri bike transport fee is insane. That's more than what I paid to ship my bike back international freight (DHL) France-USA.

2014-04-23 9:52 AM
in reply to: miamiamy

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Subject: RE: Shipping a bike
I looked into TBT once, and it was like $300, including disassembly/reassembly (which I guess isn't so bad). Their higher rate was sending the bike completely assembled, in a truck (again, not so bad). $450 for shipping is nuts.
2014-04-23 10:01 AM
in reply to: 0

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Alpharetta, Georgia
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Subject: RE: Shipping a bike

Originally posted by Left Brain

UPS?  Hell NO!!  They will be 2 to 3 times higher than Fedex and usually higher than just taking it on the plane.

I've only flown with my bike, but wanted to chime in that I shipped a set of race wheels very recently. I went to UPS store first and they quoted me $100, partly because they didn't have a box that wasn't going to waste a ton of space. The lady was generally uninterested in helping me so I said no thanks and drove directly to FedEx, where they pointed me to my LBS to grab a used cardboard wheel box for free (why didn't I think of that??) and my total charges were $35 - properly packed and protected, signature required, and insured.

I don't know how they would handle a full bike, but for my race wheels I couldn't believe how much UPS wanted to charge me. FedEx all the way, if I had to choose.



Edited by lisac957 2014-04-23 10:02 AM
2014-04-23 10:49 AM
in reply to: lisac957

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STATESBORO, GA
Subject: RE: Shipping a bike
left brain has never steered me wrong with his opinions. Just printed labels from the bikeflight web site. thanks guys. never knew of them.
2014-04-23 4:16 PM
in reply to: kstater39

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Subject: RE: Shipping a bike
Originally posted by kstater39

What is the average cost to ship a bike via ups? I am trying to see if the Tri bike transport price of 450 for them to pack and ship is that far off.


I used https://www.shipbikes.com/home2.htmlto ship my bike to Des Moines last year when I raced 5150 Nationals at Hy-Vee and was very happy.


2014-04-23 7:06 PM
in reply to: Left Brain

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Greenville, SC
Subject: RE: Shipping a bike

I shipped my bike from Greenville, SC to Portland, OR in 2012 via FedEx.  Had my local bike shop box it and ship it for $80.  Showed up at the house in Portland a week later.  When I shipped back I had a local Portland bike shop box it for $35 and took the box to FedEx to ship and cost another $75...took another week.

That was insured for the full purchase value of the bike as well.  Both times it was boxed very well and took nothing more than a single allen wrench to put back together.

2014-04-24 7:24 AM
in reply to: kstater39

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Subject: RE: Shipping a bike
I've used bikeflights.com twice with great success. Paid the extra $5 to have it picked up at my house and had it shipped to my hotel...super convenient. No one sleeps after an IM so I usually packed it back up in the wee hours of the morning and gave it back to the front desk. I was also able to train with it longer as the shipping was much shorter, five days compared to TriBike's two weeks.
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