Sending a bike by mail

kingrollo
kingrollo Posts: 3,198
edited October 2008 in Road beginners
Anybody know the best couriers to use - and required packing when sending a bike through the mail.??

and what this might cost me (full size adult bike)

Comments

  • ColinJ
    ColinJ Posts: 2,218
    kingrollo wrote:
    Anybody know the best couriers to use - and required packing when sending a bike through the mail.??

    and what this might cost me (full size adult bike)
    In June, I sent my bike from Cornwall to West Yorkshire for about £9 using Parcel2Go. I scrounged a cardboard bike box from my LBS, and cut it down to be within the P2G 4 foot maximum parcel length. To be on the safe side, I used pipe-lagging on the frame tubes and bubblewraped the wheels. I used plastic spacers between the fork and frame dropouts to protect them. I also disconnected the rear derailleur and bubblewrapped that too (I know someone who had his broken off in transit once).

    I think there is a 25 kg weight limit but obviously any decent bike weighs a fraction of that.

    You have to print out a label (they give you a link to an image of it) and stick that to the box. They arrange for a DHL courier to handle the delivery.
  • avoidingmyphd
    avoidingmyphd Posts: 1,154
    I've used paisley freight (http://www.paisleyfreight.com/ or loads of classified on ebay) before.

    It's £25, and they just subcontract to city link or similar.

    BUT no stupid max box sizes. So if you just have the box the bike came in from the shop, it's perfect.
  • fatfreddy
    fatfreddy Posts: 332
    bike box from LBS, pipe lagging and ParcelForce £18.99

    ff
  • kingrollo
    kingrollo Posts: 3,198
    Its a steel racer from the 80's that I have to send - how can I accurately weigh it ? - or how can I be sure it is below 25kg ?
  • ColinJ
    ColinJ Posts: 2,218
    kingrollo wrote:
    Its a steel racer from the 80's that I have to send - how can I accurately weigh it ? - or how can I be sure it is below 25kg ?
    1 kg = 2.2 pounds so 25 kg = 55 pounds! Even the cheapest, nastiest bike should weigh a lot less than that. If it didn't, you'd struggle to pick it up.

    If you still want to weigh it, the method I'd use is to weigh yourself on a set of bathroom scales. Then pick your bike up and weigh yourself holding the bike. The bike weight is the difference between the two readings. If the scales read in kg that makes things simpler. If not, remember that there are 14 pounds in a stone and do the calculation.

    Here's an example:

    you + bike = 14 stone 2 pounds = 14* 14 + 2 = 198 pounds
    you alone = 12 stone 8 pounds = 12*14 + 8 = 176 pounds
    Therefore bike weight = 198 - 176 = 22 pounds
    Divide 22 pounds by 2.2 to get a weight of 10 kg

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