Sending bike in bikebox Alan from USA to UK.

marekjparkola

Hi all.

Long time lurker of the forums but now posting for some advice.
I'm racing 70.3 Worlds in Utah, and having a bit of a holiday after it. I don't particularly want to drag my bikebox Alan (BBA) around with me, so was looking at posting/sending back to the UK.

Unfortunately, most of the companies that advertise themselves as shipping bike boxes, don't seem to accept the dimensions for a standard BBA.
Has anyone posted their bike in a BBA before? Any advice on good companies who will offer it and not charge an extortionate amount?

Cheapest I've been offered so far is £350-£400. Frankly, seems cheaper to pay for storage, pick it up when I'm going back to the UK and fly it back with me!

Any advice or recommendations really appreciated.
Cheers.

pblakeney

marekjparkola said:

Cheapest I've been offered so far is £350-£400. Frankly, seems cheaper to pay for storage, pick it up when I'm going back to the UK and fly it back with me!

That is what I'd do.

laurentian

I've had this problem.

Have you tried talking to car rental places at the airport (assuming you are landing and taking off from the same place) to see if you could leave there (paying a little rent). They tend to have space and may look after it for you?

One of the valet parking companies may stick in the corner of their office for a few $$

Have you checked the maximum size for left luggage? This may involve an enquiry email as it is quite possible that BBA will be larger than most things that are left.

Have you asked the airline you are travelling with to see if they have any suggestions? They are likely to have some kind of facilities at the airport they are flying to/from and you are paying them for your air fare which may help.

The rather fortunate way that we got around it once was that a friend of a friend worked in a shop at the airport and we were able to leave the bike boxes in the shop store room.

marekjparkola

Thanks both.
Main issue with leaving it, is having to get back to LAX. Had originally planned to fly back from somewhere else as will be visiting south/central america, however looking at changing plans now with costs!

I'll send a message to the car rental place to see what they say, and also BA. Left luggage will be pretty extortionate unfortunately at around $20/day!
However it does look like there are storage places around there that are cheaper for the time I'm away.

Pretty surprised that all these companies who say they transport bikes all the time and demand they will only take bike boxes say that the BBA is too big!

pblakeney

Ship it internally from arrival airport to departure airport?
You will still have a storage issue but there may be a solution.

To be practical, lugging it around may well be the easiest solution.

MattFalle

Tbh, its a nigh on 20kg box the size of a planet so obviously its going to cost a fortune to ship halfway across the world.

alwaystimetotorque

Buy and use a bike box that the couriers you have contacted will accept?

navrig2

Don't describe it as bike box but as a package. Then enter the weight and dimensions accurately.

Couriers move all sorts of stuff and all sizes.

Make sure the courier knows it is a bike you bought in the UK otherwise they may assume it is new and sting your for duty.

mikecassie

Sorry, I might be too late but I'd hold onto the bike and travel with it. You might get stung with import taxes sending it back as a package and not while travelling with it. There was an example of this somewhere else, although it was blamed on Brexit as a cycling club had sent a few bikes to mainland Europe and they got charged a lot in import taxes.