Shipping a road bike to and from the US....cheapest route?

mcmoonter
mcmoonter Posts: 9
edited May 2009 in The bottom bracket
In September I'm off to ride this http://www.cycleoregon.com/week-ride/ .

I bought my flight early in the year and got a return from Scotland to Portland OR and a return from san Francisco for about £350. When I asked about my bike, I was quoted about £150 each way!

I'm toying with a hard case bike case which should be smaller than a bag or box. I've got the dimensions of one fromWiggle and will contact the airline for a quote.

Is it significatly cheaper to post it directly? Has anyone any experience of this, costwise and reliabilitywise

Cheers

Peter

Comments

  • LardLover
    LardLover Posts: 676
    I sent my Moots frame back for repair about this time last year with a courier, if my memory is correct (which I think it might be, I'm not that old yet :roll: ) it cost me £75.

    You'll need an address to send it to obviously, and how will you arrange to ship it back?

    Sounds like it might be easier just to stump up the money and take it with you. I take it you're not flying with BA then? I'm certain they would carry it as long as it's bagged/boxed at no extra cost (looked into taking my mounatin bike on holiday last year to California as I had a place in the Single Speed Mountain Bike World Champs and we were flying with BA - couldn't make it in the end, had to meet family in San Diego).

    Unless you can find a bike shop that would accept delivery, then find one to have it collected from I think you're looking at paying. NOT, unless you can arrange a hire bike?

    It would be a shame not to have your bike whilst in San Francisco though, you could try racing the couriers whilst trying not to drop your front wheel in the tram lines :shock:
  • mcmoonter
    mcmoonter Posts: 9
    Cycle Oregon have a deposit address at the start point. I think lots of US riders use the postal service or Fed Ex rather than fly with their bikes.

    I caught the train from Portland to San Francisco last year, they are pretty good at shipping bikes by rail.

    I've got friends in Olema, Marin County, so I'll probably hire a mountain bike and ride the trails there rather than head into town to dice with the messengers.
  • crankycrank
    crankycrank Posts: 1,830
    mcmoonter wrote:
    In September I'm off to ride this http://www.cycleoregon.com/week-ride/ .

    I bought my flight early in the year and got a return from Scotland to Portland OR and a return from san Francisco for about £350. When I asked about my bike, I was quoted about £150 each way!

    I'm toying with a hard case bike case which should be smaller than a bag or box. I've got the dimensions of one fromWiggle and will contact the airline for a quote.

    Is it significatly cheaper to post it directly? Has anyone any experience of this, costwise and reliabilitywise

    Cheers

    Peter

    What airline are you using? That sounds like a very high price to transport a bike. It's also very possible the agent gave you the wrong price. The last time I flew with a bike out of the U.S. I was given a different quote and regulations by at least 5 different agents from the airline company. (American Airlines). :x When I arrived at the airport and explained that I wasn't given any proper answers an extremly helpful agent saw to it that it was transported at no extra cost but I was just lucky that particular time. Call them a few times to see if you get different prices.
  • geoff_ss
    geoff_ss Posts: 1,201
    We took our tandem to the US (Boston) in 1994 on American Airlines and it cost us nothing. As we were going to an tandem rally there were several of us on the same flight,

    Perhaps things are different now.

    Geoff
    Old cyclists never die; they just fit smaller chainrings ... and pedal faster
  • mrushton
    mrushton Posts: 5,182
    Have a look at www.firstluggage.com or www.flymyluggage.com Also depends on which airline you fly with. Delta apparently want $300 each way. Could you hire a bike out there?
    M.Rushton

Categories