BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

It does not seem too bad. All they are doing is charging a fee on top of Fed Ex's fees. They seem to offer some services along with their fees.

Shipping a bike your self is fairly simple. Depending on if you are going to pack it and assemble it your self or pay someone to do it, there are two options.

Pick a bike shop to ship it to in CO, call the bike shop and speak with the manager and tell them to expect your bike and to put it together when it arrives. OR Call your hotel and speak with the manager and tell them to expect your bike and to store it until it arrives.

Now pay a bike shop here to pack your bike in a box or pack it yourself. Then take the box to a Fed Ex/Kinkos and ship it. Buy insurance. Or you can ship through Fed Ex.com.

My parents have done many cross country trips on motorcycle where they have had stuff sent to and from various hotels. What worked very well was just plain sending it to the hotel. The hotel is always open, always taking deliveries, and there should be very little concern. In this case, the larger the item the better.

If you're feeling ambitious, you can ask a local shop for a box and packing material, you will most likely need to remove the front wheel, pedals, stem-handlebars, and seat-seatpost.

Wrap the frame in bubble wrap, foam or cardboard.

Remove your front QR skewer and zip tie it to the spokes. plug the ends of the hub with little plastic bits to that it won't scratch your frame.

Hook the front wheel around the non driveside crank (have the non drive side crank at about 9 o'clock). remove your bars and stem and zip tie them under the top tube out of the way. Zip-tie your pedals and seat post to the frame somewhere out of the way as well.

You may need to let some air out of your tires to make room in the box.

There you just saved forty bucks. Or just pay your local bike shop to do it.