Touring - Need Advise, shipping a Bike from England

I am trying to purchase a Mercian Touring bike, completly equipted from Mercian in England. After much back and forth (going on over two months now), I was ready to finalize the order, when they tell me its going to be 380 pounds (over $660) to ship me the bike. After I placed my eyes back into their sockets, I asked them about other methods of shipping, as there price ws for Fed Ex international. Have any of my fellow tourists had anything shipped from England to the US, and what kind of shipping did you pay? what methods/companies did you use?

Thanks for any and all info!

I wanted to Ship small box from France to USA via ups would have cost 125$ weighed less than 20#

Rd trip air fare from NYC to London now runs about 400$ bring the bike back for Zero$ long ride from NYC to Montana

Very few companies I'd trust a bike to and just what their damage liability is limited to and what amounts

Air frieght about your only option surface takes months

I wanted to Ship small box from France to USA via ups would have cost 125$ weighed less than 20#

Rd trip air fare from NYC to London now runs about 400$ bring the bike back for Zero$ long ride from NYC to Montana

Very few companies I'd trust a bike to and just what their damage liability is limited to and what amounts

Air frieght about your only option surface takes months

markwebb on these forums has recently purchased a Mercian and had it shipped to him in the States. Perhaps he has some ideas. You can ask him by sending a PM.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=169793&highlight=king+Mercian

If Mercians are charging you that much you might as well come over and collect yourself, I don't think airlines charge for carrying a bike, and you could see part of sunny england whilst your here.

(snip) Rd trip air fare from NYC to London now runs about 400$ bring the bike back for Zero$ long ride from NYC to Montana (snip)


If Mercians are charging you that much you might as well come over and collect yourself, I don't think airlines charge for carrying a bike, and you could see part of sunny england whilst your here.

Transatlantic air fares can be cheap, but Derby is still quite a long way from London Heathrow. If you take the Heathrow Express from Heathrow to Paddington (and plan on returning the same way; i.e., a return [roundtrip] ticket), it will set you back £27 (about $47). A ride on the London Underground from Paddington to St. Pancras will cost you £2 (about $3.50). You can then buy a return [roundtrip] train ticket from St. Pancras to Derby, which can cost you up to £98 (about $170). Luckily, Alvaston is within walking distance from the Derby railway station.

Depending on your flight schedules, you may also need lodging and food. Be prepared to pay at least £70 (about $120) for a night in a semi-decent London hotel room. And, as Lolly Pop already pointed out, Big Macs are £2.99 (about $5.20) apiece in the UK.

lol! Maybe Mercian would save you some in-country travel and get the bike to London for you?

There must be a cheaper way. Got any friends visiting London anytime soon?

I should have added that if you fly into nottingham East midlands airport (EMA) a taxi would cost you about £15, and is accessable by relatively quiet roads from Derby (and yes I have cycled it).

i got a similar estimate when i looked into buying a nomad/raven from sjs cycles. you can buy a real decent frame made in US for less than the freight to get it here from uk.

HOWSTEEPISIT if youre in MT why dont you investigate these guys for a custom build:

http://www.strongframes.com/

no experience myself, but...

- try finding out the british postal systems size and weight limits for their equivalent of parcel post. a whole bike is most likely too large, but perhaps you could get the frame parcel posted and build it up yourself. i live in japan and i've had heavy shipments sent surface parcel post from the u.s. show up in as little as 3 weeks
- maybe try contacting a british moving company by email.

Thanks everybody for your help. I wrote to Mercian and they now tell me that they could disassemble the bike and get it in a smaller box. If that does not work out pricewise, then I'll just buy the frameset and get the component mix from local source. I was just trying to make my life simple. To those of you that suggested that I buy a local "custom frame, its much cheaper to get the Mercian, and I really like and respect the English thoughts on touring frame geometry and bike fit. Plus I had a Holdworth many many years ago, and I loved that bike, so its a little of reliving my past too:)

I just had a Nomad shipped but frame only. It was about $125 and I received it in five days. Sounds like you are going that route. I also found this frame to be the best deal around even w/ shipping.

i recently purchased a frame that will be coming from scotland. the seller quoted a shipping price of 110 GBP. thats 190 USD! i asked what service, and he mentioned that it would be here in the states in 3 days. he was going to use RoyalMail. I went onto their website and discovered that there is an international ecomony service available. i emailed the seller who wasn't aware of the service (because RoyalMail does not quote that service online) and he was happy to look into it for me. shipping ended up costing 44 GBP (78 USD). still expensive, much more reasonable. the service takes 4-6 weels though.

if you are in no real hurry to get your bike, i would look into this service.