Tandem Cycling - How to ship a bike after purchase?

I am quite sure I am not the first one to have this problem. I have located a bike that I want, but it is ½ way across the country. As luck would have it, I will be traveling to that part of the country in a few weeks. The owner does not want any part of packing / shipping. My thoughts were to take wheels, seats and bars off and ship the frame as one piece the wheels ect… as another. I also saw that a place in Colorado rents Tandem cases for $75.00 a week but I would have to have them ship out the empty case to the location and them ship the case back after I got home, I am sure shipping the case could cost about as much as shipping the bike. But doing it that way I could at least take the bike with me on the plane as check on luggage…Can I ??

Maybe I could find a bike shop in the San Diego area that would pack and ship it for me??

Is this cost effective?

The bike does not have couplers to allow it to break down. If I am looking at 500.00+ to get it home its not such a great deal any more :)

Have a bike shop pack and ship it. Less hassle.
Two standard bike boxes can be spliced together. But have to remove wheels/bars/pedals and pack carefully inside the box.
Take tandem (in case/box) on plane is do-able, but they will likely charge for oversize luggage/weight. Hassles with 'homeland insecurity', it just isn't worth it! They will open the box and mess with it no matter what you tell them.
Them's the options, you decide!

I just shipped a complete tandem from Portland OR to Boston Ma, had it packed and shipped from a shop and it cost me a total of $145.

I also shipped a tandem frame 2 weeks ago using UPS. I spliced two boxes together using tons of tape and cut cardboard pieces for stiffeners, used threaded/nutted rods for front fork/rear dropout support and tons of newsprint and pipe insulation to protect the frame.
That cost $65 from Portland to Nevada.

Hope that helps.

KRhea

THANKS Everyone!!!!

Looks like I have a couple of options. I will call around and see if i can find a shop to pack it, if not I will do it my self and use UPS / FedEx.

mjohn,
I posted a picture of my tandem showing how it was boxed in a thread last fall called "Tandem Boxing". There were some helpful comments from others there which you could share with the San Diego LBS.

I shipped FedEx ground. I understand that DHL may have reasonable rates, too.
-Joel

Thanks Joel!

I am going to post a thread to see if I can find anyone who knows a good bike shop in Murrieta Ca. and see if they can will ship it for me. If not I will be out there in a few weeks and will pack it myself using your suggestions

Maybe I could find a bike shop in the San Diego area that would pack and ship it for me??

If you haven't already gotten numerous off-list recommendations for tandem friendly bike shops in the San Diego area, try posting in the "Regional Discussions" area here.

Also, Tandemgeek's site, thetandemlink.com (http://www.thetandemlink.com), lists a San Diego tandem club, (go to his links section), with an email addy. Might be able to get some names of shops there. Maybe even go for a ride with them before it gets packed up to ship!