Bicycle Mechanics - Shipping Bike Frame to Russia

Hi all!

Just wondering if anybody has any experience shipping bicycle frames internationally. I have a 58cm CAAD8 frame that needs to go from Virginia to Omsk, Russia. Anybody know the cheapest/easiest way to go about this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

-Mike

PS. I posted this here because I figured people knowledgeable or interested in bike mechanics would generally have more experience shipping bare framesets.

That's going to be exspensive. Priority mail has a 79" girth limit on the carton which is too small to get a frame in.

Express mail allows 108" which is what you need for a frame. But it's super exspensive.

The only way to do it cheaply is to wrap the frame (with the fork removed and strapped to the frame) in foam pipe insulation. Then use cardboard sheets and pallet-wrap to make a form fitting package that will be under the 79" limit. Then ship it Priority.

Not the ideal method for safe shipping but it can be done if you pack it carefully. I've done it, but do not like to.

USPS is your best bet. I recently had a 59cm frame shipped to Latvia for $54. It took about two weeks from Philadelphia to Riga. Figure a bit more time and money to Russia. Pack it damn well, and fill in all the paperwork so the poor guy on the other end doesn't get screwed by some bored bureaucrat.

First of all do you knwo if you have some restrictions in size (USPS) to send stuff to russsia??? Rules have changed and now you cant send big stuff to some countries.


Where in VA are you? I can help you out with the packing if you cant figure it out how to do it right (PM if you like), just in case get a few news papers, a bike box (needs to be cut), good packing tape, a wheel axle with cones unless u have a plastic spacer or something but i know another trick using poliestyrene...

If you still have or you can get some pieces of a tv poliestyrene molding for example (computer, stereo or something) u can use that to keep the frame super firm in the box.

I have sent a few bikes to Japan and S/America with no problems so far... let me know if you need some help hope you live in NVA...

U.man.