N-1. Holy moly shipping costs!
 

My Seattle based daughter has said she might be interested in doing a triathlon. One problem - no bike. Mrs. Grouch has a Crossroads Pro hybred to contribute to the cause, all that I have to do is pack and ship it. Packing went about the way I expected. Shipping - they should relocate those UPS stores next door to the urgent care center. $142.00!

Did you check the price at FedEx?

Thats a lot cheaper than a new bike.

Is not fuel cost above $4 a gallon? Does not the help need to get paid? Does not the company need profit to stay in business?

And you want it shipped for free? Ya, that'll work......

Many of the original UPS drivers are millionares now.

Bike shipping jumped in the past 5 years...when I shipped my MTB from CA to NJ, it cost ~$86 or so via UPS. I credit the jump to the price of fuel.

Aren't they lucky.

Cool, training for a tri with a flat bar bike....

It's called "Doing the best you can with what you have."

FWIW, I used to manage the finish line of a pretty good sized triathalon every year. There are really 3 classes of participants: The competitors who have a reasonable chance of placeing, the athletes who are participating for time and only really compete with themselves, and the ones who consider just finishing to be a "win". Regardless of which class people were in, they seemed to get the same degree of satisfaction. The real competitors are the only ones who really need the state-of-the art equipment.

This year, I shipped a bike FedEx from Chicago to Texas for $55.00.

I used to have fun with my patients that wanted to order contacts online. I told them I would sell them for the same price it costs to get them thru the mail. After membership costs, the price of the lenses and shipping, I'd give them the price and they never missed a beat..........."Hey that's higher than you just quoted me!"
Uh......................yup. :)

On another note, glad your daughter is getting a bike to use in training. My 31 year old niece trained for her first triathlon on a mountain bike. She also raced on it for her first race. When asked about it she said, she was only doing this for fitness and wasn't interested in coming in first. Her next race she was able to borrow a road bike two weeks ahead of time and for the race. She came in second in a field of over 40 women. Feel good that she's got a bike with which to train! She's a lucky daughter.

That's pretty much what I think too. Most people only compete with themselves trying to better last year's time.

Back in the day of the Lake St Louis Triathalon somebody would blow an air horn to start the race and there would be a terrible trashing in the water as racers literally swam over one another at the crowded start. One cagey fellow would calmly sit on the beach and, exactly 1 minute later, stand up, wade into the lake, and start his race with himself.

The big hit was $50.00 for an oversize package. I had it packed in an ordinary bike box which used to just barely meet UPS standards. I don't think I'll be bothering them to ship any more bikes for me.

Just to give a little background on this (oversized)...I used to work in IT for one of the large shippers. With all of the package handling automation, it's really pretty cheap to get a small box/letter through the automated systems because very few hands have to touch it in the sort centers. However for the oversized boxes people have to handle it all the way through the process making it that much more expensive for the carrier.

wow, I probably would have walked away and tried to find a different shipper. You're a better dad than I.

Well, I really wanted to get it to her by the week end. Besides, that frees up a storage hook in our bike storage room. I'm thinking that $142.00 is pretty small potatoes compared to what it's going to cost me to fill that hook.

The rate increases at UPS and FedEx started long before $4 a gallon fuel. They both have spent the great recession increasing rates up to 50% especially for over sized stuff. Make sure you get the shortest box the bike will fit into or you will pay dearly.

Take the hook down and avoid the temptation to re-fill it.

Could have been cheape/less hassler to rent a bike in Sweattle?