I shipped my 58cm Bianchi Volpe, from Fairbanks, AK to South Florida, in May 2012, with no problems, via the USPS. I got a frame carton from my LBS, removed both wheels and the Q/R skewers, the freewheel, the chain, and the rear derailleur; removed the pedals and pulled the cranks; detached the brake and derailleur cables; pulled the stem/bars, loosened the stem-handlebar clamp; removed the saddle. Padded the frame, crankset, wheelset, handlebars, and rear derailleur with bubble wrap. Secured the wheels to opposite sides of the frame, using tie wraps; ditto, the crankset; hooked the drop bars over the top tube and tied them down; secured the saddle/skewers within the down/seat/top-tube triangle.

Zero damage over 7,500 miles shipped, and met the USPS dimensional limits. Cost? $110. YMMV.