Originally Posted by
miamijim
+1. box cut off is 108"
The max frame you can fit in a 108" is 23"/58cm...maybe on a good day you can fit an under size 24"/60cm. The key to this is laying the frame on its down tube..you need the DT to be flat against the bottom of the box. Without doing this there's no flippin' way you'll hit the 108"
It just cost me $65 to ship a frame from Tampa to Colorado. Unless your shipping an old Schwinn 20lbs is way too much. 15 pounds packed is about right.
First, everything I know about bike packing, I learned from miamijim. I've learned a lot of other stuff too, like moving upscale on flips.
With that said,
I've shipped several 25 inch frames in a 108 box, did one a couple of weeks ago. It measured at 25x7x43 = 107 inches. Note, I started with a bike box that was 9 inches wide. So cutting box in half was step one. I basically make a tray out of one half of the box, fit the frame in, then make a lid with the other half (after cutting and folding). Now a smaller frame takes less cutting!
But that took a lot of cutting. Half the time I spent on packing was just for creating the box. I've shipped up to 25 1/2 inch road frame but that was it.
USPS is better as they use a cloth tape to measure girth. Fed Ex measures each side separately and of course rounds everything up. So 6 1/8 inches wide = 7 inches, which they then double to 14 inches to calculate girth. So I always shoot for a box at least 1/2 inch smaller in every direction.
The shipments I described were Fed Ex via bikeflights.i learned from Jim the DT has to run along the bottom of he box, otherwise forget it.
On a $500 frame, how is ebay going to cover you on signature required? Can you even get a signature on a foreign shipment. Ebay's basic rule is any transaction over $250 (including the cost of shipping, so its easy to exceed this amount), you must require a signature upon delivery. Delivery confirmation is not sufficient.
Box sealed and ready for a label.
[IMG]
25 inch frame packing it fits by
wrk101, on Flickr[/IMG]
Now it fits!
[IMG]
Packing 25 inch frame in a 108 inch box by
wrk101, on Flickr[/IMG]
And now it doesn't fit!
[IMG]
Packing 25 inch frame in a 108 inch box by
wrk101, on Flickr[/IMG]