Originally Posted by
spinnaker
Hopefully you know them well or can drop the name of the shop where you work because I have heard they charge at least $100 for those boxes.
Again you are welcome to use my case.
If inside the US, I would ship ahead hands down. It opens up more options on your flights as some airlines are charging a fortune these days. Even when it is reasonable fee it can lead to a fortune. SW only charged me $50 on my way out to Spokane. The woman at the gate in Spokane was pissed because she did not want to check my case. She was going to charge me $400 for over size and over weight. I showed her it was a bike and SW charges $50 (or did) for bikes. She said it did not qualify because it was still over weight. It was over by 2 lbs! I was able to off load some gear and got it to a pound below the limit. She was forced to take the bike for $50 but she still wasn't happy about it.
Plus there is dragging the bike through the airport and worrying if it will make connections. Nope a lot better to ship. I ship with twice the time they say it will take to get there. That way if there is an issue, there is still time to straighten it out.
I stopped by the Trek store, they said their dumpster was just emptied but that they should build up another Madone or similar high end bike within a week or two. No charge for the box. And they said they will call me when they have one. If they do not call within a couple weeks, I think I will stop by again.
Trek company is in a small town less than an hour drive from here, so a lot of Treks are sold here as the company is considered local and has a good reputation. They also sponsor a couple bike charities here, etc. The store I went to is a Trek store, all they sell is Trek. The gal that helped me has flown with her bike in a bike box several times, she agreed that some boxes are better quality than others so she understood what I was talking about.
I have four options for my trip of roughly 370 miles. It is van supported so I just have to carry my water and lunch each day. Am flying on Southwest Air which charges $75 one way if one of your two free checked bags is a bike in a bike box. Options are:
- Take my S&S expedition bike as one of my checked bags. But it is quite heavy and there are some serious hills on this route, so I am not too enthusiastic about a heavy bike. Would be free to take it on the plane in the S&S backpack case.
- Take my foldup bike in the S&S case as one of my free checked bags. I am seriously considering this, but I am however not sure if I really want to ride that bike for 370 miles. It does ride nice as foldup bikes go, but it is not a rando bike. I would want to take it on some rides locally and think hard about whether or not I really should ride this bike on that trip.
- Take a full size non-coupled, non-folding bike on the plane for $75 each way. A friend of mine that is also going is driving his mini van to the airport, at the other end of the flight the motel has a free shuttle van, that should be able to hold a bike box. My friend however wants to take two bags on the plane, he plans to use Bike Flights.
- Or ship a full size non-coupled, non-folding bike by Bike Flights, cost would likely be comparable to the cost of taking it on the plane, so it becomes a convenience thing. Motel does not want to recieve the bikes from Bike Flights, they only have a small luggage room. So, it would have to be shipped elsewhere. My friend however wants to take two checked bags on the plane, he plans to use Bike Flights for his bike, was talking about having it shipped to a bike shop or to a Fed Ex store.
So, options 3 and 4 need a box. Options 1 and 2 are free on the plane in the S&S case, but the bikes are not the ideal bikes to ride on this particular trip.
ACA said they can store flattened boxes in the trailer, they should also be able to store my backpack S&S case because I can collapse it down to be pretty thin. So box storage is not a problem.
Right now I am leaning towards the foldup bike in the S&S case, but I plan to get the Trek box to have it even if I do not use it on this trip.
You mentioned weight of your bike in a bike box, I always carry a luggage scale.
Thanks for the advice, I have a couple months to decide, I might still take a full size bike in the Trek box.