Holy crap!

Not bad, but that freewheel worries me. I'd remove it and box it before shipping, and flip the bare axle to fit through the spokes of the front wheel next to it to prevent damage to the frame.

-Kurt

It's more than not bad, it's frickin' amazing! If you ever order a frame from him, you'll see. Everything was so well packed and his efficient use of space really cut down on shipping costs. He even adds a tape handle to make it easy to carry. it was great.

When I shipped the Fuso to Bilenky and the Pinarello to Dr. Deltron, I also used pipe insulation on every tube, spacers on the dropout and fork, fork wrapped in bubble wrap and in a separate box inside the big box. Bubble wrap all over the bike, etc. Extra cardboard to pad headtube and rear dropouts.

I get a box from Mailboxes, Etc. that is perfect for a frame, fork, and probably everything else but the wheels. Not as wide nor as long as a complete bike box and made of heavy cardboard. Frame goes in snug as a bug. Cheaper to ship.

All the bikes and frames I've gotten in the mail have been well packed. (knocks on wood)

I'll second that. I just bought an Eddy Merckx from him, and the packaging was a marvel to behold. Every part was individually bubble-wrapped and well secured. I suspect he had the package blessed by his local bishop just to be on the safe side.

which size box do you ask for?

Man, I got reamed by a seller in Italy who chose to use Mailboxes, Etc. I was thankful it arrived safely, but $750?! Ouch! That'll teach me to make assumptions about how much it should cost to ship a bike from Europe.

Wait...you paid $750 to ship a frame?!

The last bike I bought shipped on ebay, the person disassembled the bike, and put it loose (no packing) in a bicycle box. The stem and handlebars bounced all over the frame, making a mess of the entire bike.

When I asked the seller what the heck happened, their answer: "I used a bicycle box". The idiot actually thought that the box was strong enough to handle the bike loose. This was a shipment from Seattle to the Carolinas.

Since then, I ONLY buy bikes on ebay that I can drive to and pick up. I do a search within X miles of my home, looking for local pickup only or extremely high rate shipping. Thats where I find my occasional ebay deal. No way am I taking a chance on some doofus packing a bike carefully....

Actually, we split the cost, which was still too much. I didn't feel like raising a stink about it. It was an inexperienced seller and a bike I really wanted. I should've asked beforehand how he planned to ship it. Most of the sellers in Italy I've dealt with use Paccocelere Internazionale through their Post Office. They're not nearly as expensive.

Does that package from Poland meet the 130" length + girth limit? Doesn't look like it would with the wheels on the sides of the frame.

I've long since thrown out the packaging. As I recall, it was pretty compact. You might want to email him your question. He has one auction going on right now.

I pack mine pretty much the same way. LOTS of pipe insulation, allthread and bolts on the dropouts and fork ends, as much other protection as possible.

I got a Paramount frame one time that was packed between two pieces of cardboard stapled around the perimeter. Only luck kept it safe.

I just had to ship a really heavy old Cleveland Welding cruiser bike. To get it to fit in the box I ended up dropping the fork, stacking the front fender on the rear fender (with a layer of packing between them) separately boxed up the fork and the the other loose bits and then fit those to the side of the top tubes. The more loose parts that get their own special internal box, the tighter and smaller it all can get packed.

That was the heaviest bike I ever shipped -- tipping the scale at over 50 pounds.

I think it's the 30" or 32" one. It's the largest "flat" box they have. Cost $11. Cost to ship from Alabama to Philly was $42 for two day ground. Total cost to me was about $60 to ship the frame.

Lets bring things into a bit of perspective here. The OP is located in Germany, where the most commonly used shipper, Hermes Versand, readily and frequently handles bikes packed as pictured. In fact, for bike shipments within Germany, this IS the standard way to pack and ship bikes. Hermes even recommends this! Secondly, the frame itself was not damaged, so WTF is there to be complaining about? Thirdly, to expect a real signature is ludicrous and puts up for debate who is more ingenuous, the seller for truly believing it was a real signature, or the buyer for believing whatever was said. Fourthly, just because a headset grinds, does not in itself mean that there is anything wrong with the headset, more than likely all that it needs is a simple clean-up. When you buy any used bike, unless it is clearly stated that it has been fully overhauled, you should always expect to need to repack any and all bearings. The OP writes in a subsequent post that he does not even know how to take the headset apart, so that to me points to the buyer being the one at fault for this. Moving on to the talk of the seatpost being scratched, I expect here too, more than likely, the case is not overly one-sided as some might imagine. We all know that any seatpost that has been inserted in a frame will automatically be scratched, so the questions is in what way was the seatpost scratched. Besides, what frame and seatpost are we talking about here? These are not necessarily high collectibles, but rather nothing more than used.

I have shipped hundreds of bikes over the years and only once had one of my bikes arrive damaged (in that case UPS paid for the full cost to repair the bike, in recognition that it was their fault). I can't tell you how many times people have told me that you "need" to put pipe insulation over tubes and multiple other safeguards. There is obviously nothing wrong in doing these things but there is likewise no true "need" for them. Just look at how the manufacturers ship their bikes. None of them use pipe insulation or the like, and they have mostly determined their shipping protection needs on cost benefit basis.

My rule of thumb is to always make sure that the shipper understands what needs to be protected and that they will take responsibility for any damage caused if they do not properly protect these items, whether through a claim to the shipper or out of their pocket. This is precisely what I promise to people who buy from me.

PS: I am in no way related to the shipper of this bike, nor do I in fact even know who he or she is. I simply think it is highly incorrect and unfair to blame everything on the shipper. You need to take responsibility as a buyer too. I have even gone so far as to prepare a URL to send to people who I buy from to help them assure that the bikes I buy are OK. This is the one that I send to Italian sellers: http://tinyurl.com/dza4da. If they are not willing to follow this to a "T", I then go over what they want to do and see if it is sufficient to make me happy.

Thanks Steve. I always appreciate your posts.

Footnote to my earlier posts:

http://www.jaysmarine.com/Bike_howtopack_frame.jpg

I was looking for this photo (specifically to post here). Finally found it.

-Kurt

First person to correctly guess the contents of this package gets an "atta boy"!
http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/d/...ped_Bars_1.jpg

Cinelli Criterium handlebars w/1A stem with length of approximately 110-120mm.

Cannot tell whether it is old logo or new - I'll take a complete guess and say it is new logo.

-Kurt

Close!
Do you want another guess?
Here's a hint: It is Cinelli...

Devotion, that's shipable? I mean, you can actually do that?

This is how I received the bars from an Australian seller, yes.

Cinelli track drops with 2A stem?

Quietly keeping my mouth shut in Tampa.....