You are right, this is about what I was thinking of to get for this one year.

I am from Austria, but I just found out that with DHL Germany you can send really big boxes cheaply to the US. It would not fit in perfectly, even disassembled it would have to be in the box a little aslope, but I might be able to get the bike of my wife and mine into one box and send it for around 100$. So I might send a parcel from Germany.

As it seems to be more difficult to send a big parcel from the USA to Europe, I might then sell our current bikes at the end of the year and get new ones at home.

just so you know ... lufthansa allows bikes for 100€/150USD from EU to US/US to EU as oversized sporting goods.

Thanks. We will be flying US Airways. They charge 200$ per bike.
More important, we will be flying with two toddlers. This will in itself be exhausting and bicycles will be difficult to handle on the airport and on our further transfer.

Good luck with the move! As a last resort, I'd check out the local ALDIs in Philly as there seems to be a few of them. I don't know if they carry the same merchandise as here.

A little OT, but funny that you mention that. Seems like they have some European stuff. And usually Aldi in Europe always has very fresh but cheap fruit and vegetables-wonder if it is the same there. There is one Aldi near, but it is at the border of an area, that is a "red zone" on a safety map I saw. A friend told me, she would at least park near the entrance. Well, I don't know if that changes a lot if you are on a bike...

I've never seen a bike at the local Aldi's

I've ridden the Breezer Uptown 8. Overall it's a really nice bike even though the head and tail lights are on the cheesy side, quality wise, though effective.

they do it over here at ALDI/LIDL/NETTO, but I don't know whether they sell merchandise at the same stores in the US

Here in Kentucky (US) my local Aldi sells pressure washers and generators but I've yet to see a bike. Near Alloa Scotland I was in a Lidl and they sold a suit (formal jacket and slacks) in a box... I almost bought one just because I thought it was hilarious.

I installed a dynohub last year and will never go back to lights that need batteries or recharging. My 3w LED headlight puts out a huge amount of light and it's always available with no stress about how long it will last.

To the OP: If you know what sort of bike you will be searching for, why not bring a dyno wheel and lights with you when you move. That way you can buy any bike and in a short time be illuminated.

-G