ahultin

One of my stokers would like to do the STP ride this year. Anyone have experience with a competent shop we could ship the bike (calfee tandem) to that would assemble then rebox at the end and ship?

bboy314

Maybe check out Rodriguez bikes in Seattle, they just celebrated their 50 year anniversary and specialize in building high end tandems. Not sure if they offer shipping services. Their shop is called R+E Cycles I believe.

merlinextraligh

Or buy a case and learn how to take your own bike apart. If you travel more than once or twice you’ll cover your cost, and the very basic skills necessary are something that anyone who rides their bike farther than they care to walk, should have.

ahultin

I could easily disassemble it, box it and reassemble but dont have any contacts in seattle to even receive the bike. Plan is to fly in friday morning, i did look at the option of buying the santana airline box but then id still need to have a solution to get the box held till sunday

merlinextraligh

If you’re staying at a hotel, they’ll hold it for you.

LV2TNDM

Yes, if you're looking for both pre-trip assembly and post-trip packing, I'd strongly consider buying the case and packing it yourself. If you can disassemble and box a tandem, then you can reassemble it. Not much to it, assuming you have decent attention to detail. In other words, you don't suffer the worst of mechanical faux pas: leaving something (like a stem or pedals) loose! This is the biggest no-no in bicycle mechanics!!! And having the prowess to assemble and disassemble your bike will give you that much more confidence when it comes to mechanicals that occur during your rides.

But if time is limited and you simply must have someone assemble it and then box it back up, I'd look for a tandem-specific shop in Seattle. Sorry I cannot recommend one. For Portland, I'd suggest River City Cycles. They're not a tandem shop per se, but they're well run. I'd give 'em a call and see if you can get their most experienced bike shipper and/or tandem person on your job for you. A $20 coffee gift card or beer can go a long way in getting a job done with that much more care - so worth it when talking about a Calfee tandem!

PS This Calfee isn't coupled I assume?? Would be ideal.

merlinextraligh

As for not leaving something out, my process is that as it comes off the bike it goes in the case. I just toss stuff in, and later arrange it to pack, but it doesn’t get laid down as it comes off, other than in the case.

ahultin

Thanks all. Based on what we found, current plan is to buy the santana airline box (since they are relatively local) and pack it myself. We paid for the bike box transport from start to finish so ill pack and fly home with it. Unfortunately the calfee is not coupled.