Shipping options - again
 

Anybody shipped an uncoupled bike lately? I found the set of used wheels I was looking for in another thread. They are in Philly, and have a 2003 Burley Tosa attached to them that's just the right size for Maggi to pilot with our daughter! :thumb:

A search of some of the other shipping threads on here led me to Aliant Express, but they want about $165 to bring it to Tampa, and that's with terminal drop-off and pick-up, not door-to-door.

Checked DHL, and they no longer handle domestic freight, just international.

UPS says it's over-size and over-weight, so that makes the "billable weight" 159 pounds, and they want $965!! ROFL! And I thought $165 was highway robbery!

Anybody sorted this out lately?

Although we've not used them, Greyhound has been mentioned by several folks over the years as being both reliable and affordable

http://www.shipgreyhound.com/

Oops! Thanks TG, I had completely forgotten about them. I used to use them occasionally back in the 80's at one of my bike shops! I'll check `em out again.

If you want door-door, you have to go with UPS or FedEx Ground and will have to pay dimensional weight. You can get it down quite a bit by shipping the frame by itself with the fork removed, but you are still probably looking at $100 for that box size, plus a second box with the wheels and other stuff (unless you can fit them in the frame box).

AMTRAK is a great way to ship big bikes if you have a nearby station that handles freight. I've shipped 3-4 tandems this way and it's easy and reasonable (around $125 coast-coast, incl boxes and insurance).

@Onegun, I PM'd you... check your messages

Thanks, I'll check them too, and report back all the comparative prices. PM'd you back.

Will be very interested in the info. After I retire I know we'll want to do one of the right-coast tandem rallies and we don't have couplers.

WHAT??!! After you retire, you don't NEED couplers! RIDE it over here, Rick!! :thumb:

OK, here's what I found. For comparison purposes, this is from Philly to Tampa trip, roughly 1000 miles, and I'm insuring for $1000:

DHL - No longer handle domestic freight, just international.

UPS - Over-size and over-weight, making the "billable weight" 159 pounds = $965!!

Aliant Express - No discussion about dimensions, weight, or insurance = $165

Grehound - Max length 82", which means the rear wheel has to come off, weight limit 50 pounds = $89 + $8 ins. = $97

Amtrak - Under 50 lbs, no discussion of length, rides "space available" and they call you to pick-up = $72 + $5 ins. = $77

Additional notes: Looks like BriWasson was dead on with all his remarks, and I have no desire to see the bike shipped without the rear wheel in place absent some sort of padded tandem hard case.

So looks like Maggi's new Burley gets to "Take A Ride On The Reading"!

FWIW, It's been a while but in the past I was able to ship 3 different small-framed, boxed tandems via UPS. It requires two boxes vs. one and removal of the the wheels. Rather than using the plastic spacers that come on new frames from the factory, I would make spacers out of SCH40 PVC that were held in place by the QR skewer. Never had any problem with one of those coming out. I was ambitious enough to "document" two of the three shipments for posterity.

http://www.thetandemlink.com/article...mshipment.html

http://www.thetandemlink.com/articles/cdalebuild.html

As usual, TG, your attention to detail is flawless. I really like the rolled cardboard as a compression member, especially since it's waste from the making of the tandem box anyway. I've often used a chunk of 2X2 zip-tied to the seat or down tube, but your way is faster/easier/lighter.

But in this case, I wasn't the one doing the packaging. So, short of documenting how to pack it, (like you did!), and HOPING the guy would follow directions, I wanted the back wheel on!

OK, the postmortem. As I said in the earlier post, we went with Amtrak. Hours apparently vary by station, but the Philadelphia station where it was dropped off was open 15 hours a day, 7 days a week. The original owner actually dropped it off Sunday around 6PM!

The fees were exactly as stated over the phone, which is rather refreshing these days. Although they said all freight rides "space available", the counter guy apparently said that there's always "space available", and it would be on the next train to Tampa at noon Monday.

It was, and arrived around 1PM Tuesday. About 2 hours after that they called to let me know I could come pick it up. The box, (and the bike within) were both in perfect shape.

All in all, the experience was a good one. I'd definitely use them again if the need arose. :thumb:

Glad to hear Onegun had such a good shipping experience. That's been my experience with AMTRAK, too, when shipping tandems with them. Fast transit times, amazingly helpful baggage clerks at the Philadelphia station, and very convenient in that you can ship the tandem with both wheels still on. Every time I go to the Philly AMTRAK station to ship a tandem (3-4 times now, I guess) the clerk always asks me if I work for "Mr Bilenky," as apparently Bilenky Bikes ships a lot of their bikes that way. A good enough recommendation for me!

I was also shopping around trying to find viable shipping options for a Bike Pro tandem case from Boise (83701) to Coeur D'Alene (83814) and hit $147 for FedEx residential delivery service. Amtrak does not have any shipping service in Idaho. Greyhound (shipgreyhound.com) quoted the best price at $75.

Later I did find a better pricing for FedEx service quoted by: http://www.shipbikes.com/HowMuch.aspx at $101, a $46 savings over the standard FedEx quote. Just food for thought regarding future shipments.

If you race, USA Cycling has a discount program with Luggage Forward which might be of some advantage.

You are right that it is a very high amount to pay for shipping. If you want to best shipping service then you can find out on the web and you will see that many companies providing best service in budget.

^^^^

How about someone deleting that tripe from a "banned" poster. ie: No need to bump an old thread when nothing useful is added.