Shipbikes.com
 

I'm planning a tour for this summer and I'm thinking of shipping my bike using shipbikes.com, does anyone have any experience with this company? I might fly with my bike but having it shipped to a hotel and assembling it there and leaving the next day is another option I'm weighing. I thought I'd tap the experience here for input, please share your advice with me. I'll probably fly into and depart from Seattle although Vancouver or Victoria may work better. I'll be shipping a LHT.

I have no personal experience, but over at BROL this is what a lot of people recommend. Uses Fed-Ex but is MUCH cheaper.

Find a trucking company (not a moving company). I shipped a tandem last year for $86-way cheaper than FedEx, UPS, airline.

This will be the way to go for my next trip to Tucson. I rented a bike there last winter for $45/day. I can save quite a bit and use my own bike!

A friend used shipbike.com on a trip we did in California. The was a minor issue (something fairly normal) and they were responsive in getting it worked out. I'd recommend them.

I rented a bike for a week for $100, which was cheaper and easier than shipping.

See if the renters will make a deal for a whole week.

If you're planning to fly with Air Canada, it might be cheaper to take the bicycle with you. Check the prices to fly with a bicycle.

Last May I flew with Air Canada and each way was, I believe, $50 can. (a non-stop over flight)

When I flew from the east coast to Seattle I flew with the bike. It was cheaper on southwest than the shipping optins I chesked and it is nice to be able to ride right out of the airport.

That said I did use shipbikes on another trip and the service was good. The problem with them is that unless something has changed you either have to use a hard case or one of their expensive boxes. That may be fine if you are starting and ending your tour from the same place, but if you do point to point tours you have to deal with getting your case to the end point of the trip for the return home.

It is nice to have your bike on the same plane.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...0Box/htonj.jpg

Put a spacer between your forks and protect your derailleur.

Here's a review of shipbikes.com someone (not me) posted at biketouringtips.com: http://www.biketouringtips.com/showT...php?tipID=1578

Amtrak freight from Philly to Seattle may be another option available to you. You have to call and check if they offer freight for that O-D pair. The nice thing about an Amtrak box is that requires relatively little disassembly of the bike.

This place is one block from the train station:

http://www.hiusa.org/seattle

I twice stayed at the old location before tours. It had secure pens in the basement for storage of bikes and bike boxes. Maybe this has something similar. It was very popular so advance reservations were neessary.

I wouldn't call $69 in 2010 for a folding bike in a standard suitcase a bargain shipping-wise.

I don't have any experience with them, thought I had looked for them to help ship a bunch of bikes to Phoenix Arizona where we usually go to for our winter getaway. I just came back from Arizona and actually no one decided to use them cause Air Canada and WestJet bicycle fees are cheaper than shipbikes.com. In fact, WestJet charges a normal luggage fee for a bicycle that is wrapped in see-through plastic and is hand carried into the plane, whereas WestJet charges like $50 (more than the plastic bag option) if the bike is shipped in the box or container and is man handled like a gorilla in a cage (abused). Go figure with such inconsistencies! Plastic bag = princess treatment; Box = Treated like s**t.

The only option you would use shipbikes.com is if you fly with United or US Airways. Their fares might be cheap, but their bike fees are just so outrageous and the treatment so poor that you might as well ship it via shipbikes.com!

The only thing I like about shipbikes.com is their aircaddy box. I am interested in buying it just so that I can bring my carbon bike on my next hub and spoke trip as it is a well designed box and heck a lot cheaper than the Thule and the P.O.S Bikend Helium air bag!

Good luck!!

Thanks for the suggestion I hadn't thought of Air Canada, I will check.

Thanks Staehpj1, I'm hoping to arrive and depart from the same location. I was thinking of using the same hotel and leaving the container with hotel for the return trip if possible. Unfortunately it's too early to get reservations for either the hotel or the airline, plenty of time later though.

Thanks Indyfabz, I hadn't thought about taking a train, do you have any idea how long it takes?

I used www.bikeflights.com which is a similar provider last fall to ship my road bike to Vermont, it was really easy. I think I looked at shipbikes at the same time, don't remember why I picked one over the other.

You don't have to take the train to ship your bike via train. Amtrak will ship your bike between certain places even if you are not a passenger.

But if you want to ride with your bike, it takes a while. If you leave Philly on a Monday you arrive in Seattle on a Thursday morning. It's a PITA these days since there is no longer direct service from Philly to Chicago, where you catch the Empire Builder to Seattle. You either have to go to Philly-Pittsburgh and change trains around midnight or go Philly-D.C. for the Capitol Limited or Cardinal to Chicago.

But if you have the time, the Empire Builder is a nice ride. I have done it twice. Highights include the Wisconsin Dells, the open plains of ND and MT, Marias Pass, where you skirt the edge of Glacier National Park and Stevens Pass in the Cascades, where you go through the longest railraod tunnel in the U.S. and span some very pretty gorges.

I guess a bargain depending on which Airlines they fly. If it is US Air or United, it's $200 a pop per way, so you'll end up with a $400 bill. And United sometimes make a point of asking you if you have a bike inside the suitcase or if the case itself is an oversized item other than the 62" linear inch. We had friends flying United to Arizona and they are nothing but vultures once they got wind you've got a bike!

On the front end of an Eastward Tour route, LBS here gets bikes all summer from Domestic tourists ..
sent ahead, to bike shop .. just label it 'do not assemble' and they won't.

& Ship them out for people, that are ending the trip on the west coast. (UPS commercial Account)

The Coast route, Many start in WA or B.C.

When I toured Abroad , It came as accompanied luggage to Amsterdam-Shiphol, and Dublin,
[via Heathrow connection]

The folding bike being shipped was a recumbent tandem that was S&S coupled. It wasn't your standard folding bike in its suitcase (which could be taken on the plane as luggage).

I've used bikeflights to ship some frames that I sold. Even shipped one to Australia, it was easy and it was much cheaper than going through FedEx myself.

Lots of opinions here but no direct users? I have personally used shipbikes 3 times in the past year. It works great. Basically from pickup to delivery FedEx handles everything. You are just billing to a shipbikes account number to get a great discount; everything else id dependable FedEx. I work for FedEx and have a fantastic personal discount but I got an even better rate with shipbikes. I have also shipped two tandems myself directly via FedEx for less tan a hundred bucks each (with my personal discount). If you ship a tandem you have to keep dimensions to the smallest possible for the box as you will be bumping right up against the max size limits allowed.

Shipbikes will be your best deal. When you pack, remember your rate will be more determined by volume than weight so getting the box an inch thinner saves you a lot if money.

I have used shipbikes, I shipped one of my old bikes to my nephew. No problems at all. Printed the label, packed the bike, took it to fedex and it was delivered to the house. I would use them again.

Very interesting, my son also works for FedEx and I'm inclined to go either with Shipbikes or take the bike on a flight using Air Canada or Southwest depending on $ and other factors. I am very grateful for all the suggestions I've received and access to this forums knowledge base.