jack650

Hello there,

I am hoping to educate myself about shipping my bike to a full distance tri this November. This will be my first triathlon in which I'll be shipping my bike via air. My primary concern is on whether if my fit on the bike will be constant as the assembly will be done locally in the tri locale.

If you've shipped your bike before to a far-off triathlon, I wonder if you wouldn't mind sharing your experience? How did the fit work out? Are there other aspects of which I should be mindful? Thanks.

Jack

cjbruin

I rented one of these from my bike shop for $10/day and took it as checked luggage. United charged me $80 each way. The cool thing about it was that I didn't need to do much disassembly...removed seat, wheels, & left pedal; and lowered my aero bars. I was able to get my fit pretty close.

You can use a shipping company to send it to your hotel but I found it was something like $250 each way.

Another good option is Wheels on Wheels https://www.wheelsonwheels.com/Biketr...BTransport.htm They just transport your bikes with a bunch of others...pretty convenient. Edit--Oops...it looks like these guys are only in So Cal...I'll leave the info in case you're out here too.

Good luck.

cyclinrunt

I'm in the same spot. I actually own one of the bike boxes cjbruin shows, but have yet to use it. I considered doing IM W. Australia next year, but shipping the bike became overwhelming. I'm going to do IM Coeur d'Alene next year instead, so that I can practice flying with the bike in the US first. I'm doing IM FL this year and can drive.

One of my concerns is insurance while traveling with my bike. If they lose or destroy it, I can't afford another one. My home owner's insurance will only cover it if it was stolen or burned up (go figure!). I tried getting a floater policy, and not only can I not find one, but people acted incredulous at the idea. This is not a Schwinn.

My pro triathlete friend suggests ship it by UPS or some such carrier within the US, so you can buy extra insurance. She said she puts it on the plane and hopes for the best for international trouble, and has not had a problem in more than 25 international flights.

Any input into this thread would be appreciated by me as well.

gatorchick

We've flown with bikes three times with no problems whatsoever. I have the case shown above (Tri-all-3 I believe?) and its really nice because there is very little disassembly required - just take off both wheels, unhook the bars, make sure the chain is protected, and you're good to go. Just mark the height on your seatpost and the angle your aerobars are at and you should be right back to your original fit with no problem.

cyclinrunt: Have a GREAT time at CDA! I've been there twice (altho I was a casualty of the heat this year - at mile 17 of the run ... SO CLOSE!)! Its a beautiful course and the atmosphere is fabulous! You'll love it!