Shipping a bike - USA--AUS

It's only a track bike, but the size limitations (79in Length+Girth) on
USPS Parcel Post preclude me from going more reasonable that route.

Any ideas on carriers that aren't $500?

Andrew F Martin wrote:
It's only a track bike, but the size limitations (79in Length+Girth) on
USPS Parcel Post preclude me from going more reasonable that route.

Any ideas on carriers that aren't $500?


Can you get under the limit by shipping the frame and wheels in two
separate boxes?

Baird

One wheel alone exceeds the limit:

27" + 2x4" + 2x27" = 89

S + S Couplers? http://www.sandsmachine.com/
Arrange to have a traveller take it as luggage?
(Warsaw Pact forbids charging for bicycles on International Flights)

Andrew F Martin wrote:
One wheel alone exceeds the limit:

27" + 2x4" + 2x27" = 89

On Wed, 02 Nov 2005 17:02:36 -0800, Andrew F Martin wrote:

It's only a track bike, but the size limitations (79in Length+Girth) on
USPS Parcel Post preclude me from going more reasonable that route.

Any ideas on carriers that aren't $500?

I recently sent a frame+fork to someone in NZ, via USPS. I did this after
much shopping around.

After trimming the box to the minimum around the frame, I got it under
whatever the limit was. It cost ~$70. Especially with a track bike, I'm
sure you could squeeze it into two boxes this size, with the wheels in the
second box. So it should be under $150 total.

I know the limit was more than 79" (104"?), but the service might have
been a different class than "Parcel Post." Get the particulars from your
local Post Office reps. Mine had to dig around a little to find me the
best solution. Hopefully yours are as helpful and nice.

Finally, when shipping USPS, the shipping time quoted
is probably just a worst case scenario. You pay more for guaranteed 2-3
days or a week or whatever, but a "6 week" shipment will
probably arrive just as quickly. Most things actually go airmail, even if
they're not. What you're really paying for is priority. Even many USPS
reps don't seem to know this, or play dumb about it as a sales technique
-- conjuring up images of slow ships plodding across the ocean, only to
arrive in the middle of a longshoremen's strike.

Matt O.

Andrew F Martin wrote:
It's only a track bike, but the size limitations (79in Length+Girth) on
USPS Parcel Post preclude me from going more reasonable that route.

Any ideas on carriers that aren't $500?

We have shipped a bike to Australia and Wake IS via USPS...need to put
it into two boxes, one for the frame, one for the wheels, to get under
the size restrictions...about $150 total.

I may have to try another location, but the Seattle PO told me 79"
total was the max.

Confirmed by the website:
http://pe.usps.gov/text/Imm/immc2_021.html#fReDw13fwats

I'm not sure how a bike can possibly come in under that.

I'm selling the bike so S&S is out. Couriers will do it - but it costs
~$500.

On 2 Nov 2005 17:02:36 -0800, "Andrew F Martin"
wrote:

It's only a track bike, but the size limitations (79in Length+Girth) on
USPS Parcel Post preclude me from going more reasonable that route.

Any ideas on carriers that aren't $500?

Use Global Priority Mail. The size limit there is 108 inches length
and girth, not 79 inches. Two wheels in one carton, the frame and
removable prongy bits in another. Anything else will cost a small
fortune. Beware, though; insurance is a bad joke with the mails.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On 3 Nov 2005 08:47:45 -0800, "Andrew F Martin"
wrote:

I may have to try another location, but the Seattle PO told me 79"
total was the max.

Confirmed by the website:
http://pe.usps.gov/text/Imm/immc2_021.html#fReDw13fwats

I'm not sure how a bike can possibly come in under that.

Scroll down to 217.4 on this page:

http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/immicl/immiclab_012.html

Global Priority Mail has a higher size limit...but from experience,
you're probably correct in your surmise that finding a different,
better-informed post office is a good move. I've regularly
encountered similar issues around here at one office or another, and
have often overcome them for that day by going elsewhere.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.