Seeking advice on bringing a bike from Europe to U

[RidersToTheSea]

I am planning on cycling the Northern Tier self supported West to East
during the Summer of 2007.

I'm Irish and will be flying over from Ireland a couple of days before the
start of the ride.

I am wondering what's the best way of bringing the bike over. Is it
possible to bring it with me as luggage? Or should I have it shipped
over before hand UPS or otherwise? I don't have any relatives or friends
living on the west coast.

Thanks,

Don

[valygrl]

Check with your airline.  Different carriers have very different baggage limits, so if you haven't bought your ticket, that might be part of the selection process.  For the international flights I've taken, the bike counted as part of regular checked luggage, and there was no extra charge.  For domestic flights here in the US, there is usually a $50-80 charge to check the bike as baggage.  Either way, you'll have to box the bike.

I looked into UPS'ing my bike to Australia, but it was very expensive.  DOn't know what the charges would be from Ireland.  If you decide to go that route, I bet you can find a bike shop that will receive your bike for you, especially if you pay them to reassemble it.

You can pack all your panniers together into a big duffel bag, and either carry it with you on your bike or send it to yourself at the end of your ride.  In the USA, you can send a package "general delivery" to a post office in another city, and they hold it for you.  Check with the USPS web site for how long they will hold it.

Have a great tour!

[John Nettles]

Depnding on where you are landing in the USA, you might contact a local bike shop there and see if you can ship there and they can assemble it and have it ready for your trip.  UPS is much less likely to damage it compared to any airline and you can get insurance for it pretty cheaply.

Perhaps there is a ACA member in that area willing to have you ship it to them?

I did the trip back in '87.  Hope you enjoy your trip!

Happy trails and may the wind be at your back!

TulsaJohn

[JayH]

If I lived on the west coast, I'd be glad to help ya out, but I think a bike shop would be willing to take shipment, I know many of them do and possibly for a fee would even put your bike back together if you want. The ACA maps will list nearby bike shops on the back of the maps, it would be a good start to look there or the Yellow Pages too.

Jay

[ptaylor]

I did the Northern Tier this summer (2006) with Hans, a man from The Netherlands. Hans has ridden the US coast-to-coast twice now in the past 10 years. He checked his bike as luggage. He rolled it into the airport, removed the bags and pedals and turned the handlebars sideways. In some cases the airline had a box to put the bike in, and in other cases they covered it with a big plastic bag. If you are doing the whole Northern Tier, you will want to fly into Seattle, Washington, and fly home from Bangor, Maine. There are shuttle buses from Seattle to Anacortes and from Bar Harbor to Bangor.

Paul

[wandering_words]

As far as shipping your bike, you may be interested in getting a good quality shipping case.  

Because you are touring self supported, the CELLO bike case by Wandertec is an interesting option.  It works together with a BOB Trailer allowing you to ship your bike and BOB together.  You can remove the it from the BOB at your destination and pack it up in a bag that is used for packing extra parts.  The bag size is apx. 26" x 15" x 5" .  Your bike case can then be shipped to where your tour ends for your return trip home.  

This bike case also works very well as you can ride your bike away from the airport to a place to have it shipped to the end of your tour.  Most bike shops probably wouldn't mind having you ship it to them on the other end of your tour.

This website carries the CELLO http://www.biketrailershop.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=25

This message was edited by wandering_words on 10-5-06 @ 5:15 PM

[leo]

Sending a bike to or from Europe is extremely costly . I had to do it last summer when I was forced to abandon a TransAm ride in the middle of Kansas. The cost of shipping was around $850 and I then suffered the indignity of having to pay import tax when it got back to France because the paperwork hadn't been marked "personal effects".

I sent the bike by FedEx and a bike shop did the packing and dispatching. I have nothing but praise for them. UPS, I think quoted a few dollars less but there wasn't much in it.

I often read that shipping a bike within the US is inexpensive or at any rate reasonable. I promise you that sending it across the Atlantic is anything but. And this was just a one-way journey, remember.

happy days

léo

[leo]

Hi again

  I said $850 for sending the bike back to France. In the middle of the night I wondered if I had transposed the numbers and if I'd actually paid $580. I can't find the paperwork now but, either way, it's a lot!

léo