Are you leaving for a trip with your mountain bike? Are you about to change cities and need to bring your electric bike with you? If you want it to arrive whole, here are our tips on how to ship a bike.
Why ship a bicycle?
There are many reasons why you may need to ship a bicycle. For example, if you need to buy or sell a traditional bike or e-bike, or if you need to move to another city. But you may need to ship a bike as a gift as well. If, then, you are an athlete who competes abroad or you are a cycle tourist, you certainly need to have your bicycle with you. Whatever the reason you need to ship your bike, our tips on how to ship a bike safely and comfortably will be very helpful.
How to ship a bicycle: what to pay attention to
Before seeing how to ship a bicycle, we want to talk to you about the aspects that need to be taken care of in order to prepare everything in the best possible way.
Here’s what you need to watch out for:
The choice of packaging
It is important that you get a suitable box to properly ship your bike.
Buying the right protections
You must choose the material that guarantees you a safe transport of your bike.
Compare the rates
Since there are several couriers that you can rely on to ship your bike, it is useful to request more quotes to evaluate their offers and their rates. Check whether or not insurance coverage is included and if so, consider whether to activate one.
Check your weight and measurements
You must make sure that the package does not exceed the weight and the measures provided by the courier to whom you decide to entrust the transport of your bicycle.
How to pack a bicycle for shipping?
Now it’s time to see how to pack a bike for shipping. Here are our tips for properly preparing your bike so it can be safely shipped by courier.
The instructions to follow to pack a bicycle:
Disassemble the bicycle
To make your bicycle travel safely, you must first disassemble the handlebars, saddle and pedals. If your bike is transported by plane, also remember to deflate the tires.
Pack all the pieces
Collect the different bike components such as screws, nuts and bolts in special bags, so they don’t get lost. Then, wrap with protective materials, bubble wrap or paper is fine, all parts of the bicycle and legal together.
Put the components in a box
Put all the parts of the bike in the box you have decided to use for the transport of your bike, paying attention to filling all the empty spaces with protective material, such as paper. This will prevent the different parts from moving during the journey.
Close the box
To seal the box well, use duct tape. If you want couriers to be more careful when transporting your bike, you can apply adhesive tape with the word fragile.
How to ship a bicycle without taking it apart
Although it is not recommended, there are those who prefer to ship a bicycle without taking it apart. In fact, by choosing to have the bike transported as it is, some of its parts can be damaged during the trip. The couriers also recommend disassembling or folding, if you have a foldable model, the bicycle before shipping it to minimize the size and, consequently, reduce the cost of shipping.
Also, in this case, you will have to carefully choose the box that will have to contain your bicycle for transport. Once you have found the right box, you will have to pack the whole bicycle well and, finally, insert it into the box filling all the spaces well so that the vehicle always remains stationary during transport.
How much does it cost to ship a bicycle
As we mentioned earlier, the price for shipping a bicycle is calculated taking into account its weight and its measurements. Therefore, the more bulky a bike is, the more it costs to transport it.
The cost may vary if the shipment is made within the Italian territory or if the bike is sent abroad. Of course, you can spend less than shipping the same vehicle to a foreign country. This is due to the fact that the longer journey implies a higher cost of fuel and greater use of people.
To know the exact price for the transport of your bike, you must contact a courier so that they can make you an ad hoc quote.
Where can a bicycle be sent?
By now the world is really small and the progress of logistics and new technologies make it possible to shorten distances and to get goods from one part of the planet to another very easily. Today you can ship a bike almost anywhere you want, without major problems. Express couriers allow you to ship your vehicle both in abroad. Furthermore,
the great success of their services and the increase in demand has led to a reduction in shipping costs giving you the opportunity to send a bicycle all over the world without spending an exaggerated amount.
Delivery times for a bicycle
If you need to ship a bicycle, for example, because you need it during a holiday or because you have to give it away, it is good that you know the delivery times so that you can adjust accordingly. For domestic shipments, delivery times range from 1 to 2 working days, while for international shipments, it takes from 3 to 4 working days.
