These days, air travel is a common part of life. Whether you’re traveling for business, pleasure or a combination of both, bringing your bike along can make a trip much more enriching. Riding your bike is one of the best ways to immerse yourself in a new place. At some point this year, you’ll likely be asking the question: Should I fly with my bike or ship it ahead of time? Which bike case should I use? And what are some of the pros and cons to both? Below we’ll do our best to answer these questions share our knowledge of bike travel.
First of all, there is always a risk to both flying with your bike or shipping your bike. The chances of something happening to your bike (especially if you pack it properly) are usually pretty low and we feel it should’t keep you from bringing your bike along on a trip.
Shipping Your Bike (in the US)
Pros
-Makes your travel day easier/less stressful
-Not dragging bike through airport and dealing with big cumbersome case.
-You’ll likely save some $
Cons
-It’s likely that your bike will be handled and moved around more than if you fly with it so good packing will be important.
-Not having your bike for a few days while it’s en route.
When shipping with the large shipping companies, you’ll need to make sure that you either pack the bike yourself or have your local bike shop pack it up for you.
The most common shipping companies we’ve used are Fedex and UPS. Rates will vary depending on where you plan to ship your bike but keep in mind that the dimensions of your case will be more of a factor in the shipping rate than the weight (weight is part of the equation but sometimes an extra inch on your box can raise your rate by $50). This is especially true with Fedex.
Some major bike specific shipping companies are Sports Express and shipbikes.com and Bikeflights.com. Sports Express is expensive but if you don’t want to deal with the hassle of any part of the shipping process, they will have you covered. We’ve had clients use these guys and the feedback is always very positive. Lately we’ve been using bikeflights.com and are very happy with the process and you can usually save a few extra bucks.
Time Frame
How much time do you have? If shipping standard ground in the US, you’ll need to allow between 5-7 days to have your bike delivered at your destination (in the US). As a general rule, plan to drop it off to be shipped a week in advance (account for any holidays too). 3 day shipping is great but the rates will obviously go up with a package as large as a bike. If you do have a second bike then it’s easy to ship your bike early to make sure there are no issues with delayed delivery. If your bike shipment is time sensitive, it’s always good double check with the company and get a the guaranteed deliver day.
Cost to ship ground
It always surprises me how much these rates can vary. Some of this depends on whether the person at the desk rounds 1 inch up or down (not kidding). Also, adding the declared value will tack on extra $ but not as much as one would expect. On the very cheap side, expect to pay around $60 to have you bike shipped one way. $75-$90 is about average and if you have a very awkward bike case, the customer service rep. isn’t giving you any love, and you cover your Pinnerrello Dogma for $10k you can expect to pay $170+ one way for ground.
Packing – Choosing a Case
Most all of the bike companies ship new bikes in cardboard bike boxes. They are packed extremely well and it’s the only cost effective way for a bike company to ship thousands of bikes to many different destinations. We highly suggest a designated bike case (ideally hard case if shipping ground) when shipping your bike.
Cardboard: Free from your local shop. Downside is that this is not very protective.
Hard Case: Hard cases are very protective. Some of the most common hard cases are Trico, Tri all 3, Thule. We love the Trico cases and Thule. They are super easy to pack a bike into and they give a bike the protection it needs.
Soft cases: I would be hesitant to ship your bike in a soft case via ground but we’ve seen in quite a few times and its always workout. Soft cases are a great option when flying. Pika Packworks and Bike Pro are some of the more common ones. For our staff, we use Pika Packworks exclusively and they work great.
Flying with your bike
Flying with your bike can be great because it’s traveling with you and you’ll have it immediately upon arrival at your destination. Similar to shipping your bike, you’ll want to make sure that you pack up your bike
Pros
– It’s traveling with you so you don’t have the downtime without a bike that you’d have if shipping.
– Handled less than shipping so less risk of damage to your bike
– If you fly with a good airline, you’ll pay as little as $50/each way.
Cons
– Bike case can be an issue once you arrive at your destination
– Can be cumbersome to travel with
– Some airline bike fees can be extremely high ($200+ each way)
– A lost baggage/bike can throw a wrench in your plans.