BikeFlights?

Robin

Well-Known Member
Anyone use BikeFlights? Pros? Cons?

I'm traveling and considering using this for a trip - bike would be shipped to a shop that will assemble/have ready for my arrival. I've flown with a bike bag before - and at my size, it's not eaxctly easy to manage luggage and bike bag. Plus, I have a connecting flight, so I'm concerned about bike making connection/flights.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
I have not used bike flights myself, but all visitors that stay at our house in AZ use bike flights. It works great! I used to fly with a bike back when usacycling gave vouchers. I'll admit it was tough sometimes when I was by myself. Art rigged up my bike box in a way that I had a padded handle so I could manage the bike box and suitcase stacked. Today the airlines charge $75 - $200 each way. I do not think it is worth it anymore when bike flights is quite affordable. Many bike shops use bike flights as well. They will pick up and drop off almost anywhere. However, keep in mind that a package can not be held at a FED-X express location.
 

Pearl

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
Bike Flights is just the middle man for FedEx, not sure how it exactly works but if you trust FedEx, you are good to go. Way cheaper than walking into UPS/USPS/FedEx yourself. go for it!
 

jShort

2018 Fantasy Football Toilet Bowl Lead Technician
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I've used it to sell some stuff over Facebook classifieds. It's been by far the cheapest solution I've found besides using my company's FedEx account and risking termination. :)
 

Glenn Rides After 4 PM CST

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I had my Nukeproof shipped from Montana to NJ with Bike flights.
Box had a huge hole in it.
Not sure it even happened during shipping.
I got 300 back from PayPal.
20180228_170124.jpg
 

Xler8

Well-Known Member
From a cost perspective, Bike Flights is your best bet. The biggest challenge I found to be is finding the right sized box for the bike and then boxing it so it doesn’t get damaged during shipping.
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
Bike Flights basically passes on their corporate pricing to the consumer and makes a small profit, but probably more revenue through advertising on their website. My company let's us use the mailroom for domestic FedEx. $20 to ship bikes to CA is a nice perk. No one is going to treat your oversized 40lb box with kid gloves, pack it well if you care what happens to to it during the journey. @Glenn Rides After 4 PM CST looks the the seller did a crappy job packing, Paypal is good with stuff like this, they just don't want to deal with it.
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
Pro tip from Jimmy if you fly with your bike- it's not a bike, it's an "Art project"

done many times on international flights. Just state that it's a frame for a gift. Most will think you mean a picture frame. Just be prepared to clarify if they decide to open it up. This is where clean packing works to your favor. Don't make the box look like it came from the Unibomber
 

THATmanMANNY

Well-Known Member
I just used to ship a bike this week. CHEAP RATE. Damage coverage was expensive. I covered the full amount for piece of mind. USUALLY the entire bike wouldn't go missing. It it was too myself then I probably would do minimal insurance. Also, read their fine print for damage coverage. Easy to print label and drop off at fedex centers even late into the evening. Just be sure to take accurate measurements and weights.

I used to be able to ship bikes via UPS for decent rates and that was at a time when gas was high but it seems like the prices have exploded. Can't understand why.

I got 300 back from PayPal.
You got $300 for a damaged box? DAMN!!!

It's not bikeflights fault for fedex's work. I make it obviously clear that box need to stand up horizontally. Lots of arrows and bubbles.
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
Great timing for a question, I am planning to use them to ship my EVO to cali in a few weeks. Was impressed the quote is $49.
 

Glenn Rides After 4 PM CST

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
@THATmanMANNY It wasn't just the box.
It came with pivot bolts loose. The rear derailleur cable wasn't installed correctly and wouldn't shift. I paid 40 bucks for a bike flight box. Clearly that's a usd Rocky mountain cycles box.
. I wasn't able to contact the guy after it arrived and I sent him a picture of the box asking for a shipping refund.
 

Delish

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I've used BF a bunch of times too. Never shipped a bike shop but I have shipped ahead to be held at a FedEx center.

Packing a bike for shipment gets easier the more you do it and definitely helps to have the right sized box. For shipping a MTB, I find the short+wide boxes that newer Santa Cruz or Pivot's come in to be really useful. Once you hit a certain l+w+h, every inch matters. This is also where centerlock disc rotors come in super handy...90 seconds with a cassette tool and you have one of the big problem areas taken care of. Throw in your camelback, helmet and a floor pump while you're at it. With some of the boxes you'll need to deflate tires and there's nothign worse than having your tire beads come unseated during transit and not having a real pump to try to reseat them.
 

Pearl

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
If you insure a specific dollar amount, they do handle with kid gloves (or at least UPS does).

I can’t remember the dollar amount but there is a method where it is checked my a local rep or some higher up. We ship thousands of fragile signs around the country and we do this if it gets damaged the first time.
 

Peabs83

Member
I shipped a bike i built to a Captain (now Major) in the Air Force via APO to England
and let me tell you once the guys on the ground saw it was going to a Captain they treated it like a newborn baby
 

soundz

The Hat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Pro tip from Jimmy if you fly with your bike- it's not a bike, it's an "Art project"

It was with a small polo bike so it fit ok into a cheap canvas bag that wasn't too oversized. If it was my mountain bike, it would have been a pain to get it in there. Plus you still have to pay $25 for 1st checked bag so I don't know it was worth the annoyance anyway, but it worked out in this case since I used the bike a few days before travel and a few days after travel.
 
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