The tl;dr version: bikeflight, good; FedEx, rough handling, Endurance House in Sarasota, they rock.
Lessons learned: would definitely use bikeflight agani, but will add 1-2 days to their estimate for transit time, and use tough/hard case instead of soft case.
Now the long version:
After a few times using the Ruster case and playing the "not a bike" game with United, I decided it's just not worth the hassle for the last trip. So I used Bikeflight instead to ship the bike to/pick up from the hotel.
I used a Biknd Helium v4 case to pack the bike and one set of wheels, inflated the airbladders, and everything is pretty much packed as instructed by Biknd's video. In addition to the standard insurance, I also bought some additional insurance to cover the value of the bike. It turns out to be about $35 each way. But given the value of the bike/wheel, I thought it's worth the peace of mind.
The bike was delivered half a day late: instead of the end of the day on Wed, it delivered at about 11am the next day. Since I needed the bike that afternoon, it wasn't a big deal and that's why I factored in the extra day. I was in contact with Bikeflight and they were very helpful in tracking down the bike and ensure FedEx deliver the bike in the morning.
After unpacking and during the process of putting the bike together, I noticed the derailleur hanger was bent - outward. Upon further inspection, it was actually broken. In addition, there were a few bunch of scrapes on the right side seatstay above the derailleur hanger. It was really surprising to me how FedEx managed to do that - the Biknd case protects the bike with airbladders and pads. The derailleur hanger and right side seatstay should be well protected inside. All I could think of is that the case hit something hard at an angle right at that corner of the case.
Needless to say, I spent the afternoon frantically trying to locate a derailleur hanger, and thanks to the good folks of Endurance House in Sarasota (Jim/Jen), they were willing to take a derailleur hanger off a brand new Cervelo in the store, and off we go. I also reported the issues with Bikeflight, and they were very responsive in telling me what to do in terms of the claim process, should I decide to file for one.
For the return leg, I decided to be safe and remove the entire derailleur with the hanger for shipping. The bike got back home ok, but the Biknd case, which was practically new before this trip, was pretty banged up. There are couple of rips, looking like someone at FedEx dragged it across some rough surface. For the claim process with Bikeflight, I had to send them some pictures of the damaged derailleur hanger as well as the scrapes to the bike frame, along with an estimated cost of repair. The processed the claim very quickly with no questions asked, the refund was paid within a week of the claim.
Lessons learned: would definitely use bikeflight agani, but will add 1-2 days to their estimate for transit time, and use tough/hard case instead of soft case.
Now the long version:
After a few times using the Ruster case and playing the "not a bike" game with United, I decided it's just not worth the hassle for the last trip. So I used Bikeflight instead to ship the bike to/pick up from the hotel.
I used a Biknd Helium v4 case to pack the bike and one set of wheels, inflated the airbladders, and everything is pretty much packed as instructed by Biknd's video. In addition to the standard insurance, I also bought some additional insurance to cover the value of the bike. It turns out to be about $35 each way. But given the value of the bike/wheel, I thought it's worth the peace of mind.
The bike was delivered half a day late: instead of the end of the day on Wed, it delivered at about 11am the next day. Since I needed the bike that afternoon, it wasn't a big deal and that's why I factored in the extra day. I was in contact with Bikeflight and they were very helpful in tracking down the bike and ensure FedEx deliver the bike in the morning.
After unpacking and during the process of putting the bike together, I noticed the derailleur hanger was bent - outward. Upon further inspection, it was actually broken. In addition, there were a few bunch of scrapes on the right side seatstay above the derailleur hanger. It was really surprising to me how FedEx managed to do that - the Biknd case protects the bike with airbladders and pads. The derailleur hanger and right side seatstay should be well protected inside. All I could think of is that the case hit something hard at an angle right at that corner of the case.
Needless to say, I spent the afternoon frantically trying to locate a derailleur hanger, and thanks to the good folks of Endurance House in Sarasota (Jim/Jen), they were willing to take a derailleur hanger off a brand new Cervelo in the store, and off we go. I also reported the issues with Bikeflight, and they were very responsive in telling me what to do in terms of the claim process, should I decide to file for one.
For the return leg, I decided to be safe and remove the entire derailleur with the hanger for shipping. The bike got back home ok, but the Biknd case, which was practically new before this trip, was pretty banged up. There are couple of rips, looking like someone at FedEx dragged it across some rough surface. For the claim process with Bikeflight, I had to send them some pictures of the damaged derailleur hanger as well as the scrapes to the bike frame, along with an estimated cost of repair. The processed the claim very quickly with no questions asked, the refund was paid within a week of the claim.