Hi,
I’m flying out to Ironman CDA this year and need advice for getting my bike there. Is it better to fly with it or ship it via UPS? Also, how important is a hard bike case…as opposed to a cardboard case? My local bike shops have the cardboard “cases” but I’d have to drive 3 hrs to another bike shop to rent the hard case (is it worth the drive and expense?).
Thanks!
Duck,
I’ve used insideoutsports the past two years getting my bike to IM Florida. They have excellent service and will make any needed adjustments prior to the race and then pack/ship the bike back to your home after the race. I plan on using them for IM CDA and IM Canada. The cost runs between $75 - $150 depending on the package your buy. You’ll need to send your bike about 2 weeks prior to the race to ensure that it is there on time.
Best of luck.
-Andrew
I’ve been using Fed-Ex ground to ship my bikes to distant races. Granted, you have to allow for sufficient lead time for the bike to get there when you want it there, but it’s relatively cheap (about $30 each way from NJ to 1/2 IM Utah in hard shell case), and it saves the hassle of lugging it through the airport. From my understanding, Fed-Ex will be much less expensive to ship than UPS, as I’ve been told Fed-Ex self-insures the goods they ship, while UPS uses third-party insurance, which results in the higher cost (especially for bikes valued in the thousands). I’d be interested how others feel about shipping bikes in cardboard boxes, but IMO a race bike is a sizeable investment worth protecting via the use of a hard shell case. Don’t know if it’s worth driving 3 hrs each way to rent a case. Probably better off to buy one. Difference isn’t quite as much when you factor in gas, depreciation on your car, as well as the value of your own personal time. Oh, and back to using Fed-Ex, I’ve found that hotels are usually very accomodating if you let them know that you are shipping a bike there and that it may get there ahead of your arrival. As long as it’s not a race host hotel, which may receive a large volume of bikes, they will usually hold it for you until it arrives, no charge, no hassle.
I usually just fly with it. It’s just as easy to slip the counter person a $10 or $20 to help it fly free. AA has a $25 overweight baggage charge and a $75 oversize charge. Tell them it’s overweight right off the bat & drop $25 on the counter. I’ve never been charged the $75 fee when doing this.