IM bike shipping

Triathlon Forum
1

When transporting your bike for IM do you use Inside Out Sports and live without your bike for a week or do you transport it yourself?

I am getting ready for my first IM in Florida and don’t want to be without my bike for a week, but the service would make life easier from certain aspects. Is it better to be without the bike for a week or to take my bike with me when I fly?

2

2 experiences with IM FL.

One year I shipped it UPS and it got delayed. We had to drive to the UPS depot to find my training partners TRI all 3 case with the wheels completely pushed up into the bike. It had been dropped from high altitude. My bike was OK. BTW UPS covers contents of the package, not the package itself!

One year I checked it. Panama City only has puddle jumpers. As the week goes on the ability to fit the bikes on the small plane from the hub you are flying from gets lower. If you fly in the day before you are risking a tight “equipment connection”.

Both can suck, the question is which is worse. I would most likely do UPS if I go again.

3

Thanks for the feedback. I was thinking that both options could be questionable, but I was leaning towards the UPS/Inside Out Sports approach.

4

I used Inside Out Sports for Wisconsin. The race was the 12th, I shipped it via UPS to address they provided on Monday, Aug. 30. I used my road bike for that last week or so leading up to race. Bike was all there and assembled right at the transition area when I arrived. That night after finishing, I just walked bike back to Inside Out Sports and they then shipped back to me. Bike arrived earlier this week. Seems to all be in one piece, though haven’t re-assembled it yet.

5

I have had my bikes delayed coming and going to IMFL the last 2 years because of the small planes. Driving this year but have used http://www.sportsexpress.com/ for a few races earlier this season and found them to be about the same cost as fed ex with much better service options. Good luck.

6

I used this service to get my bike to CDA and it worked very well.

www.tribiketransport.com

It was especially nice to not have to break down & rebuild the bike.

7

Newman - you have several choices to make.

  1. Who is going to dis-assemble, reassemble and then dis-assemble your bike? If you don’t wanna mess with your bike…stop here and use InsideOut, send your bike UPS to them, drop it off after the race. Awesome support.

If you can do all the work…and you enjoy it (on race week), here’s some info.

  1. PC is regional air service and only limited bikes can fly in. Expect a delay. Better yet…fly into Fort Walton Beach (a hour west) which provides full jet service (not delays) but you’ll have a rental car expense. However, the rules/cost regarding bike boxes have changed. Best to “play stupid” at the airport

  2. UPS. (method I prefer) Any of the resorts will gladly accept your bike a few days before your arrival. The past two years, I’ve arrived on Wed AM, but my bike was there on Monday. (I send the Monday prior) Use my CX to train the last week…no biggie. Send early, check the tracking on the net…

  3. Packing. Bike boxes are sweet, but I’ve had more bike damage from hardshell boxes than cardboard. Why? UPS won’t cover damage cost if the package doesn’t show physical damage. With a cardboard box…it’s pretty easy to tell if they dumped it off the truck.

If shipping…I’d recommend FedEx. They were $75 cheaper than UPS last time I shipped to Fl (from Mn)

Good luck…

8

Thanks all. I don’t feel inclined to mess with the bike myself and would rather have someone else deal with that for me. It sounds like Inside Out Sports might be the best option.