There are a number of options. It's a trade-off on work vs. cost. The easiest, and most expensive is to talk to two bike shops, one in town, and another in Brooklyn. Drop your bike off here, have them pack it and ship to the shop on the far end to put it back together for you.
Next would be to have the local bike shop ship to a friend or hotel at your destination, and then put it together yourself once you get there. If you're shipping to a hotel you'll be staying at, make sure to call to make sure it's ok with them. Next you can have a bike shop pack it, and ship it yourself. You may save money on this, but in my experience bike shops don't bother to mark up the cost of shipping. After that you can beg or borrow a cardboard bike box from a store and pack the bike yourself. If you Google "packing a bike for shipping" you should find a number of videos and how to's that will offer better instruction than I can offer. For the most part, you remove the peddles and front wheel and slide it into the box. Don't forget to bring a peddle wrench with you if you're going to put it back together again yourself at the other end. If you're handy or have lots of money you can also build your own re-usable box or buy one of those fancy shipping cases. UPS or FedEx both work for shipping bikes, but the costs vary enough that you should check their prices yourself once you know the dimensions and weight of your package. Greyhound, Amtrak, and the various airlines generally allow you to bring a bike with you while you travel. I'm not familiar with any option to ship unaccompanied packages on them, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Prices and packaging requirements vary wildly between company, so if you plan to travel on them with your bike you should check into the specific restrictions. Some airlines are fine with just wrapping your bike in a plastic bag and sometimes you can carry your bike unchanged onto a train. Other times you'll be required to package it up just as if you were sending it UPS. I've personally done nearly all the shipping options I've described at one time or another. I've much preferred packing it and shipping it to myself, but there is something to be said for spending the extra cash and having a fully functional bike waiting for you on arrival. Mostly it will depend on the specifics of why you're shipping a bike to Brooklyn. In any case, best of luck with it and don't forget the insurance. On Fri, Mar 25, 2011 at 8:45 AM, Robin <[email protected]> wrote: > Any suggestions on getting a bike from Madison to Brooklyn, NY? Box it > up and UPS? Greyhound? > > Riding there is not an option. > > R. > -- > Pointlessly blogging at www.robindavies.us > Try something new every day. > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
