Shipping bike Canada to UK

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
Post Reply
aquilo
Posts: 61
Joined: 22 Aug 2011, 8:11pm

Shipping bike Canada to UK

Post by aquilo »

Hi
I'm planning on the Great Divide MTB route next year and want to send my bike back from Banff to the UK at the end of the ride so as to free me up to do some non cycling travel before returning home. Just wondering if anyone has any experience of bike shipping companies, the ones I've checked seem really expensive? Or alternatively I would be happy to break the bike down into parts and box it up in a smaller package and air or sea freight it home, there is no rush to get it back. In reality it's only the wheels and a few other bits that I would want to get back, not necessarily the whole frame.

any thoughts?
Cheers
simonhill
Posts: 5227
Joined: 13 Jan 2007, 11:28am
Location: Essex

Re: Shipping bike Canada to UK

Post by simonhill »

This type of question comes up fairly often. Unfortunately there has not yet been a good solution, apart from taking the bike on the plane with you (small charge or free).

You don't say what 'expensive' is, but I'm guessing it is well over £100. A recent search showed it cost well over £100 from Netherlands to UK. The problem is that couriers, etc use linear measurements and bikes are long and tall.

If you are not bothered about the frame, then stripping and posting or couriering the components is probably your best bet. You may even be able to post the frame if completely stripped.

In my long history of 'getting bikes home', I knew an Irish woman who posted a complete bike from China to Ireland. The Chinese accepted the complete bike, but I don't imagine the Irish postal service were amused. A German guy completely stripped his bike and posted it home from NZ to Germany. Nowadays these exploits are probably not possible.
User avatar
RickH
Posts: 5834
Joined: 5 Mar 2012, 6:39pm
Location: Horwich, Lancs.

Re: Shipping bike Canada to UK

Post by RickH »

Our son has just moved from Vancouver to Ireland. As part of his move he shipped a bag using Sendmybag.com, which seemed work well. They claim to be cheaper than taking stuff as baggage. I note they offer a bike shipping service too - https://www.sendmybag.com/bike-shipping - but have no personal experience.

If you take your bike as baggage double check the fees, etc. for the airline you are actually flying with. When Mrs H & I visited our son in 2019, we booked our tickets through Delta but actually flew on KLM aircraft. Delta's rules were your bike could be part of your luggage allowance so we paid for 2 lots of baggage (23kg a piece I think) & took 1 (shared) suitcase & a bike bag. That was OK going out but when checking in to fly back the KLM staff at vancouver insisted I needed a separate bike booking, so I'd paid for general baggage which I wasn't using & had to pay for the bike. I wasn't left with much choice as we were at the airport & I wanted to get my bike home.
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
bobzeller
Posts: 114
Joined: 20 Aug 2013, 8:37pm

Re: Shipping bike Canada to UK

Post by bobzeller »

This is really good information. Thanks for sharing it.
simonhill
Posts: 5227
Joined: 13 Jan 2007, 11:28am
Location: Essex

Re: Shipping bike Canada to UK

Post by simonhill »

Here is a company that says it does bikes.

https://luggagemule.co.uk/ship-my-lugga ... g-service/
mattsccm
Posts: 5101
Joined: 28 Nov 2009, 9:44pm

Re: Shipping bike Canada to UK

Post by mattsccm »

A mate brought his climbing gear home in a big blue barrel. Can't remeber the exacat price but it was only a few tens of quids. Will the frame go in such a thing? It took a month or two though :(
aquilo
Posts: 61
Joined: 22 Aug 2011, 8:11pm

Re: Shipping bike Canada to UK

Post by aquilo »

Thanks for the feedback
In answer to the query above expensive was over £300. The frame was less than that but the rest considerably more😊
Cheers all Bill
Jdsk
Posts: 24640
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Shipping bike Canada to UK

Post by Jdsk »

simonhill wrote: 19 Sep 2021, 4:45pmUnfortunately there has not yet been a good solution, apart from taking the bike on the plane with you (small charge or free).
My family have moved a fair bit of furniture between the UK and South America as personal luggage on airlines. That would be high on my list of options. Of course for this trip you'd need to store the bike somewhere first.

Jonathan
Post Reply