To ship my bike to Oregon in June, I bought a
BikND travel case back in January. Tuesday afternoon, I bought a FedEx shipping label from
ShipBikes.com. I called ShipBikes to ask something about the label and heard that my case is unacceptable to FedEx because the straps, buckles, wheels, and handle may be torn off by FedEx's sorting machinery. All this was happening very close to the time at which I have to ship the bike in order to be reasonably certain that it will arrive by Saturday, June 15.
The guy at ShipBikes seemed to me to be the voice of experience so I believed him and started working on other arrangements. One idea was to find a bike box big enough to hold the bike + case. I left a message at BikND's Facebook page, too, and saw a reply very soon. BikND doesn't know of any problems with FedEx. With these contradictory assertions in mind, I packed the bike in the case and took it to FedEx on Wednesday to hear the verdict from the source and expecting the worst.
 |
| Going down the hall and out the door. |
After hours of worrying about this, I heard in about 30 seconds that
for a trivial $8 more, this package could be flagged as "unpackaged" so
that it will never run the gauntlet of the sorting machinery. No problem. Much anxiety
for nothing. FedEx says that my bike will be at the hotel in Astoria
on Monday, June 10, four days before I arrive.
 |
| Committed to the tender mercies of FedEx and Ross |
It's
remarkably easy to put a bike in the BikND case. Remove pedals, wheels,
rear derailleur, stem + handlebar, seat + seatpost. Secure the fork
and bottom bracket. Install rear dropout protector, chainstay and
chainring cover, fork covers, stem cover. Install hub protectors while
packing wheels. Zip it up halfway, stow the parts, pump up the air
bladders, finish zipping. Buckle the straps. Ship it.
All that's left now is to find it in Oregon as I shipped it west and to put it back together. Then I can ride off into the sunrise and ship it west again in New Hampshire.
Didn't know the part about no straps or wheels on the bike container. I put 3 straps on my case ( covered the straps in black duck tape). I dropped my bike off at the Fed Ex shipment center and even asked them if the straps were ok - and the clerk said no problem.
ReplyDeleteHope she was right - will see what shows up in Astoria. I might be riding on the back of your bike!!!
Apparently, there is much contradictory information swirling around. Maybe your FedEx agent assumed that such a package should be flagged as "unpackaged" and left it unspoken. Does your FedEx receipt show an extra charge of about $8? If it doesn't, then my brow is still furrowed in puzzlement.
ReplyDelete