Shipping an Xtracycle

[brendan]

@jrenaut 107440 wrote:

Anyone have any idea what it would cost to ship our Xtracycle Edgerunner across the country? Don’t worry, we’re not leaving the area. But perhaps an extended vacation on the West coast…

My theoretical strategy for this (in an international context) is to try to find someone who already has one (in my case: a big dummy) at/near the destination and bribe them to let me use theirs…so that’s one option to consider…

Spurious and potentially unuseful data point: when I received my mail order (I lucked out: $1700 delivered) Big Dummy Complete, it arrived partially built by surly: no pedals (of course) and fork uncut and uninstalled. Wheels may have not been installed in dropouts (can’t remember), headset was only partly installed (pressed cups in place only).

That’s about as far as you’d want to disassemble it in any case (cargo add-ons aside) in order to get it into the narrowest profile possible. One could probably get it into an unbuilt bike shipping box (or two, taped together) at that point. Then price out the transport options.

[UPS also mistakenly mis-delivered it to Revolution Cycles in Clarendon, which is understandable, since I lived on the same block at the time. Hilarity ensued.]

B

[cyclingfool]

You might consider looking into the Amtrak Express Shipping option if you can go without the bike for a few days and there’s an Amtrak station where you’re going, though it has its drawbacks.

http://pedalshift.net/2014/09/howd-amtrak-express-shipping-bike-home/

The link above is the only thing I’ve really heard about it, but at least they were apparently gentle with that bike as it made its way from San Diego to DC. Like I said, probably not perfect, but might be worth a little research. Just a thought.

[dasgeh]

Xtracycle and Bike Friday (they make the Haul-a-Day) are both located on the West Coast, and I hear long tails are EXTREMELY popular in the bikey cities out there. I would expect you could find a rental/borrow that would be totally worth the saving the cost and hassle of shipping.

Let me know if you need help contacting people.

[cyclingfool]

@dasgeh 107465 wrote:

Xtracycle and Bike Friday (they make the Haul-a-Day) are both located on the West Coast, and I hear long tails are EXTREMELY popular in the bikey cities out there. I would expect you could find a rental/borrow that would be totally worth the saving the cost and hassle of shipping.

Let me know if you need help contacting people.

A related thought… check spinlister.

[jrenaut]

@dasgeh 107465 wrote:

Xtracycle and Bike Friday (they make the Haul-a-Day) are both located on the West Coast, and I hear long tails are EXTREMELY popular in the bikey cities out there. I would expect you could find a rental/borrow that would be totally worth the saving the cost and hassle of shipping.

Let me know if you need help contacting people.

Yeah, I was thinking this might end up being the better option.

[americancyclo]

@cyclingfool 107460 wrote:

You might consider looking into the Amtrak Express Shipping option if you can go without the bike for a few days and there’s an Amtrak station where you’re going, though it has its drawbacks.

http://pedalshift.net/2014/09/howd-amtrak-express-shipping-bike-home/

The link above is the only thing I’ve really heard about it, but at least they were apparently gentle with that bike as it made its way from San Diego to DC. Like I said, probably not perfect, but might be worth a little research. Just a thought.

Did this ages ago with my GT mountain bike from New York to SF. (or was it greyhound?) my dad packed the tools in the shipping box for me and i put it back together on the street there outside the depot. Then it got stolen six months later.

Greyhound Package Express
[TABLE=”width: 440″]
[TR]
[TD]Quote Information
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] [HR][/HR] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] [TABLE=”width: 100%”]
[TR]
[TD=”bgcolor: #20526D”]Total:[/TD]
[TD=”bgcolor: #DFE2E3″]$114.00[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
Schedule Information
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] [HR][/HR] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] [TABLE=”width: 100%”]
[TR]
[TD=”bgcolor: #20526D, align: center”]Carrier[/TD]
[TD=”bgcolor: #20526D, align: center”]Schedule[/TD]
[TD=”bgcolor: #20526D, align: center”]Departure[/TD]
[TD=”bgcolor: #20526D, align: center”]Arrival[/TD]
[TD=”bgcolor: #20526D, align: center”]Transit Time[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR=”bgcolor: #DFE2E3″]
[TD=”align: center”]GLI[/TD]
[TD=”align: center”]4407[/TD]
[TD=”align: center”]11:35a.m.[/TD]
[TD=”align: center”]1:30a.m.[/TD]
[TD=”align: center”]2 days, 16 hrs, 55 mins[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR=”bgcolor: #999999″]
[TD=”align: center”]GLI[/TD]
[TD=”align: center”]1605[/TD]
[TD=”align: center”]19:55a.m.[/TD]
[TD=”align: center”]13:30a.m.[/TD]
[TD=”align: center”]2 days, 20 hrs, 35 mins[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR=”bgcolor: #DFE2E3″]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD=”colspan: 5, align: center”]

[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] Shipment Information
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] [HR][/HR] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] [TABLE=”width: 100%”]
[TR]
[TD=”width: 50%, bgcolor: #20526D”]Origin:[/TD]
[TD=”width: 50%, bgcolor: #DFE2E3″]WASHINGTON, DC[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD=”bgcolor: #20526D”]Destination:[/TD]
[TD=”bgcolor: #DFE2E3″] SAN FRANCISCO, CA [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD=”bgcolor: #20526D”]Payment Method:[/TD]
[TD=”bgcolor: #DFE2E3″] Prepaid [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD=”bgcolor: #20526D”]Service Type:[/TD]
[TD=”bgcolor: #DFE2E3″] Standard [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD=”bgcolor: #20526D”]Nbr. of Pieces:[/TD]
[TD=”bgcolor: #DFE2E3″]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD=”bgcolor: #20526D”]Total Weight:[/TD]
[TD=”bgcolor: #DFE2E3″] 50 pounds [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD=”bgcolor: #20526D”]Declared Value:[/TD]
[TD=”bgcolor: #DFE2E3″] $300.00 [/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Size: The maximum weight per package is 100 pounds. The maximum dimensions that we can accommodate are 82″ L x 47″ W x 30″ H.

The only downside is they only let you declare the max value at $300.

[jrenaut]

@americancyclo 107477 wrote:

The only downside is they only let you declare the max value at $300.

My primary mode of transportation is priceless.

[dasgeh]

Or just buy a haul-a-day when you get out there. I think it can be packed in the size of a “normal” bike.

Either you’ll have a bonus cargo bike, or you can sell it when you get back here.

[americancyclo]

Doesn’t bikenetic have a folding cargo bike you could buy?

[Author]

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