Tips on Shipping a Bicycle

Whether it is a piece of furniture, food or heavy equipment that you want to ship somewhere across the globe, you need to make some preparations in advance. As expected, bicycles make no exception. And the first step is to pack it properly so as to minimize the risks of it suffering any damage while transported to the destination. Most often, bicycles are packed in boxes and bubble wrap. Whether they are disassembled or not usually depends on the delivery time. Here are a few tips on shipping a bicycle over long distances.

Find the supplies you need

First of all, you need two boxes for shipping bikes, where one should be slightly larger than the other. You should have no trouble finding them in a bike shop. In fact, you can get them for a much lower price or even for free a few days before the shipping. You also need a few strips of cardboard as well as scrap wood, duct or packing tape and, last but not least, some twine or some thin rope. Or you can contact a company for your office supplies, stationary and magazine printing.

Learn to disassemble the bicycle

As mentioned earlier, the bicycle might need to be disassembled in order to be shipped. Therefore, you need to learn how to disassemble it and put the parts together again, but you can rest assured it is not very difficult.

Start by shifting gears so as to loosen the cables. Once you have done that, you need to deflate the tires, though not completely, and take the seat and post down. Next, you need to remove the front wheel and stick a piece of wood between the fork dropouts for protection. This is when you need to give slack to the brake cables or remove them altogether. Then, you need to turn the handlebars around and remove them along with the stem and then the pedals. Take one of those strips of cardboard you purchased and place the frame against it on one said and the front wheel on the other, then tie them all together. Finally, remove the derailleur on the back and tie it and the back wheel together, padding them both with cardboard.

Use the boxes to pack the bicycle parts

Once you have disassembled the bicycle, you need to place the parts into the boxes. Use the smaller box first. It is very important that you make sure the sharp parts do not cut through the box by padding them with cardboard. As for the handlebars, pedals and seat, you can use pieces of cloth to wrap them and thus secure them. You will also need to have a set of tools at hand to be able to reassemble the bicycle upon its arrival at the destination, so make sure you secure those as well. Now, you can seal the smaller box and place it inside the larger one, which you can seal as well. Well, you are almost ready. The last thing you need to do is to write your name, return address, destination and flight number on the box. Once you have done that, your bicycle is all set for being shipped to anywhere across the globe.