Shipping a bike to Canada

[Sarah Turner]

Hi

I'm moving to Canada and would like to send my bike via surface (sea) mail. Does anyone have any advice and recommend a good and cheap company?

Thanks
Sarah

 

[RaRa]

We moved to America a few years back and used Pickfords international - we had a lot of things to ship though. In the end we realised we made a fairly expensive mistake and should have sold almost everything, saved the shipping fees and bought new when we arrived. When we came home we only brought the things we didn't want to part with and used an excess baggage company - think it was excessbaggage.com.
I have to admit I probably won't ship a bike unless it was irreplaceable or had sentimental value to me.

 

[Sarah Turner]

ok, that's good advice, thank you!

 

[Globalti]

If you ship it by sea it will go by LCL cargo (Less than a Container Load) and will be shoved in a container with loads of other mixed cargo. The whole thing will only move at the speed of the slowest customer, both at the loading and the clearing end so it could take months.

Better to sell it and buy a new bike in Canada, I bet it will be cheaper too. Alternatively get quotes from FEDEX, TNT and DHL for courier carriage or contact a couple of airfreight agents - try Davies Turner Air Cargo on 0161 498 0777. They will need the dimensions and weight of the package.

 

[4F]

If you ship it by sea it will go by LCL cargo (Less than a Container Load) and will be shoved in a container with loads of other mixed cargo. The whole thing will only move at the speed of the slowest customer, both at the loading and the clearing end so it could take months..

Not quite accurate. The service between the UK warehouse and the Canadian warehouse will be a set time and will move straight to a customs shed so you would not be held up by anyone elses cargo. However I agree that once you factor in customs clearance, local handling and other made up charges (handover fee etc ) as well as the costs from getting it from the UK to Canada it will work our expensive as also there is a minimum charge which will bump up the price. If the bike is worth a lot I would take it as excess baggage on the flight with you.

 

[Stevejo]

I have taken my bike back and forth to Canada several times. Remove the pedals and turn handlebars 90degrees. I also bought a selection of foam insulation for plumbing pipes in various diameters and cut to length and covered all of the frame tubes as protection in the hold(did not have it in a box).

 

[sabian92]

Could you not just fly it in a box?

Surely that is quicker and less expensive?