So..What do you guys think about BikeFlights?

[GTs58]

Have they changed something or is everyone thinking the weight is a big deal. It's the box size that matters. Cheating on the weight really makes no difference because the weight is pretty much irrelevant with a bike box. I have experimented with adding weight to my package when trying to figure out what it's going to cost to ship a bike with FedX. I used the same box dimension that was just under the size where the cost would double. I started off with 45 lbs and then kept adding 10 pounds each time to see when I'd get hit with a price increase. I was up to 80 pounds before the price increased to a few bucks more.

 

[GenuineRides]

Freight companies use dimensional weight, which takes into account actual weight, square footage or cubic size of the box dimension, and also figures the density to come up with their rates. So typically bikes exceed the space before they exceed the density weight for their size, therefore weight is less of a factor in pricing. Its about how much space does it fill on the trailer load to optimize the space used/rate to pay for the cost of the trip.

 

[Jay81]

Well I decided to give shipbikes.com a try. Using accurate size and weight, I compared their price to bikeflights, and they were $10 cheaper.
Same Fedex that I'm used to, and have never had an issue with, and a few more bucks in my wallet.

The fact that shipbikes doesn't take paypal didn't bother me, since I don't take paypal anymore.
However, when I did have paypal I did use it to buy bikeflights labels, which was sort of nice.

 

[rideahiggins]

I went to each website. Shipbike, Bikeflights and UPS and plugged in all the same numbers to ship a bike box from Indiana to California. Shipbike 66.27, Bikeflights $88.95, UPS $139.47. It's apparent that UPS considers a 54x8x29 bike box oversized now. UPS rates on Ebay are just as rediculous.

 

[mr.cycleplane]

cheating bikeflights on the weight is one thing-that's a reflexion on your character. now they have caught on and its hurting their bottom line. this might explain the 'beef' I have with them-damaged goods. the last 3 out of 4 shipment thru bikeflights have had damaged. I have had to completely replace two front forks that were tweaked beyond belief. and it wasn't the shipper-the bikes were packed well. when you see a footprint in the middle of the box (obviously kicked full on)or forklift blades punch marks-this is the personnel handling our goods. they are probably frustrated that this cheating on shipping charges is affecting their next raise-so pay back is a '______ -_______'! I have had 'ups' shipments-a little more cost-a little more time getting to the destination-but it got there and box was handled the way I would expect service for my hard earned money.

 

[Autocycleplane]

Bikeflights or any of the other "shipping label generators" do not actually ship or ever handle your package in any fashion. They are simply a middleman that gets the enterprise/bulk rates from the shippers that we cannot and then skims a bit off the top to try and make a profit before passing the remaining savings along to us.

It's FedEx or UPS that is doing the damage.

 

[fordmike65]

Just tried shipbikes for the first time today. $64.85 vs bikeflights $98.20 from MO to CA with $500 coverage. Seems the choice is clear

 

[saladshooter]

When I shipped my last bike from New Hampshire to Colorado. Shipbikes with $1500 insurance was the same price as bikeflights without insurance. $105 (2 boxes)

 

[Saving Tempest]

Freight companies use dimensional weight, which takes into account actual weight, square footage or cubic size of the box dimension, and also figures the density to come up with their rates. So typically bikes exceed the space before they exceed the density weight for their size, therefore weight is less of a factor in pricing. Its about how much space does it fill on the trailer load to optimize the space used/rate to pay for the cost of the trip.

Yes, and in the last year or three the carriers have updated how they figure this out. You don't see anything like USPS does with one size to a certain weight fixed rate shipping in Priority Mail packages in bike shipping.

 

[locomotion]

I personally think BF is horrible, they have terrible customer service from my experiences with them ...... I have shipped around (10) bikes with them because I could not find any substitutes and I would not recommend
I now use the services of netparcel.com, on the last (12) bikes that I have shipped out, and everything went smooth when shipping Canada-Canada and Canada-US
they seem to have contracts with different shippers depending on destination and let you choose the best option for you
I wanted to give it a good try before letting you guys know, their customer service and answer to emails is top notch!

Economy International Shipping | Cheapest Shipping | netParcel

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netparcel.com

Also, I have never used their service for US-US or US-Canada or US-International because I am in Canada, so I don't know if will works from the US, but the quoted price on their website is in Canadian dollars, so it you are in the US, your credit card will probably be billed in Canadian dollars, so the USD charge will be less ....... win-win for you

it would be great if someone in the US would try them and reply on the experience

( netparcel , net parcel , netparcel.com )