[Backmarker]

I'm having a bike shipped from the US to Europe and I'm considering using either a Crateworks or Colorado Cyclist bike box. How well do these boxes work for shipping? Are they comparable to a hard case?

https://www.crateworks.com/frameset.html?page=products
http://www.coloradocyclist.com/comm...55&CGRFNBR=3&CRPCGNBR=3&CI=1,156,3&TextMode=0

I have a Trico Sports Iron Case, and I'm quite happy with it. However, it's here with me (in Europe), so it doesn't do me much good in this case. It would be just as cheap to buy another one, as to ship it back to the states first. I don't really need two hard cases, so I am looking at other options. The Crateworks looks interesting, because when traveling, you can fold it up and put it in the back of the rental car when you get to your destination. However, I'm not sure it would protect the bike as well as either of the other two cases.

 

[baker]

I've used the CC box several times for flying/shipping my bike around. Packing it all
in can be a challenge, but every trip the bike has arrived safe and sound.

baker

 

[clarkgriswald]

clarkgriswald

I have the CC box and had with no problems with shipping.

 

[fredrick flintstone]

please dont give colorado cyclist any of your hard earned money. they realy screwd me over. see my posting of colorado cyclists $5,000 mistake.

 

[Cary]

please dont give colorado cyclist any of your hard earned money. they realy screwd me over. see my posting of colorado cyclists $5,000 mistake.

Colorado Cyclist didn't screw you over, they just didn't grovel as much as you wanted.

 

[wooglin]

I look at Colorado Cyclist and I see a mail order business that charges more than many other mail order businesses do. I look at Crateworks and I see a company that just wants to help me ship my bike safely from point a to point b and has designed a very good way for me to do it.

For real peace of mind I'll stick with my bombproof hard case. If that wasn't available I'd get a Crateworks.

 

[fishy]

Crateworks

I use the Crateworks and it has served me very well. It is lighter than the normal bike boxes and that was a strong consideration for me seeing how strict the airlines is nowadays. Some of my mates refused to buy it because they said it is glorified, and very expensive corrugated (?) paper. Perhaps, but it has brought my bikes safely enroute Hamburg, Frankfurt, Paris CDG, Amsterdam, London Heathrow, Zurich, Singapore etc, and in doing so, served my purpose well.

Never tried the rest of the bike boxes, but I give the thumbs up to Crateworks.

Goodluck, fishy

 

[ArmySlowRdr]

yup carteworks is what i used gotmy bike to Hawaii in great shape and even nary a mark to the box

 

[awai04]

...Just curious, but I'm moving soon and will consider one of these boxes to ship my baby. I punched in the dimensions for UPS ground and the total comes out between $60 - 70, coast to coast. How much did you guys pay when taking the bike with you on the plane?

 

[ArmySlowRdr]

70 bucks TX to HI.
50 bux round trip--Oahu-Big Island and return.

...Just curious, but I'm moving soon and will consider one of these boxes to ship my baby. I punched in the dimensions for UPS ground and the total comes out between $60 - 70, coast to coast. How much did you guys pay when taking the bike with you on the plane?

 

[khj]

please dont give colorado cyclist any of your hard earned money. they realy screwd me over. see my posting of colorado cyclists $5,000 mistake.

I've placed several orders with Colorado Cyclist through the years, and while there have been a few times when I wasn't shipped exactly what I ordered, they always resolved the situation fairly. This usually entailed me shipping the order back to them on their dime and their shipment of the proper item when they received the returned item. Either that or they would charge me for the correct item without shipping and then credit me for the initial botched order when they got it back. The most hoops I had to jump through was when UPS delivered to the wrong address and someone signed for and kept my package. That was resolved within a week with them sending out the item at no additional charge and UPS actually delivering it to me instead of someone else. It's hard for me to blame Colorado Cyclist for this since it was completely UPS' fault in this case.

What happened with your order was the wrong size seastpost and the wrong type of front derailleur and some cable housing that wasn't exactly what you wanted (you do know that housing that doesn't bend too easily is actually a good thing, right? and if your LBS charges $25 labor to replace and adjust a derailleur and $10 labor to replace a cable, go somewhere else or learn to do it yourself because they are a bunch of thieves). Obviously it was enough that your bike wasn't in perfect working order, but is it enough for you to expect them to give you $500 in addition to replacing the parts with the proper ones? I don't think so. And if I were you, if I ordered a complete bike mail order, I wouldn't bother paying for assembly. I wouldn't even want them to do anything more than face the head tube, bb, and the brake tabs and press in the headset even if they offered "free" assembly. You're really better off just bolting the rest of the parts on yourself, and it's not like it's very difficult, either. I'll echo the others and say that you were expecting a handout and they didn't offer it. You should be glad they even took a bike without something like an improperly made/aligned frame back after you rode the thing.

Lastly, I'm not familiar with either of the bike boxes, but don't be scared off by what one poster with an axe to grind has to say about Colorado Cyclist. Sure, they're not always the cheapest, but when they have something I want at a good price I'm not concerned that their prices may not be the best for something I have no interest in ordering.