Packing a Downhill Bike to Ship

If you are considering buying or selling your bike, you will know that you have to prepare your bike for transport. You cannot safely mail your bike in one piece. So how does one prepare to ship a bike? The easiest way to is to take it to your local bike shop and have them pack it up. They can do it for somewhere between $20 and $50 depending on the shop. It will be professionally done and you can feel safe in knowing nothing will harm the bike in transit. If you want to pack the bike up yourself and save some money, then you will need to run to the bike shop anyway.

Ask them nicely if you can get a bike box and a fork block. These two things come with every bike they build and get thrown away afterward. Since the bike shops have to pay to dispose of the boxes, they should be happy to give you both. Make sure the bike box is the right size. You will probably need to find one from another free ride or downhill bike because you will need a big box.

The Packing Process

The first step to take in the packing process is to remove the seat post and seat. Keep them together as one unit. Get a bag and place the seat and seat post in the bag. Remove the pedals from both sides of the bike now and place them in the bag as well.

Now you should have done the basics and be getting the major frame components ready to ship. I recommend to protect the paint that you wrap the top and down tube in newspaper. It takes time to do this but it is well worth. Since shipping can be rough, the last thing you want is the bike to show up all scratched up and have the buyer complain you lied about the condition of the bike.

Once the bike is wrapped up nicely in newspaper, loosen the stem and take the handlebars and stem off. Do not do anything to the brake or shifting wires, just remove the stem and handlebars. Tape the handlebars to the top tube.

Take off both wheels now. On the front put the fork block. This helpful little device prevents the fork from both being crushed in transit and the fork from bursting through the box with its pointy ends. If you can, you should cut a block of wood to stick between where the hub is normally on the rear wheel. This will prevent the frame from receiving any damage while shipping. On a downhill bike this should not be nearly as much of a problem though, and you will probably be fine without doing it.

It is time to place the bike into the box now. Put in the frame first. Once you have that fit in, figure out how you will put the wheels in. Once you have those in, you should stuff the rest of the box with crumpled up newspaper or packing peanuts. Whatever you do in this step, do not force it. You do not want any point parts sticking out of the box. Everything should fit comfortably in. Anything that you forced in will probably rip open the box which will be trouble.

If you got everything in there snuggly and safely, give yourself a pat on the back because your almost done! Just seal it up with a lot of tape and take it down the post office. You are ready to ship it. Congratulations!