How to Pack Your Bike for Shipping
You have found a buyer and are about to ship your bike? Packing and protecting your bike are essential steps to prevent it being damaged in transit. Follow the guide!
Choosing your packaging
To pack your bike well, choose a compact box. If you can remove the front wheel, plan to protect it in a box too. The more compact the overall box, the less play there will be and the better protected the bike will be. In addition, the volume of the parcel will be smaller, which reduces the environmental impact of transport. You can reuse the original box if you have it. Otherwise, some bike shops can provide boxes.
Troc-Vélo and Alltricks Reconditionné have developed a shipping kit dedicated to private sellers sending bikes. This kit is made 100% from cardboard (even the tape!) and has been optimised in its format and the choice of flute to offer the best quality-to-environmental-impact ratio. It is delivered flat-packed and without outer packaging. It is also an affordable kit. It is available to buy on alltricks.fr.
The kit contains the following items:
- One box measuring 160x30x85cm
- 2 additional boxes to fit inside the main box to store certain specific parts of the bike
- 7 protective cardboard sheets to wrap around the frame or over sensitive parts
- One roll of tape
You will also need spare boxes to protect the seatpost and certain specific parts, as well as protective paper (bubble wrap or cardboard equivalent) for the most fragile parts.
Got your box? Let's start packing!
Here we will show you how to pack the bike correctly with the Troc-Vélo and Alltricks 100% cardboard kit, but the steps are more or less the same if you have your own box. Let's go!
Step 1: Assemble the boxes
If you ordered the 100% cardboard kit, the boxes are delivered flat. First of all, you need to reassemble them. For the main box that will hold the bike, remember to reinforce the bottom of the box with tape to make sure it will support the weight of the bike.
Step 2: Remove the pedals
Fitted pedals stick out from the bike and can be damaged in transit or damage the box. We recommend removing them and protecting them.
To do this, take an Allen key and push in the opposite direction to the pedals' rotation. Once the pedals are removed, wrap them in protective cardboard sheets that you tape around the pedals.
Then put your pedals in a small box that you will slip into the large one at the end. If you have accessories with your bike, lights for example, you can also slip them into the same box.
Step 3: Protect the saddle
Remove the saddle from your bike together with its seatpost. To protect the seatpost, slide it into a small box that you have formed after first making a hole in it. Leave only the saddle itself sticking out.
Step 4: Protect the front wheel
To make your box as compact as possible, you need to remove the front wheel of your bike. Once the wheel is removed, you can slip the axle into the box containing your pedals, for example. You then need to protect the wheel by sliding it into a flat box.
Step 5: Protect the frame and sensitive parts
Nearly there! Before putting everything in the large box, you need to protect the sensitive parts of the bike. To do this, use the cardboard sheets provided for the purpose or bubble wrap. The parts to protect are:
The frame, to avoid impacts during transport:
The handlebar:
The fork:
The crankset:
Step 6: Fill the box!
Everything well protected? All that is left is to fit the parts into the large box that will be used for shipping. Start with the frame, which is the bulkiest part. Then slip in the boxes containing the pedals and the one containing the saddle and its seatpost. Finally, slide the front wheel alongside the frame.
Your bike is ready to ship!
All that is left is to close your box carefully with tape and add your shipping label, and your bike is ready to set off for its new life!
We hope this tutorial has helped you and wish you happy selling on Troc-Vélo!
I buy my 100% cardboard kit on alltricks.fr.
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