An annual family vacation in Maui is a time for us to ride, and try out new equipment. It’s never been better to travel and ride there either.
You can rent, ship, or bring your bike. And, ride all the way around the island if you choose. We’re not doing anything that ambitious, but for sure big sun tan pace miles on roads like this.
As I’ve shared, I upgraded the Modal, my travel bike and taking it on this trip packed in a suitcase.
Having recently been fitted, Pam is bringing her Specialized Amira and taking advantage of BikeFlights.com new 2-day express service to Maui.
That’s right, 2-day shipping to Maui at reasonable prices. The service includes pick up and insurance. Using their also new blue box, it cost about $450.00 from Seattle to Kihei ($303.95 outbound and $152.95 return). I could even opt for 1-day shipping on the return for another $100.00.
What you need to know is, when it comes to shipping a bike
BikeFlights.com offers a bike-forwarding scheme that totally works.
In the past, it took 6 days to get to Maui and for those with riding goals, that’s a week without your best bike. Renting a bike works out to cost just about the same.
While I fly my travel bike for free, airline prices vary, not including the cost of the rental car to transport it and the damage risk is high. In my experience, shippers take better care of their packages than airlines.
Big Blue Box
See this post from or magazine for the last time we used BikeFlights.com to CrossVegas and back. Since then, BikeFlights.com has added a blue box to their packing options. The new blue box features the same internal suspension design as BikeFlights.com’s cardboard bike shipping box that we used but it is made of Coroplast for improved water resistance, increased strength. and more durability.
“Our new blue bike shipping box is great because it lasts for more shipments than a cardboard box,” William Alcorn, BikeFlights.com’s owner told me.
Traveling to and from wet climates I think the blue box is a great option. At 43 x 11 x 32 inches (110 x 28 x 82 cm), the box meets shipping and airline size restrictions. It’s self-locking flap design eliminates the need for external straps and fasteners – simply seal the box with standard packing tape. When not in use, the box collapses flat to save space and store easily.
Like the cardboard version, the blue box meets drop and shake standards per the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) Vibration and Shock (Test type 1A). It comes with protective fork and frame dropout spacers and costs $199.95 plus $20 flat rate ground shipping.
Pro tip: watch the video showing how to assemble BikeFlights.com boxes: blue and cardboard.
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