[escapeartist]

I recently moved to Korea. I figured I'd leave my bike at home to simplify flying and just figure one out when I got here. Turns out there really isn't much of a scene here, I can't find a used bike, and the new ones are hundreds of dollars more than at home in the States. So I've decided to bite the bullet and have my bike shipped from home.

Does anyone have a BMX bike box lying around they can measure for me? The USPS size limits are really strict and I think the box will probably be right up to the limit. I'd hate to have it boxed at home and then it not be accepted.

thanks!
Alex

 

[Gibby403]

You might want to check into that golf bag that can fit your bike. I think S&M makes one.
Ship it like it is your golf clubs. That should help keep cost down. I wonder how much there Peavey Wolfgang Guitars are over there. Anyways have fun in K-Town and Good luck.

 

[escapeartist]

I just looked into that and I think it will actually be more expensive. A luggage shipping service I found charges $299. I think USPS will be about $220. The advantage of the golf bag is that airlines don't know its a bike, so they don't charge you for a bike (since golf clubs usually either fly free or as a regular bag). I think my bike would be smaller if it were in a bmx bike box.

 

[cmc]

have you checked UPS ? they ship bike boxes all the time. you could check with one of the mail order websites like empirebmx.com, albes.com, danscomp.com how much it would be to ship a new bike to Korea. sometimes, though, their shipping cost is lower because they do a lot of business with UPS. a person shipping a single box has to pay more, typically. it might be worth buying a whole new bike, and you might be able to sell it there before you leave. it seems like other guys that are over there (particularly military or teaching english) also have been looking for bmx:

Korean BMX shop
http://bmxmuseum.com/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=1811016

 

[escapeartist]

Using the dimensions 46x21x9 http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-173190.html, UPS will cost $662, FedEx will be $503 and USPS will be $220. The problem is that the maximum combined length+girth for a USPS package is 108in. If this is an accurate box size, I should be fine, but if its 2 inches bigger, its a problem.

There are a fair number of BMX stores in Korea. However, I haven't found one outside of Seoul, which is on the other end of the country from where I live (Busan). The real problem though is that bikes are so much more expensive here. I'd be looking at spending $650 just to get something that was full cromo. I'm thinking I can spend $200, send my nice Fly here, ride it for a year, then sell it either complete or sell the parts I don't love, then treat myself to something shiny when I get home in a year.

Empire quotes $180 to ship internationally, Albes about the same I think, Dan's makes no mention of shipping internationally. Buying a new bike from the US and having it shipped would cost a lot more than buying one here because I would have to pay shipping and the steep import taxes.

Can anyone confirm that those dimensions are reasonable?