Shipping my bike to Vienna? UPS stores?

Check DHL, a German company,

I wouldn't dismiss that your Airbnb host can't receive your bike or have a suggestion how to do. They may be a local owner with their own address or the building may have front desk or bike room. Whoever in your party made the reservation for you all can message the host on the Airbnb platform and ask.

Or see what you can find on the internet and email 2 or 3 local bike shops in Vienna and ask for their suggestions. Maybe they can receive it or know someone who can. You can play up their own interest in supporting biking and ask their help.

Or I just googled "ship my bike to vienna" and got a few such services that came up like "bikeflights.com". Perhaps they have local "receivers" you can use.

I agree with Laurie Ann on all fronts.

-AirBnB host is worth asking- no harm done if the answer is in the negative.

-The message I'd send a LBS would be something like "How much would you charge for the services I need?" (Accepting the package, maybe have their wrench re-assemble it for you, dispose of the box?) Then you can decide if if you value their help at the price quoted.

-I've used BikeFlights a few times, but I've always had at least a hotel to receive it for me.

You'll need to find a LBS in Italy for a box to ship it back in, no? Even if you carry it with you on the flight.

Thanks for the replies. DHL is a good idea,but I'm getting rates 5 times UPS when I check. They do have a big drop off and pick up center in Vienna's outskirts, so if I can figure out how to make it cost less than $1,500 that could be a really good option.

I thought about the Airbnb owner. I have to say I'm a little reticent to ship my Salsa Cutthroat to a stranger. Hard to trust someone I don't know with thousands of dollars worth of beloved bicycle.

Bike shop is an option that I out to keep after - the bike will require minimal reassembly but I could pay them for that. I'll try to find established shops that have a lot of good reviews.

Bikeflights.com basically gets you a discount if you use their portal to ship a bicycle. I've used them probably 10 times and they always use UPS. I suppose I could contact them and ask if they have any recommended receivers in Vienna, good idea, couldn't hurt.

Thanks, happy to hear more :)

I'm assuming this is not an e-bike, correct? Because e- bikes present issues with the lithium batteries.

In our last two trips to Europe, we ran into bike festivals/ races in which buying / selling new and used bikes were a major component, since bikes are so essential to transportation in Europe. Any chance you could find a bike festival and buy, then sell the bike? In Sept, the Race for Life was in Bern the middle of the month.

Safe travels!

I haven't thought about returning home with the bike yet! I do think I would need to box it up. I'll probably be flying icelandair but I'm not sure where from. Not necessarily Italy. I'll have to pick an airport soon!

You're correct it's not an e-bike Pat, so one additional hassle avoided.

I definitely could buy a bike in Europe. It's the end of the summer so not a bad time to pick up a used trekking bike. But I really do love my Salsa Cutthroat, it's a handsome devil, comfortable and fast. And pink! Same as the linked pic but nicer parts.

https://advntr.cc/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/IMG_20191230_201014-798x650.jpg

In Europe I'd likely have budget to buy a like this one

https://www.bikeiberia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Comfort-Touring-Bike-Rental-Portugal-Spain-Gents.jpg

If my Cutthroat found out I betrayed it for a cheap date it might steer us both into traffic!

Ouch! Just the thought of that downgrade gives me saddle sores!

The Salsa is sexy. Find a way!

You can eliminate one leg of the shipping and finding a way to store the bike by buying a decent bike, maybe even a low end Salsa and shipping it home. You could sell it once you are home and perhaps break even or have it cost you a lot less than two shipping directions and the complication of storage. The exchange rate is very good against the Euro now. There are Salsa dealers in Europe.

Just a side note, but during our recent April trip to Salzburg, there was a huge bike sale with thousands of bikes, right on Mozart Square. It was not unusual to see guys riding one bike along with balancing 3-4 other bikes along side them.

That's an interesting perspective Mona. I buy and sell a lot of bicycles at home. I think you're right that if I bought a bike in Europe and brought it home, instead of trying to sell it quickly in an unfamiliar market in Europe, I would do just fine recouping all or a reasonable part of the expense I laid out.

Certainly solves some problems by laying out a bit more cash upfront. It would be even better if I was going out of Munich - so many big discount bikes shops with nice stock there. Vienna I'm assuming is more of a boutique-y market ...

If you plan to buy a bike there and ship it home, do not forget to factor in the 'duty' owed when calculating costs

I'm curious about duty Joe. I think it's pretty high on bikes. How would customs know whether I brought the bike from the US or not? If I'm coming back with my own bike they can't charge me for that. I don't think I still have receipts for my bike. Do they just take your word for whether you brought the bike with you or bought it there?

You do need to be concerned about custom fees. This won't be your experience, but a warning that return shipping forms and info submitted are very important.

An employee at the company where I was working shipped two bikes to Europe via Fedex using the company account. The bikes didn't get there at all for his trip. (They ended up renting bikes.) When bikes were located they were shipped back without the customs forms filled out correctly. I don't know who arranged the return shipping. The customs fees were in the hundreds of dollars. I was the one trying to get Fedex to correct the charge as these were used bikes, not new. Fedex wouldn't budge because they had already paid customs.

Again, you won't have this exact experience, but is a warning for you to be sure to have the correct process, information etc for the return, or it could be costly.

I’ve only brought something back once that needed to be declared—not a bicycle. I walked over to the RED customs agent and he waved me through. I think my purchase only exceeded the limit by a few hundred dollars. It appears from the second link that you should factor in about 11% for Duty Tax upon reentry unless you buy a less expensive bike than the limit.

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/international-visitors/kbyg/customs-duty-info?language_content_entity=en

https://usacustomsclearance.com/process/guide-to-importing-bicycles/#:~:text=The%20only%20time%20you%20will,to%20obtain%20a%20customs%20bond.

When I came back with a bike I bought in England ( 1973 ), the customs wanted to charge me a higher rate than they should have. Fortunately I had looked up the rate beforehand and showed the agent the correct rate !

Well folks I added up shipping my bike there through bikeflights, receiving cost at a bike shop, reboxing costs to fly home, flying my own bike home. Pencils out at approximately $700. And I thought about the downsides of bringing my own (beloved, beautiful and very frequently ridden) $5000 bicycle: it's a screaming beacon of steal me, have to worry about pointed impacts to the carbon frame in shipping (it's generally very tough, but carbon doesn't like pokey impacts), have to figure how to get it reboxed on short notice then drag around the box until the flight back.

It would have been glorious to ride my bike for 3 weeks, but much easier I think to, as Mona suggested, just buy a bike in Vienna. I have a $700 head start, which ought to take some of the sting out reselling it quickly at a big loss, and it will be the kind of bike I can put in a giant plastic bag and not fret about flying home if I choose, literally ride it up to the airport that way.

From what I can see Vienna isn't Munich in terms of bike shopping (Munich seems to have incredible bike shopping alternatives), but looks absolutely fine, has some bigger used bike shops, and it will be great fun seeing what I end up riding over the Alps and around Italy.

thanks again for the feedback - as usual quite helpful.

Thx for keeping us updated. It's always fun to know the resolution of a discussed issue. Safe travels!

Hank - I have a hunch you might be the kind of cyclist that knows this, but I'd strongly suggest you BYOS—bring your own saddle! You don't have the luxury of time to break in a new one. (Or break yourself into it, really...)

(And pedals, if you ride Speedplays.)

Thanks for reporting back to us (so far) about your decision. Enjoy your multifaceted trip with the family and with your ride. Let us know how it all went in September if you’d like.