I want to ship bikes to Whistler before I head out. Does anyone know of any good companies. I found a couple of companies but the process of getting a quote is painful. Anyone have any idea of costs and timescales?

Cost and timescale are very cloely related.
Send by boat = very slow but too expensive.
Send by plane = quick but pricey.
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I can’t remember the name but there is a company which ships motorbikes around the world in big boxes, £500ish to Oz, Canada must be about the same. It’s a big box and could take probably 3-4 MTBs, if there’s a few of you going you could get one between you?

It is just me. I am definitely taking one bike. Possibly two. Depending on costs. I am flying airtransat who apparantly only charge £25 per bike but the isue is I live in Sheffield and I am flying from Gatwick. So taking two bikes will be a pain in the arse.

You’re never going to better the price of taking your bike on the plane with you – although check on multiples as that might then be ‘excess’ excess at a different rate.

From Sheffield to LGW, you can do a 1 stop train in St Pancras… not a bad station to deal with.. then on the slow train out to LGW.
Or, 6+hrs on the National Express bus, but thats an awful journey.

If you’ve not booked your flights yet, why not look at Manchester Flights with Canadian Affair/Transat.. ask a mate to drive you there.

Boxed bikes more of a hassle than wheeled bags, but we’ve seen plenty of diy solutions to get boxes rolling!

I can’t help you with any info on shipping companies, but I do have a bike flight case for sale if you’re after one. (I’m also in Sheffield if you are interested and want to take a look).

Just take the one bike on the plane with you, rent something else out there for a couple of days if you need a different 2nd bike, it can’t be that expensive.