Getting my new wheels from the USA to Australia

[auscyclist]

Hey guys,

So I work in a bike shop in Adelaide, South Australia and have purchased my dream wheels from someone in Ann Arbor, MI, America.

My question is, does anyone know how I can get the wheels to me in the easiest way possible.

Whether it be courier or through someones bike shop, any ideas are welcome.

Thanks heaps,

Josh

[KH1]

USPS has a size limit so if you get them sent via post you'll have to cut down the size of the box really well, find a box that fits the size requirements or get them sent separately - USPS has a good calculator on their website so I'd start there. The alternatives are more expensive international courier services like UPS or Fedex.

[petal666]

Get them to send the wheels to shipitto.com and they will forward to you. A standard bike box comes up as costing $187 via DHL. There are a few hidden fees so it is likely to be around $210. The best bit is that you can value them at what you want so can avoid GST (not that I condone that kind of activity), but that will be the insured value so it's a risk you take.

[chocy]

The cheapest option is to send it via USPS global priority.
The usual wheel box is under their size limit and it shouldn't be a problem.

Cheers!

[Cbonde]

I've had a wheelset sent from Salt Lake City Utah to my small town in Denmark without a hint of trouble. It was sent with USPS Priority Mail International. The mailling adress was my personal adress. However, I had to collect it at the Danish Royal Mail because it went through customs. I think it took about 10 days for the package to arrive i Denmark.

[petal666]

The cheapest option is to send it via USPS global priority.
The usual wheel box is under their size limit and it shouldn't be a problem.

Cheers!

It's not only the usps size limit you need to worry about, it's the size limit of auspost as well. If usps check the limit in aus as well they will not send. A wheel box is outside auspost dimensional limits.

[dadoflam08]

Ive never had any problems using USPS to Australia for wheelsets. I was not aware that Oz Post had any limits - I've never had problems shipping wheels or receiving them - even Fulcrums which have larger boxes have passed without problem - you learn something everday. In my experience if USPS accept the package your are fine - some wheelbuilders in US have noted that wheelboxes are right on the limit and on a bad day they may not be accepted.
Good Luck

[petal666]

Click on 'calculate postage' on the auspost website, and put in the dimensions of a shimano wheel box which is pretty standard (82x66x17cm) and see how you go Some shops will ship, others won't.

The point is, sometimes USPS will check the allowable box dimensions in the country that they ship to, and won't ship bigger than that. Luckily the German or UK shops do no such thing ans I've had some massive boxes delivered through them via auspost.

[dadoflam08]

Ive never had any problems using USPS to Australia for wheelsets. I was not aware that Oz Post had any limits - I've never had problems shipping wheels or receiving them - even Fulcrums which have larger boxes have passed without problem - you learn something everday. In my experience if USPS accept the package your are fine - some wheelbuilders in US have noted that wheelboxes are right on the limit and on a bad day they may not be accepted.
Good Luck

Have to update this - just tried buying some vintage bike rims from a seller in the US - approx $250USD shipping regardless of whether you use USPS, FedEx, DHL etc etc. as the total measurement of a wheelbox (girth + height) significantly exceeds the maximum USPS allowance before you are forced to use their very expensive Global Express Guarantee service (which is same price as the private shippers) The bike shops I have dealt with gets a bulk discount. Once you are looking at an individual wheelset and can't access a discount you're sunk.

[claus]

I got wheels from the UK via Parcelforce and USPS without a problem, and I got wheels delivered within the US with USPS without a problem. So either USPS doesn't really care much about size limits or I got lucky
several times.

Currently I'm trying to get wheels from Germany (via DHL and USPS) and it seems those are "lost" by DHL
(according to their tracking the packet is still in Germany for the last 5 weeks...). Of course those wheels are by far the most expensive I ever bought...

[bJay]

Ive lost count of the number of pairs of wheels that have either been shipped to me (from Europe and the US) and that I have shipped (around Aus). One shop consistently tell me "no" for wheels when sending, so I go to the other shop around the corner (Im talking about AUSPOST shops). Never had problems with them delivering to me.

B

[dadoflam08]

To date this is definitely a US to Oz issue - no problems from UK or Europe or within Oz. It has also changed in the last couple of years - USPS were fairly casual a couple of years ago - now they seem to be on it more consistently.

[KCookie]

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[JScycle]

I live in Australia and shipped some wheels interstate. The first postoffice I went to said the box was too big and told be to go to the Aus post business centre. I went there and they were happy to send it.