Reviewed: The AirCaddy has Landed

Chris Lesser

How Much: $100
More info: www.aircaddy.com

The industry-standard cardboard bike box is inherently deficient and structurally incapable of protecting a bike in shipping. And, legally speaking, every time you ship your precious bike through major carriers like FedEx or UPS, you're taking your bike's life in your hands.

That's the premise behind AirCaddy, the brainchild of Chicago-area bike shop owner Bob Lickton.

Lickton started AirCaddy two years ago after a bad experience trying to file a claim for a customer's bike that was damaged in shipping. Lickton's family's bike shop has been in business for 50 years, and Lickton packed the bike himself. Turns out, both UPS and FedEx have packaging policies that dictate bikes need to be encased in enough foam padding that would require standard rectangular bike boxes to be even bigger—and therefore exponentially more costly to ship—than they already are.

Lickton's solution? Design a reinforced triangular box with a solid fork-mount system, and then work directly with FedEx to have it certified to meet the company's packaging policies.

Lickton's design, which he says is the only bike box certified by FedEx, is exceedingly simple—simply take your bike's front wheel off, set the bike (with rear wheel and pedals still on) into the box and secure your quick-release fork to a steel mount fixed to the bottom of the box. If you have a 15- or 20-millimeter-axle fork, you can use a Hurricane Componentsadapter to make it play nice with the AirCaddy's mounting system.

Most mountain bikes will need to have the handlebars removed from the stem, which is fairly quick to do and lets you retain your headset adjustment.

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Reader Comments

Posted Wed Feb18, 2009, 7:01 PM — By Grant

Any idea if there's a service planned to ship bikes internationally? When I move back to the UK I'd like to take my bikes with me and this seems like it could be a good solution.

Posted Thu Feb19, 2009, 3:42 AM — By Chris

Don't know, but you can contact Lickton's through www.aircaddy.com. It's FedEx, which is international, so i don't see it being a problem.

Posted Tue Feb24, 2009, 5:37 PM — By Jason Mitchell

I've shipped tons of bikes and never had a problem thus far (knocking on wood). But, I recently used an Aircaddy box and found it really easy to use, they are just a little awkward to haul around.

Posted Wed Feb25, 2009, 3:43 PM — By Cheap Steve

Ok $100 for a cardboard box......rrriggghhhht. Call me crazy but if you're going to spend $100 bucks on a pimped out card board box why not – and here it comes – buy an actual hard plastic bike box for only a few bucks more? This is like a stupid tax for people who aren't good a physics or math – you choose.

Posted Thu Feb26, 2009, 2:37 PM — By TomBasic

$100 is steep, but it's a system, not just a box. Some comments: - To fit my large KHS AM1000 into a std bike box, I had to remove both wheels, handlebar w/stem, pedals, and disassemble the rear suspension (had to do it 1/2 dozen times to figure it out). It has a 45" WB. - FedEx from GA to CA was $65. - When it comes to airlines, NorthWest is the only airline I could find that had sensible criteria for shipping: linear box dimensions up to 160" (my box was 90"), up to 100 lbs. (I totally stuffed my box with extra stuff), $80 (I went from US to Canada). This was a year, ago, so I'm sure things have changed. - Almost everyone else had stupid criteria, e.g., no bikes above 62" (I have a 62" suitcase, and I wouldn't be able to fit two wheels in it if I stomped on it), nothing over 80", $95 Service Charge in addition to Excess Baggage Charge, etc. - My current m.o. is to disassemble my bike, completely, and move my stuff in pieces. It's the cheapest way. -

Posted Thu Feb26, 2009, 2:42 PM — By TomBasic

(My end comment got snipped, for some reason): Shipping bikes is hell.

Posted Sun Mar 1, 2009, 2:50 AM — By Cheap Steve

Ok, I guess that's an understandable argument for the beefier bikes. And there's no disputing your last claim. Shipping bikes is fucking hell.