best way to send a bike domestically in UK

i'm sure this has been covered before on here but cldn't find a thread w/ recommendations.....

i need to send a bike- looks like DPD etc won't take 'em as too big. i can get a box form LBS so don't need a deal w/ box etc.

sendbike.com are saying around £114 w/ insurance up to £1000 but they'll give me "a deal" of £95 if i book it in today.

i've heard bad things about paisley freight. bikedelivery.co.uk are the same people with a diff name/website but same address.

any suggestions?

I've used paisleyfreight before. No issues.

You're unlikely to find many people who can be bothered to leave a good review for a successfully shipped package.

It might help with saying where you are in the UK.
I only use a parcel delivery company which is close to me in Essex and found that small business's are better.

Have a look at Shiply as well. I haven't used them but I've heard good things from people that have. Essentially different indie van couriers pitch for the job, so it can get quite cheap, but obviously depends on the distance to travel.

Long shot cause he might be out of the game, but Dicki? - https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/146326/

Parcelforce will - or at least used to - carry a bike box.

Book it through http://www.senditnow.com (which is part of Royal Mail), and it's cheaper - last time I paid under twenty quid.

There are limits to the size of the box that companies will take, I can't remember exactly what they are but if you can cut it down to fit within those dimensions then they should take it. Might be a matter of taking the forks out but there should be a way to make it fit with smart packing and padding. A standard detail bike box has tons of unused room because they have to fit all sizes of bikes so cut it down and rebuild.

DPD says
Door 2 Door UK Services

Max weight: 30 kg
Max girth (length + width + height): 230cm
Max length: 100cm

Can vouch for Paisley Freight, reasonably priced, no fuss.

Parcelforce is your best bet. Not the cheapest but the most reliable. And they’ll collect it from you for a small extra fee. I haven’t sent a bicycle but I did send a 27” iMac which weighed as much as bike and in a box almost the same size as a bike box. It arrived safe and well.

thanks all for replying. used old school parcel force in the end. was cheaper than all other carriers and worked well.

How far did you send it? Just wondering if a train/ride combo might've been competitive option.

Any advice appreciated, I’m in Edinburgh and keen on a bike on eBay in Forest of Dean. Sale is collection only but after some communication it appears there maybe some hope. Apparently sellers local bike shops don’t have any spare boxes though and he’s suggested using a courier who will provide a box (and pack too I’d imagine).
Anyone used such a service?

There is sendbike.com who send you a box ahead of the courier collecting.
Or paisley freight as mentioned above but not sure about boxing

Somewhere to start thanks, still the small matter of agreeing a price…

Just used Paisley, was fine- they'll deliver a box, and then pick up 24hrs later.
Got there perfectly safe.
Sendbike- in theory has a massive box which requires no bike disassembly, but the whole thing relies on how well you pack the thing.

Just had a quick look at both, sendbike appears to send a box big enough for me to live in but also charges a pretty penny for the service, Paisley freight seem far more reasonable going on the assumption their box is big enough for a large bike? Good to know it’s delivered 24hrs before collection though as that wasn’t immediately obvious to my investigation.

Paisley Freight/bikedelivery has worked 99% of the time for me. They don't guarantee 24hr next day box collection though. There has been times due to covid and other things that its been the following day.
I ask for sellers to remove the front wheel, pad the fork ends to stop it piercing the box. then to undo the stem, turn the bars round along with removal of the pedals or at least one side.

Sorry for the dredge - I’m getting a F+F and wheels sent from Homerton to Bristol, but seller doesn’t have a bike box.

Paisley reviews seem pretty dire atm, with no tracking info available.. does anyone know of another option which includes a bike box?

I used Paisley just over a year ago and thought the service was great. You can kind of work it out so that the seller will have a few days to do the parcelling up. Tracking worked fine for me.

Recent experience of Paisley wasn't good from a delivery viewpoint - tracking poor and inaccurate. Days later than quoted. If you're paying that kind of money you expect a decent service. Not what they were

I prefer using Parcelforce after bad experience with paisley freight who I believe outsource some of their parcels to APC. Parcelforce have some sort of multiple box offer where you can add parcels going to the same address and it doesn't increase the price much. So if he didn't have a huge bike box, he could send a couple smaller ones - might work.