Returning from USA trip in possesion of a second hand foreign-sourced bike

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  salmon123 on 09/04/2019 - 16:25

  whether they got any grief from customs as far as duty

  Watch out for quarantine. They'll make you dis-infect those wheels.

  Duty wise, you should be fine.

  That being said, with the crappy Aussie dollar, it may be easier to source something locally that won't get damaged in airline transit.

  Well, duh … what are you gaining by buying a used bike overseas?

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    mshanann on 09/04/2019 - 17:10

    In XL frame sizes, they have quite a large number of decent second hand bikes compared to here (that even after exchange rate considerations are still very compelling - particularly if one can haggle further).

    https://sfbay.craigslist.org/d/bicycles/search/bia
    … Silicon Valley types with lots of money

    Re - quarantine - I didn't even consider that.

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      salmon123 on 09/04/2019 - 17:33

      +1

      Re - quarantine - I didn't even consider that

      Yeah - they're always overly concerned with boots (hiking, ski/snowboard). I can't imagine that wheels get away easy.

      they have quite a large number of decent second hand bikes compared to here

      Unless you're clearing like 2-3k, enough to cover a substantial portion of your holiday, I'd say it's probably not worth it. There's smaller items that you can buy overseas, where you can take advantage of the cross-border arbitrage. Buy a few of those, flip them in Australia and buy yourself a new bike locally.

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  Iamnotcheap on 09/04/2019 - 16:45

  Be weary… Same same but different… We take our ski gear with us and have usually had thorough inspection inbound. Your bike will be no different. Any trace of what looks like dirt, they will ask it to be quarantined and fumigated. That being said some officers have not had a level of interest at certain times to check, rather they have just asked and when responding that we cleaned everything before packing they let us on our way, when actually stopped to check it they have been thorough.

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    mshanann on 09/04/2019 - 17:14

    Thanks for this. I never considered quarantine, and as you guys have alluded to, I can imagine they will be super fastidious particularly with trail-ridden bikes.

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  Rescue 26 on 09/04/2019 - 17:25

  I've brought a used mountain bike and road bike back from Hong Kong at different times. I packed them into the standard cardboard boxes that they arrive in from the factory. The bike shops usually have a few they're willing to give away. I didn't get any grief at all from customs or quarantine. Mind you it would have been a PITA to unbox and unwrap them if I'd been asked.

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  eug on 09/04/2019 - 18:54

  I brought back a road bike in a hard case from the US a few years ago. No issues anywhere, I just wheeled it out of Brisbane Airport. Didn't get stopped or checked.

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  [Deactivated] on 09/04/2019 - 20:45

  As long as it's not stuffed with cocaine, you'll be alright.

  (Meth also. Or drugs in general)

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  websterp on 09/04/2019 - 22:02

  I'm going to the Bay Area in a couple of weeks, and thinking about getting a decent second hand enduro bike off craigslist.

  Google might want their bike back!

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  Love a bargain on 10/04/2019 - 12:43

  Quarantine might actually clean it for you (if they think it's not clean enough) - much like what they do with hiking boots etc.

  More to the point of your questions - a friend of mine has travelled with his bikes on holiday numerous times and never had problem when he brought them back into Australia.