Ask ten shops what a bike box measures and you will get ten answers, because the box is sized around a partly disassembled bicycle and every brand disassembles differently. Before anyone can quote you, decide how the bike goes in: front wheel off or on, bars turned or removed, pedals off, saddle dropped, rear derailleur removed or not. That decision moves the box by inches in every direction.
Measure the bike in its packed position
Build one bike exactly as it will ship, strap it the way the packer will strap it, then measure the bounding box around it. Take length at the longest point, usually the wheelbase plus a fork or a protruding rear dropout. Take height at the tallest point, which is often the handlebar stem or the saddle rail rather than the wheel. Take width across the pedal spindle or the rear axle, whichever sticks out further. Then add clearance for whatever is holding the frame away from the walls, because the frame must never touch board.
Wheel numbers you can rely on
Wheel sizing is one of the few genuinely standardised numbers in cycling. The figures below are published ISO bead seat diameters, listed as an industry starting point and not as iBox stock sizes.
| Common name | ISO bead seat diameter | What it means for the box |
|---|---|---|
| 700c and 29 in | 622 mm | Same rim. The outside diameter changes with tire width, so measure the mounted tire. |
| 27.5 in, also called 650b | 584 mm | Mountain and gravel. Wide tires add noticeably to the packed height. |
| 26 in | 559 mm | Older mountain and many folding or kids frames. |
The rim number is not the packed number. A 622 mm rim with a 50 mm gravel tire measures far more across than the same rim with a 25 mm road tire, so measure the assembled wheel you actually ship.
Board for a box this large
A bike box is a large, light-walled panel carrying a heavy point load, which is the classic case for double wall board and for internal bracing. Plan on fork protection, an axle spacer, a rear dropout block and enough separation that the chainring cannot cut through from the inside. Corner and edge damage is what kills these cartons, so the flap style and the closure method matter as much as the caliper. Our explainer on ECT in corrugated board covers how to read the board grade on a quote.
Carrier limits will cap your design
Parcel carriers publish maximum length, maximum length plus girth, and oversize thresholds that change periodically. Pull the current figures for the carrier and service you use and design the external dimension under them, because a box one inch over a threshold can cost more to ship than it cost to make. If you are shipping palletised instead, work back from a 48 x 40 in pallet footprint so the cartons do not overhang.
Ordering, minimum and turnaround
Minimum order is 100 boxes and pricing starts from about $0.48 per unit at bulk volumes, confirmed on your written quote. Die and plates, design support, US shipping and a digital proof before anything prints are included, so a genuinely custom internal size costs no more to tool than a near-standard one. Turnaround runs in three lanes: Rush (expedited production plus air freight), Standard (air) and Cost saver (sea), with a floor of from about 7 business days, plus 2 to 5 for delivery. Specialty imported items can run up to about 12 weeks. Rush adds about 7 to 25%, depending on the job.
Send us the packed bounding box, the packed weight and the carrier you use, and we will quote board and bracing against it at /quote/. If you are packing accessories alongside the frames, bike helmet boxes covers the retail side of the same line.
