While I was unpacking, I randomly took pictures. I was mostly amazed at how the bike was secured into the box. I had never seen a bike packed like that before. I didn't happen to get any of the fender touching the bottom of the box, but looking back at the other photos, I think that's what happened.
The bike was shipped in a 97 pound, custom made wooden crate
bottom, right, and front of crate
top, left, and back of crate
Inside the crate was a cardboard box with the bike suspended by some cardboard tabs glued to the inside of the box.
Overview of the packing and packing materials.
The pedals have already been removed
from the box.
You can see that there isn't much keeping the front of the frame from sliding down and allowing the fender to contact the box.
The failed support
The only thing preventing the frame movement was the cardboard strapping around the crank and that cardboard strap appears to have failed.
Here's a full resolution crop from the above image of the support.
I'm sure this failed when the crate was dropped and allowed the damage.
Below you can see the witness mark on the box where the fender contacted it.
and the bottom of the fender that contacted the box.
The fender hit the bottom of the box and bend
Which caused the light weight, Aluminum fender to buckle
The fender buckled in at least 3 major places
Bicycle Specialties; world famous for their bicycle restorations; tells me that the bottom edge of the fender can probably be straitened, but where the rolled edges of the fender is kinked, it can not be restored.
This fender is not replaceable and its loss severely reduced the value of a award winning collectible bike. See the seller's description on eBay
The stamp of the packing company that manufactured the crate, the box, and packed the bike.
