Pelican 2.0!

New Pelican Build

The new Pelican frame is built up and almost ready to be shipped off to Bicycle Quarterly for review.  I am just waiting on a rack from Pass and Stow.

The Pelican is our special shop frame.  We designed a low-trail all-rounder frameset that is at home on city streets, local fire trials, randonnee’s, as well as tours/camping trips.  They are still handbuilt for us in Madison, Wisconsin by Ahren Rodgers.

Pelican 2.0 006

The second version  of the frame has the Pacenti bi-plane fork crown.  The tubing changed as well to Dedacciaii Zero-Due tubes, they are still the same diameter and tubing butt as before.  The Pacenti crown is easier to braze than the Sachs; and the Dedacciaii tubes do not have the seams that the True Temper tubes do.   The color and frame geometries are the same.  The new retail price on the framesets is $1160.00.  This cost increase allows a more fair labor wage.  Deposits for a frame are 400 dollars non-refundable if you want to reserve a size.   Frames will hopefully start being available here in the shop mid July.   Thanks!

July Bike Maintenance Schedule

If you didn’t know already, we offer bike maintenance classes regularly at Box Dog Bikes.  There is a series of three classes including: Know your bike, your brakes and shifting, and the bicycle wheel.

City Hall Bikes

Know your bike is an introduction to your bicycle.  We go through all of the names of the part on the bike and how to replace your inner tube (like the ones they’re bouncing on below). We also explain how to and the importance of cleaning the drive and refurbishing the braking surfaces on your bike.

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Your brakes and shifting is a comprehensive class on replacing brake and shifting cables.  We also explain basic adjustments of brake calipers and deraileurs. (get your hands dirty)

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The bicycle whee class is a wheel maintenance class.  We adjust hubs and true rims.

Bicycle with Wheel

All of the classes are hands on and limited to 4-5 people; there is always time for extra questions.  Call the shop to sign up 415-431-9627.

Class Dates:

Sunday July 5th 5:30-7:30pm:  Know Your Bike

Sunday July 12th 5:30-7:30pm:  Brakes & Gears

Tuesday July 14th 7:15-9:15pm:  Know Your Bike

Tuesday July 21st 7:15-9:15pm:  Brakes & Gears

Sunday July 26th 5:30-7:30pm: The Bicycle Wheel

Tuesday July 28th 7:15-9:15pm:  The Bicycle Wheel

Victory!

Our friends over at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC) celebrated a huge victory last week. On June 26, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency passed the 2009 San Francisco Bicycle Plan, which includes the addition of 45 new bike lanes.

This marks the end of the three-year bike plan injunction, a lawsuit from 2006 halting the addition of bike lanes until a full environmental impact report was completed.

The new San Francisco Bicycle Plan will certainly make this city safer and more accessible for all cyclists.

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Check out the full story with additional information about the new bike lanes here:  http://www.sfbike.org/?56

Don’t forget that we offer a 10% discount to all SFBC members.

Katie Bikes 42Below!!!

Katie Styer, a former worker at Box Dog Bikes was selected to be sponsored to ride across the country.  She started last week.  Here is her story:

“Hey Everyone!

All right. It’s official. I’m riding my bike from New York City to Los Angeles this summer. I was selected just a week ago to be a participant in the Ride42 ride across the United States. We’re being sponsored by 42Below and the Bike Film Festival–essentially, we’re being paid to ride our bikes and party, through the hottest part of the country!  I leave on Tuesday, flying out to New York then return via bicycle to L.A. two months later.

This is most assuredly the biggest test of and (hopefully) testament to my physical strength to date. Who wants to go on a bike ride when I get back?! I’ve since sold off a good portion of my worldly possessions. All of this whirlwinding around me has made me crazy and given me a lot to consider.

Part of our experience is processing the trip in a blog that you’ll be able to follow to live vicariously through our pedal strokes. The website, WeLikeBike42, isn’t live yet but will be when the ride starts–I think.

Here are (some) dates and places I’ll be this summer!

DATE ORIGIN–DESTINATION

June 25 New York City–Somerset, NJ

June 29 Washington, D.C.–Bowling Green, VA

June 30 Bowling Green, VA–Richmond, VA

July 1 Richmond, VA–South Hill, VA

July 7 Royston, GA–Winder, GA

July 8 Winder, GA–Atlanta, GA

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July 11 Birmingham, AL–Guin, AL

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July 14 Holly Springs, MS–Marks, MS

July 19 Barling, AR–Stigler, OK

July 21 Seminole, OK–Oklahoma City, OK

July 24 Whitesboro/Gordon, TX–Dallas, TX

July 27 Belton, TX–Austin, TX

August 9 Deming, NM–Lordsburg, NM

August 10 Lordsburg, NM–Willcox, AZ

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August 11 Willcox, AZ–Tucson, AZ

August 13 Florence, AZ–Phoenix, AZ

August 16 Quartszite, AZ–Blythe, CA

August 17 Blythe, CA–Brawley, CA

August 21 Dana Point, CA–Los Angeles, CA

Thanks to everyone for your moral support and continued love, I can do incredible things because I have such a beautiful posse. After today, I won’t be regularly contactable by email but I will have my trusty, sidearm-cell phone at my disposal. If you’re lucky you might call when it’s on and we can jaw about the weather or something equally prescient. Take the best of care and see you in a couple months!

Con Todo Amor,
Katita”

Mission Classics…

Track Bikes, sunshine, passed out drunk people.  This weekend was Gay Pride weekend here in San Francisco and from the looks of it, some people partied a little too hard.

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B43 to Phil Wood

Eugene of MASH fame had us build this wheel for him this weekend. 32h B43 silver rime to single fixed Phil Wood track hub laced with Wheelsmith DB spokes. Looks to be super burly.

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Jesus Jackie

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A Used Bike and Campy Track Cranks….

56cm Shogun Road- $650

-Triple Triangle

-Shimano 600

-Nitto Handlebars

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Campy Track Cranks- $200

-Very good condition

-172.5 length

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Ride or Die w/ June Jordan School of Equity

About half a year ago one of our customer’s and neighbor TR Amsler approached me with an idea. tr1TR, who teaches English and history at San Francisco’s June Jordan School of Equity, is co-organizer of the Ride or Die bike program.  9th and 10th graders of JJSE “Ride or Die” for two weeks through the streets and hills of San Francisco.  TR’s idea was for Box Dog Bikes to help with the fixing of some 20 bikes for the youth of Ride or Die.hill In late March I paid a visit to June Jordan School of Equity to evaluate their bikes.  After this analysis, the co-worker owners at Box Dog Bikes donated our time to fix them.

Last Thursday (actually, a couple weeks ago now) I was lucky enough to see the fruits of our labor.  I was taking a ride in Marin and stopped for a stretching break when the group of 20 or so passed by and hollered at me.  “HEY, THAT’S A BOX DOG BIKE!!”

Student Riding in Marin

These kids really loved biking. I rode with them from near Golden Gate Bridge all the way to the Larkspur ferry terminal.  I had a lot of fun and was really appreciative to see how we at Box Dog Bikes made bike riding easier for this group of teenagers.  It is really rewarding to see how my work can impact the local community and encourage folks to ride bikes!

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Some of these kids charged up the hills like pros.  Some of them wore a dress to cross the Golden Gate!  They all rode donated, heavy tankers, and they did it with smiles and style.  TR and his co-coordinator discussed how easy it could be for adult folks to take a Saturday out of their month to coordinate a bike riding program for youth.  I agreed.  And he agreed that we were both too busy with our already meaningful jobs to start another program like this one…  Maybe one of our readers could take this as inspiration ;) .

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Go fast, turn left…

This weekend some of the world’s top riders will be at Hellyer velodrome in San Jose. Races are Friday from 7-10:30p.m. and Saturday from 9:30a.m.-10p.m.

Check out the Hellyer website for full schedules and information.

http://www.ridethetrack.com

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