In 2007 I started working on designing and producing a lowtrail, made in the USA, steel frameset with classic details inspired by the French and Japanese Randonneur aesthetic and tradition.  I wanted to offer a lowtrail frameset that was more accessible than what was currently available.  I wanted it to be a competent low trail “all-rounder”; a bike that could wear many hats.  Over the years I have been refining the details and purpose of the Pelican as my opinions, needs, and tastes changed due to my riding habits, and the riding habits and needs of our customers.

We have now morphed the Pelican from a competent jack-of-many-trades bike to a very refined all-road, all-season, all-hours, randonnuering bicycle.  The Pelican is now a fully integrated frameset for your randonneuring and riding adventures.  Luckily, a correctly designed and built randonneur machine is a great multipurpose bike.  You can set time records riding ACP Brevets with your local randonneuring club, or take off to explore the city streets, back roads, fire roads, and trails for a couple of days. The Pelican will get you through the dark, the wet, and the rough stuff with style, speed, and confidence. The Pelican now sports vertical rear dropouts for easy wheel removal and smooth fenderlines, Imperial Oval fork blades for added suspension and comfort, provisions for full generator powered lighting, and is offered in both 700c and 650b wheels sizes.  It is still made to our spec in the USA, still low trail, still 1′ threaded, still has provisions to attach lowriders for light camping and touring, still made from steel in “classic” diameter tubing, still blue, and still rides like a great bike.

Winter Bicycles is a one man shop who builds beautiful functional bicycles in Eugene, Oregon.  Winter’s skill at fillet brazing and his attention to detail and innovation, makes him one of the best of the new breed of builders in the USA.  We have been a fan of Winter’s work for a number of years, his bi-lam lugging, rack building, fillet brazing, and work ethic makes a great match to the refinements that we have made with the Pelican.  Box Dog Bikes is exited and honored to announce that Winter Bicycles and Box Dog Bikes will be working together to produce the Pelican Frameset.  We will be premiering the Winter made Pelicans this fall starting with some 700c sizes that have been out of stock.  This will be followed by some 650b models in the Winter and Spring of 2013.

We will be releasing more details of the new frames in the coming weeks.  We are really excited by these new frames.  Stay tuned!
All images by Winter Bicycles.

At the beginning of this year we had a soft release of 650b Pelicans in sizes 54-62cm.  We wanted to test the waters as to whether the demand we were hearing for 650b Pelicans in sizes larger than 52cm, was in fact true.  So far it has been.  We will be adding the 650b wheelsize for 54-62cm into the production queue.  Here is a link to the 650b geometry.

Why ride a 650b Pelican?  650b allows one to run amazingly wide and supple tires for on and off road riding without having to stop and adjust tire pressure.  Do you want to do a ride to Fairfax up and over Mt. Tam on dirt roads and trails, and then take the pavement up Seven Sisters back to SF?   Then 650b is a great choice.  Are a lot of the roads on your local Brevet series in pretty rough shape?  Wide 650b tires soak up the bumps and cracks in the road better than corresponding 700c tires without the weight or speed penalties.  650b really lets you ramble and ride anywhere you want, without needing to fiddle with tire pressure or worry about terrain as much.

Why a 700c Pelican then?  Well, we all know the benefits of 700c tires, especially the 28-35mm ones.  It’s a great choice if your riding is primarily on paved roads.  The 700c Pelican also works great for fair amount of fire road riding, just pick the right tires and air pressure.  With the 700c Pelican you can officially fit 700×35 with fenders, and 38/40mm without.  Go ride a brevet series, go camping, go on tour, go ride your bike.  Each wheels size works great.

We have have a few of the 650b frames left in 56cm, 60cm, 62cm.  Give us a ring, shoot us an email, or stop on by.  $1400.00 will get you a made in the USA lowtrail steel frameset designed by me here in SF.  The 650b frames have the same details as the current Pelicans; light wire guides on the fork blades, internal wiring for the rear light, etc.

These will be the last of the Pelicans built for us by Banjo Bicycles.  We have a new builder in the works, as well as some more upgrades and other exciting news about the Pelican that I will be letting out of the hat soon.

Lets celebrate spring with this awesome animated butterfly and a spring clearance sale!

2011 bikes are on clearance.  In addition regularly offering 15% off parts and accessories when you purchase a new bike, Box Dog Bikes is lowing the prices on our 2011 bicycle inventory.

• 2011 Surly Pacer $1175 now $980
• 2011 Jamis Satellite $960 now $800
• 2011 Jamis Satellite Sport $650 now $550
• 2011 Breezer Uptown 3 $650 now $499
• 2011 Fuji Feather $650 now $599

If you are interested in a sale bike please come by the shop to check on availability as there are only so many of each model remaining.

Box Dog Bikes is proud to announce that we now carry Public Bikes.
Based right here in San Francisco’s Mission District, Public offers up simple, stylish, affordable bikes for your urban riding experience. Box Dog carries the V7 Diamond Frame and C7 Step-through models.
Both bikes retail for $550 and both offer an all steel frame and fork, 1×7 drive train, proprietary chain guard, and full coverage fenders.

Public V7.

Public C7.

These are bound to move fast, so stop by and get yours today!