7.3.2012 von Ines.

I just arrived in Taiwan yesterday and was at the TaipeiCycle 2012 Exhibition today.

The organizers of the 25th TaipeiCycle had invited me over here to perform every day. That is why I have a VIP badge. The performance schedule is printed in the Visitor’s Guide as well as in the Show Daily magazine:

I perform every day at the South entrance at 11:30am and/or 14:30pm:

After the performance I was walking around today. There were some nice new designs, like this neat and easy detachable fender:

Also I saw the SRAM automatic hub. I would like to try how an automatically shifting bike rides. And a small gadget was the iPhone hoister and amplifier for playing music while riding.

I was happy to see that the bike trailer T2 designed by my Taiwanese bike polo friend Mark Chou received a design award at the exhibition. Congratulations Mark and the freeparable team with their dead old monkey (dom)!

Another design which I likes was the brake that is integrated into the fork (for front brake) and the frame 9for rear brake). I bet that will help ride a little bit faster. Hope my next road bike will have that kind of brake.

After the exhibition closed the organizers invited for the TaipeiCycle night and 25th anniversary party. I was so happy to attend this party that was on the same day as the Natooke 3 year anniversary. Happy Birthday Natooke!

Geschrieben in Media, Performers, Fixed Gear, Asia | 1 Kommentar »

7.3.2012 von Ines.

The Chinese online magazine kiDulty published an entry about me and Natooke and my fixed gear bike. You can have a look at the article here.

They also took nice pictures (can you see how I was freezing…):

kiDulty asked me when and how I got in contact with fixed gear bikes. Well that was long time ago. I started doing gymnastics style tricks on fixed gear bikes in 1989.

They also asked who did the painting on my bike frame. Actually that was me and my assistant Doudou as I was playing around in preparation for a design exhibition under the theme “Awakening Spring”. I will be displaying a new bike with nice flowers painted on the frame.

They asked me to share my views on Fixed Gear. I think riding a fixed gear bike is a lot of fun, and it is  convenient. I also ride a road bike for cycling in the mountains or racing, but the feeling of riding a freewheel bike compared to a fixed gear bike is completely different. A fixed gear bike is very light due to its simplicity, riding fixed gear makes you feel one with your bike as if it is part of you. You can precicely control the speed on a fixed gear bike making it the best option for riding in traffic. Also on a fixed gear bike you can ride backwards, do fun skids and other fancy moves. I love to perform on my fixed gear bike.

At Natooke we custom build each customers bike. You can choose all the different parts to assemble your unique bicycle.

In addition, cycling is the most environmentally friendly way to travel. I love cycling through the streets of any big city of the world. It makes me very happy.
kiDulty also asked what I would say to young peopel that want to start riding fixed gear in China. Many people have the minconception that riding fixed gear means you cannot install a brake. But that is not true. I recommend everybody riding on the streets of busy Chinese cities to instal a safety brake, even if you have practiced enough and really can stop you bike at any moment without a hand brake, I still advise to have a brake. I find it sad to see some kids that started riding fixed gear and were all excited take the brake off their bike and then have accidents. Now they do not like riding a bike. That is a pity. Please ride safe and enjoy!

Geschrieben in Media, Natooke, Fixed Gear, Beijing | 1 Kommentar »

7.3.2012 von Ines.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATOOKE!

Our shop has been open for 3 years already. I cannot believe it. We started Natooke shop on March 7th 2009 in the center of Beijing. It has grown very big but we are still in the same traditional hutong building.

We soon after started a Chinese twitter site. There are almost 5000 people following our daily updates in Chinese. Of course we organize many events and are happy to have so many people join.

We just started the Chinese Ebay (called Taobao) . There we are selling parts and bikes to people who do not want to come to the shop or live somewhere else. But still we have so much stuff in the shop.

Geschrieben in Natooke, Entrepreneur, Cycling, Fixed Gear, China, Beijing | 1 Kommentar »

5.1.2012 von Ines.

I love the coincidences making life so interesting! Today a Chinese woman came into Natooke. I was in the office and could only hear her asking my empoloyees. Isn’t your boss German? What is her name? I have a friend who says he thinks he knows her. My employee asked me to come down and I finished writing something and then reluctantly went down thinking this might be another Chinese person wanting me to teach their brother or child some German (which I of course do not do and never did). When I came down I saw Volker Zwack from Herzogenaurach. Oh my god! We had gone to the same school but I have not sen or heard from him since 1997. That was so cool!

But that of course by itself would not be too much of a coincidence.

They actually decided that they would have a look at Wudaoying Hutong as their friends told them it is becoming a really nice street to go. When they were walking past my shop he stopped and he remembered that he had read somewhere about 6 months ago that I have a bike shop, but he was not sure if I actually live in Beijing. Of course he also had no idea about the name or what kind of bike shop it is or where it is. They had the feeling it could be mine as we have a huge German flag hanging on the outside of Natooke. So they decided to come in and ask. So great!

We went and had a nice hotpot dinner together and talked about the old times and some of the people we are still in contact with. Unfortunately Volker is already flying back to Germany tomorrow.

Geschrieben in Natooke, Germany, Beijing | 1 Kommentar »

5.1.2012 von Ines.

Two Natooke bike polo teams as well as our own Natooke bike polo coach went to Taiwan last December. We had a Natooke men and a Natooke girls team. Today I saw the official video of the Takao Cup of Asian Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships 2011 in Kaohsiung Taiwan. Watch on youtube.

I also stumbled across another video of our Natooke team dancing away and trying to get others to join in. it is hilarious. It is always fun with the Natooke guys! Here’s the link

My pictures from the bike polo cup are all on the Natooke website in this gallery.

Geschrieben in Natooke, Bike Polo, Cycling, Fixed Gear, Asia, China | 1 Kommentar »

2.1.2012 von Ines.

Last year we have been busy all kinds of amazing custom bikes for so many people. As we are re-doing our Natooke website I am uploading pictures of the bikes we built for customers, as well as our happy customers and friends. Here are just some pictures of Flying Banana bicycles.

Geschrieben in Cycling, Natooke, Fixed Gear, Asia, China, Beijing | 1 Kommentar »

1.1.2012 von Ines.

First of all: Happy New Year!

It has been many months since I last regularly wrote blog entries. Because some friends and some fans complained about that I decided for the year 2012 I will try to update my blog.

Natooke shop has been very amazing last year and I hope we can continue the same way in 2012. I am happy to have met so many interesting people that just walked in either by coincidence or because they had read about us or seen us on TV. Let us have lots of fixed gear riding fun together in this year.

New Year’s Eve we had a Natooke fixed gear bicycle ride to end off the year 2011 and greet the New Year while cycling along Beijing’s streets. We waited for the countdown on a huge clock near Xidan.

Recently we have some really enthusiastic girls come to rides and events. Keep up the hard riding!

Beijing is getting colder and there are not many people on the streets at night. That made for a huge space for us cycling especially on the extremely wide bicycle lane of Chang’An Boulevard that goes right through the center of Beijing.

The remaining group did a very brief stop on Tiananmen Square before the guard came to tell us to keep moving on.

Then we went to get some early morning food at a small Chinese restaurant. We just stacked our bikes outside of the restaurant. Unfortunately a drunk driver in a SUV drove past and drove too close to our bikes so his car must have touched the most outside bike and the drove over that bikes’ back wheel.

But we figured a bent wheel in the first hours of the year brings good luck. More pictures are all in this gallery.

Geschrieben in Natooke, Cycling, Fixed Gear, China, Beijing | 2 Kommentare »

26.11.2011 von Ines.

There is a nice German article on “China Heute” about Natooke shop, fixed gear events that we organized in Beijing, bike tricks and me in the German edition of the online magazine called “China Today”. Read it here.

I also saw the printed article in the Spanish version of the magazine called “China Hoy”.

Geschrieben in Natooke, Cycling, Fixed Gear, China, Beijing | Keine Kommentare »

3.5.2011 von Ines.

I have been nominated for the “Entrepreneur of the Year” award category of the Ernst & Young Third Annual Women in Business Leadership Awards on Thursday 12 May, 2011.

But that is just a nomination. Now I need your help to vote for me! Please follow this link and scroll to the bottom of the page, then select my name (Ines BRUNN) and please submit your vote.

Next time I see you I will give you a hug for that. Thanks!

Remember I am the cool girl that loves bikes.

Geschrieben in Entrepreneur, China, Beijing | 2 Kommentare »

23.4.2011 von Ines.

I was invited to the 18th Israeli Juggling Convention to perform at the International Gala Show. Here are some pictures that a cool photographer named Oren Ziv took. I copied 3 really nice ones from Oren Ziv:

I really like this picture that Oren Ziv took in the most perfect moment of me doing my special jump off the bike.

I have my own pictures of the group of international performers after the show. We were Florent Lestage (who had performed with me at the European Juggling Convention in Vittoria), Eric, Hans van Wynsberghe, Joris Verbeeren, Stefan and Cristiana Sing, Matt Hall and me.

Geschrieben in Performers, Juggling, Fixed Gear | 1 Kommentar »