26.6.2010 von Ines.

Saturday in the store with 2 guys.

We got some bikes ready for the bike parts swap meet tomorrow. One was this pink girls bike.

The bike that was almost sold and the almost customer requested to have the horn added.

Or Quinn’s converted bike that he sold back to us when he left China.

And we also some special beautiful bikes like this red Flying Banana with Modolo wheels.

A group of young Chinese fixed gear riders came by and hung out at the shop for a while. The one kid is 15 years old and just won first place in the Chinese National drawing competition. Samantha is asking him to draw the shop for us. His friend has this bike.

And onother friend has this bike that we built up here at Natooke:

There they went.

In the evening we went to a rooftop party in Chaoyang district of Beijing. It was a great night to be outside.

From here you have a great view over the city and the central business district. And we could even see the moon that is on the top left corner of this picture.

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

24.6.2010 von Ines.

My friend Tomity-san who is a professional track cyclist in Japan recently wrote this email to me:

I’m fine and still training everyday, Keirin racing every month. It’s long time no see. I’m sorry for the long time no message.

I am emailing you because I’d like to tell my retirement. I retire Tachikawa Keirin race (24-26th,June) this month and it retires from Keirin rider at the end. It ends about the history of my Keirin rider of 29 years.

It was you and everyone’s assistance that Keirin rider had been continued to me long. I wish to express my gratitude very much for it. Thank you very much.

The race of my remainder is only Tachikawa Keirin race. I am training toward it. I plan to help Fuji cycle show room studio that the friend starts after it retires.

Hereafter, I want to associate with you through the bicycle. Picture with my team mate at Matsudo Keirin race (2,June)

I wish him all the best for this last race. And that your projects for the future go well.

Geschrieben in Cycling, Japan, Fixed Gear, Asia | 1 Kommentar »

16.12.2009 von Ines.

My friend from New Zealand sent me a picture of his new fixed gear built up that I find really nice. And he is going to do more.

Geschrieben in Fixed Gear, Asia | Keine Kommentare »

17.11.2009 von Ines.

Today I had a very nice couple come into the Natooke shop. It was Sarah and Roly from Australia that had gone to Tokyo and bought 2 refurbished single speed mama-chari bicycles. Then they cycled all across Japan through all the mountains. They said they had never experienced such polite car drivers. They said they think Japan is the best country in the world to cycle. Then they took the ferry to South Korea and cycled there. The car drivers were not used to cyclists and did not really leave them much space on the roads. Then they came to China and cycled to Beijing and came by chance to my bicycle shop.

This was the last picture of them with their Japanese bicycles as they were on the way to dropping them off to be sold for a good purpose. They will continue their trip through Asia a little bit later and they were considering riding old durable Flying Pigeons. I wish you guys good luck and lots of fun! Keep your love for cycling!

Geschrieben in Cycling, Asia | 1 Kommentar »

23.8.2009 von Ines.

The Beijing Natooke shop has some fixed gear bikes that belong to it. This is my small pink bike that is using an old vintage Cinelli junior track frame. The front wheel is smaller so it can bar spin. It is great for doing tricks.

This is my commuting and long distance blue fixed gear bike. It is a Corima Track frame. It has a front brake to ensure my safety in messy city riding.

This is my 100% refurbished old Tianjin Flying Pigeon single speed bike that I converted to fixed gear. Unfortunately the fork width was more narrow than the hub I wanted to use. So it does not ride so nicely free handed. But it is great for riding in rainy weather as it has fenders.

This is Fede’s fixed gear conversion. He also took a Chinese Flying Pigeon. But his was a 28 inch one and he removed everything unnecessary. So it has the minimalistic fixed gear style. I think this is the cheapest fixed gear bike ever made in the world.

And here is the Natooke shop tall bike. It is made from two old Chinese bikes, one a 28 inch male and the one on top a 24 inch female bike. We were thinking of having it fixed gear but we thought for riding in the daily traffic it might be better to be freewheel. But it is colored in the Natooke colors and amazes every Chinese person.

Geschrieben in Natooke, Fixed Gear, Asia, China, Beijing | 4 Kommentare »

18.8.2009 von Ines.

Yes, here it is: The first bicycle shop in China focused on fixed gear bikes! The logo is a green banana and the name is NATOOKE

This store is dedicated to urban cycling. You will not find a bike with gears in this shop, so no road bikes nor any mountain bikes. All bicycles are single speed and mainly have a fixed back wheel, meaning no ability to coast. Like the bikes used in the velodrome these are track bikes with horizontal dropouts in the back end of the frame to be able to adjust the chain tension. This is extremely suitable for cycling in the flat and nicely paved Beijing urban city. The shop has all the different parts required to build up a fixed gear bike like the fixed gear hubs, flipflop hubs, cogs, lock rings, rims, tires, seat posts, saddles, stems, handle bars, handle bar grips, chains, cranks, chain rings, pedals, cages, toe clips, straps… Each customer can chose what brand, what style and which color he prefers so that we can put together that one-of-a-kind unique bike.

This shop also has a huge selection on urban cycling accessories, like T-shirts, lights, bags, reflective bag covers, anti-pollution masks and other things related to cycling in the metropolitan areas.

The NATOOKE store is even more unique: It is the world’s first shop dedicated to fixed gear bikes and juggling equipment! You can find anything here around the topic of juggling: Different sizes, weights and colors of juggling balls, glow balls, contact balls, acrylics, juggling rings, juggling clubs, devil sticks, diabolos, poi, fire juggling equipment, staff, yo-yos, frisbees, rola bolas (also known as balancing boards) and many more fun toys to play with. This is the best juggling equipment that you can get in all of China. It is mainly imported from Europe.

This fixed gear bike and juggling store is located in the center of Beijing city in the trendy new hutong called Wudaoying. That is right next to the North Second Ring Road just West of the famous Lama Temple. There are 2 subway lines that have a station here as well as many bus lines. So if you do not yet have a bike you can easily come by using public transport. Here is a map of the location of the NATOOKE shop indicated by the small green banana:

Geschrieben in Performers, Green, Natooke, Media, Cycling, Juggling, China, Asia, Fixed Gear, Beijing | 1 Kommentar »

22.10.2008 von Ines.

Currently China’s biggest Telecommunications Exhibition and FTTH Conference is going on in the China New Exhibition Center near the Beijing airport. That place is almost in the middle of nowhere and not so easy to get to or find a taxi to get back to the city. It was great to meet some of my dear ex-colleagues there. It was also fun to cycle there and cycle back home. I actually managed to arrive back home before the rain started.

Geschrieben in Asia, China | 1 Kommentar »