We’re quickly approaching the year of the rooster.  To celebrate another successful year of getting more people riding we’ve decided to give back a bit and offer special discounts.

Starting Friday, January 6th and finishing Friday, January 20th we’ll be offering the following deals! Read more

Renovating our shop it really hit us: We’ve been open for a while now. And with that time comes some history. Looking through old photos certainly help to bring all that rushing back.

So keep an eye out as we regularly post our own #throwbackthursday photos. We’ll cover the history of our shop and community, the friends, events and start of certain traditions that make Natooke Chengdu what it is today.

To start with, scope these photos of our shop after it’s original renovation. Freshly painted, clean and surprisingly bare, you can see a few small details that would ultimately lead to how the shop looks and feels today! Read more

Since we’ve opened we’ve kept the same general arrangement in our shop. As we’ve grown over the years the shop had come to feel increasingly cluttered. Every nook and cranny of our floor was occupied with shelving, parts and accessories.

When the FNR and other events started to increase in attendants the space in the shop didn’t allow much room for our friends and customers to breathe. Sure, it had that classic “hole-in-the-wall” bike shop feel but we didn’t feel like it did anyone justice.

To bring in the New Year we decided to move things around the shop to allow ourselves more space. Most of our stock has been moved upstairs for storage, but we’ve designed things to keep the same vibe while bringing a fresh look.

You can still piece together your own custom build and get a preview of how it will look. You’ll still be able to look through our full selection of parts to familiarize with the custom options. Read more

Getting in the habit of wearing a helmet is difficult.  Helmets have a bad reputation for being uncomfortable and unfashionable.  But the benefits of protecting your brain are huge.

It only takes one bump of the head to cause lifelong brain damage or serious injury.  In fact in places like the United States, traumatic brain injuries are the cause of upwards of 85% of all bicycle accident deaths.  Despite this, roughly less than 20% of all bicyclists wear helmets!

Read more

We’re super proud of all the women who volunteered their blood, sweat, tears and time to participate in October’s Queen of the Bike competition.

The results were stunning.  There was no way anyone could anticipate the feats that these women undertook in riding for the glory of being crowned the Queen.  Two women even broke the 1200 kilometer mark!

This is not to say that there wasn’t other amazing achievements.  We heard grueling tales of rides in the cold and the rain, riding through sickness and bad air, and riding through injury or accident.

There were also plenty more positive tales in which these women found camaraderie through competition.  New friends were made and adventures were forged out of the common goal to get out and ride. Read more

Natooke has been dealing directly with Respro since before people even realised that the “fog” we breathe from time to time is a little bit more harmful than it appears.

As it’s earliest representative in China, our relationship has helped us develop special products to help deal with the particularly nasty air quality we encounter from time to time.  This includes the decision to have all masks we import include the higher rated Techno filter.

It’s effective at cutting out particles down to 0.3 micrometers in size.  These are the dangerous particulates that are capable of entering your cardiovascular system and wreaking havoc.

It’s also designed to be re-usable unlike your standard throw-away mask.  The shell is comfortable and easy to wash/maintain.  Plus, they’re designed for active aerobic use meaning you can get breathing heavy without feeling like your sucking on a straw. Read more

This bike is the last of an old guard.  Originally pieced together in the summer of 2013 it quickly entered the ranks of our rental fleet.

It’s been ridden by countless people, all over Chengdu and tended to with great care.  Alas, with our new rental fleet this machine would be happier with a single rider to call its own.

Aluminum frame, steel forks and lightweight aluminum wheels make for a smooth but nimble ride.  Add to that the awesome integrated rack in the handlebars and this is the perfect city bike.

The bike is a 52cm (M) which is most suited for riders between 165-175cm.  However we’ve fit riders from 160cm all the way up to 190cm easily!

Used, but not abused this bike has been well maintained throughout the course of its life.  Make it your own for only ¥1200! Read more

Christmas is coming and that can only mean one thing.  We’ll be riding our bikes.

This Friday, December 23th we’re super pleased to be holding a special ride.

For our fourth annual Christmas Cruise, expect all the awesome things that accompany our Friday Night Ride, but with a twist.

On hand we’ll have santa suits for all the riders.  Deck yourself in red as we take to the streets to spread holiday cheer.  Our playlist will also be peppered with a number of sweet holiday cuts.

To be a part of the ride we have one simple request.  Participate in the Christmas Cruise gift exchange.

The gift can be anything wrapped, within a 50 RMB value.  Be creative!  Here’s a few ideas:

Silly

Funky

Edible

Handmade

A piece of art

After the ride we’ll return to shop to divvy up all the presents. Read more

There are few things in this world that any bicyclist appreciate. Good pizza, a nice bike, a tasty beer. But it’s a good cup of coffee that will get your day started right. It’ll carry you through a rough day.

So do we take coffee seriously? You bet. We drink a lot of the stuff. And the difference between a good day and a bad one often times hinges on the quality of coffee. So we don’t fool around.

This is why some time back we started buying fresh-roasted coffee straight from China’s coffee growing capital, Yunnan. Floating around the shop we have a lot of Golden Canyon Coffee , roasted in a breakfast blend, ready to hit the pot. Read more

These bikes look cool. Well, maybe “cool” is a stretch depending on your style.  But they certainly stand out.  Reasonably the most striking thing about the program it’s unique visual appeal.  We’ve seen countless pictures on our social media over the past weeks of a full long line of these bikes, sitting, awaiting riders.

The handlebars feature a super funky, curved U-shape unlike anything we’ve seen before.  The frame is unique, and asymmetric with a single, fat tube substituted for your standard “triangle”.  Furthermore the front and back where the wheels mount are mono-stay, meaning there is only one tube of the frame on one side to connect with the wheels.  It looks futuristic and as though it defies balance. Read more