Shops in Beijing

[Powerful Pete]

Howdy folks - will be spending quite a bit of time in Beijing this year for work, so thought it would be nice to spend some time in bike shops and spending money if it makes sense. Usually stay off the third ring road and Zhongguancun Street (near Renmin University).

Any recommendations for nice and/or quirky bike shops? I am now trolling AliBaba and the likes considering having Chinese colleagues buy bits on my behalf... and unfortunately I don't speak Chinese but I do have a brass neck and no issues gesticulating wildly (yes, I'm Italian).

[karmaz]

Haven't spent much time in Beijing but I did manage to hang out at Serk (http://www.serk.cc). Really nice cafe, had some interesting parts and frames in the shop. Seems to be a good place for rides and adventures as well.

[micky]

Spending time in a physical shop can be nice, but you will not end up spending lot of money cause prices (at least by my own experience) are not that competitive.
Even many bikes shops end up buying from oversea thanks to a "tricky trick".

As for shops in Beijing, there should be also the Holy Brothers but not sure it's a nice one while Serk should be a much more friendly place by what I heard.

[Lewn777]

I definately try to get people experienced with Taobao to help you buy online. Avoiding counterfeit stuff and bad sellers is quite easy for the Taobao expert, but for many others it can be difficult. I've got an English speaking friends that run small bike shops to buy online for me, even though my spoken Chinese is reasonable (written Chinese not good). I'm down the road in Shandong province.

I think a good shop in a central area could be quite expensive.

PM me if you are interested in chatting to someone else in China.

[Powerful Pete]

Thanks for the replies. Am aware of Serk and already on the shop WeChat. I may take you up on your offer, Lewn.

Thanks Micky.