Singapore Expats

Hi,
Thanks for a great forum. Picked up lots of great info.

We are a family of four about to move to Singapore.
We are considering buying our bikes here in Australia, then have the company shift them over for us as part of the move.

I've heard from some already in Singapore that there is no cellar space or lock up space. Is that the norm for apartments/condos?
What do people do with their bicycles? Keep them on the balcony?

Thanks.

I have a storage room in my HDB - enough for a dozen of bicycles.

Other things: bying a bicycle in Australia and get it stolen in Singapore will bring you less joy and happiness compared to buying and losing bicycle - both in Singapore.

southernx wrote:Hi,
Thanks for a great forum. Picked up lots of great info.

We are a family of four about to move to Singapore.
We are considering buying our bikes here in Australia, then have the company shift them over for us as part of the move.

I've heard from some already in Singapore that there is no cellar space or lock up space. Is that the norm for apartments/condos?
What do people do with their bicycles? Keep them on the balcony?
Thanks.

Modern housing units come with internal bomb shelters. These invariably get used for storage, and would have space for bikes, though wheeling bikes through an inevitably cramped home is not ideal.

Alternatives:
Yes, keep on a balcony, though there may be condo rules against this, I see bikes kept out now and again where I live.

In my place, there is a bike-zone down in the car-park. The bikes (even very $$$ ones) aren't locked onto anything. Most just have a $10 combi-lock and chain around a wheel.

p.s. I've not heard of condos here in SG having cellar/external lock-up space. In fact the only place that my flat came with a fenced off cellar space, was in Europe, and that really was a bonus. That said, space there was at much less of a premium, and a lot of buildings there with such facilities are old.

JR8 wrote: In my place, there is a bike-zone down in the car-park. The bikes (even very $$$ ones) aren't locked onto anything. Most just have a $10 combi-lock and chain around a wheel.

On the other hand, I had a crappy 15 yr old hand-me-down Dutch bike (meaning those tanks that weigh 20kg+ you see in Amsterdam everywhere) stolen from me. It was locked to a bike rack, and even had the second hand-cuff style lock going through the back wheel.

I had my bike (not very expensive, but pretty new and very high frame size, which isn't available here) in the basement car park, locked to a drainpipe. They cut the lock at night. The police did nothing.

In a condo there is always some space designated for the bikes, typically withing the carpark. Whether it is safe to keep it there depends IMHO on the condo. My wife kept her bike (branded but not an expensive though, sub 2k range) for 3 years in the basement, locking it a sewer pipe and removing only the lamps. Nothing bad has ever happened.

The risk is rather to have it damaged than stolen as if the later happens you see it making its way to the condo circulars and something like this I've seen probably 2 times over +10 years.

Dutch and German bikes.

So damned heavy they probably had a scrap metal value to justify stealing them.

p.s. at our place...



Something of a correction. The kiddy-bikes to the right are locked to wall bars. The ones to the left (including that completely unlocked Schwin cruiser bike) are not. Where the Schwin is this pm, there is usually a very high end racing bike. Funny thing, from the design and shapes of the forks it is clearly a track (velodrome) racing bike, quite where it gets ridden here I have no idea. It too is left unlocked...

Great info. Thanks for the replies.
We've got a familiarisation trip coming up next month, so that will be one of the things I'll ask about.

Sergei82 - yes, may be better to buy bikes in SG.

In Singapore they steal bicycles only, never anything else.

Sergei82 wrote:In Singapore they steal bicycles only, never anything else.

Cashcards from the motorbikes. They can disappear even from the condo carpark and within few minutes in a vicinity of Little India.

JR8 wrote:Dutch and German bikes.

So damned heavy they probably had a scrap metal value to justify stealing them.

That's what I assumed heh.

Sergei82 wrote:In Singapore they steal bicycles only, never anything else.

Leave your high end addidas or nikes outside your door if you live in an HDB flat and they will disappear faster than the bicycle left unlocked at an MRT station will.

Are you guys living in different Singapore? I understand about riding a used bicycle, but wearing used shoes is something I never heard here. Maybe, my neighbours are exceptionally good?

Do not buy your bikes in Aus. Bikes here rust up very quickly. They are also very cheap. You can buy cheap as chips bikes second hand, or new at giant or many many bakeshops. Better to get a cheap bike that can be replaced when it is rusted or stolen.
I have only ever had one bike stolen (and we have 8 bikes) and for most of our time we have never locked our bikes - whether in condo bike racks, when out and about or behind house.

katbh wrote:Do not buy your bikes in Aus. Bikes here rust up very quickly. They are also very cheap. You can buy cheap as chips bikes second hand, or new at giant or many many bakeshops. Better to get a cheap bike that can be replaced when it is rusted or stolen.
I have only ever had one bike stolen (and we have 8 bikes) and for most of our time we have never locked our bikes - whether in condo bike racks, when out and about or behind house.

If you buy a quality bike, you won't have rust. Even a cheaper cromoly bike will only surface rust. It'll come right off.