Singapore (updated)
 

I've been road cycling in Singapore for a few months now, I thought I'd add some info.

The two biggest road cycling groups I have ridden with are:

www.anzacycling.com

and

www.joyriders.sg

Both are great and have a range of ride to suit most levels. I'm know there are other groups.

East Coast is great for a nice flat ride. Stay on the service road, not the bike path (too many bladers etc.). You can ride around Changi airport and back, loop is around 40km. Weekends are better as there is less traffic around the loop.

Most group rides take place around the "Mandai loop". Groups meet at the Long House hawker centre and set off from there. The Long House seems to be the focal point for roadies. Last Saturday there were about 150 roadies there at 7am! Lot's of "blingin'" bikes!

Ride early to avoid the heat and traffic and drink lots. If you see a fat bloke rollin' in a "Marmite" jersey be sure to say hello - it's probably me!

p.s. I never ride without a lid here, the drivers are not as cycle aware as the UK.

Ride Safe!

Hello!

thanks for the updates. I ride on a grey KHS with red tyres, and wear a white/blue Met helmet, hope to meet on the road one day.

And yes, I agree, drivers in Singapore can be a tad unfriendly. Best to be alert always on the road and keep within traffic regulations.

cheers

Tim

Hi, looks like I will be in Singapore for work Sept 9-14. Are there any good places to rent a bike from? Good routes?

Thanks for any help!
Paula

Paula

There are places to hire beaten up bikes - East Coast Park. Or a little out lying island called Pulau Ubin What kind of riding are you looking for?

Thanks for the advice! I'm looking for a road bike, just to explore and keep in shape. Otherwise I'll be hitting up the stationary bike at the hotel gym, pretty boring. :rolleyes:

Also it's only my 2nd time to Singapore so I'd love to see more of it.

No roadbike hire I know of - you can try one place; the bke boutique on 6225 1728, they may have something for you.

PM me if you want route info.

By the way I notice you aren't here over a weekend. Sun sets here around 7 and I wouldn't recommend riding in the evening or after dark - driving can be erratic.

East Cost park may be your best bet of an evening.

Thanks again Rollin for all the advice. Here's my report from today:

After asking around here this morning, it looked like East Coast Park was my best bet overall.
I decided to walk from the Hilton to the park, it took me a bit under 3 hours to get there and to the bike rental kiosks. They were all mountain bikes, all of them had seen better days.

The first bike I was given was a bit of a bust, every attempt to shift gears ended up with the chain tangled around the crank. :rolleyes:
It was kind of ironic because I only wanted one gear anyway (the top one) for the flat terrain. I took it back and exchanged it, the second bike turned out to be much better.

It cost me 7 SGD (a bit under $5) to rent it for 2 hours. I tried going out on the street, but after nearly getting hit by a police car :eek: and me being irresponsible and riding bare-headed (didn't feel like carrying the helmet on my walk) I decided to go back to the park. I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to have the bike outside the park anyway.

I rode up and down the park a couple of times, one time through I passed a charity ride (Bike'n'Blade). It was nice having people in orange shirts pointing out the route, as opposed to the arrows on the ground that I am used to seeing. The park seemed like a nice place to hang out, I was impressed by the cable water-skiing and the dedicated mini-race track for radio-controlled cars, I've never seen either of these before elsewhere.

After my ride I was a bit hot so decided to walk over to the MTR and take it back to the hotel, much faster and cooler than my morning walk.

Here's a photo of me and the bike. As I was setting up for this shot, I was bitten on the foot by a spider. I pulled it off and just hoped it wasn't poisonous! :p (So far so good.)
More pictures here.

Paula

http://paularickert.net/albums/userp...Paula_Bike.JPG

Slow American
 

I will be in Singapore for 2 weeks in late Feb. Any suggestions on where I can rent a mid/highend roadbike for the duration? I am staying with family, and am hoping to get out every other AM for @ 50KM rides. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, and maybe I can meet up with some of you in a few months.

Also, how is the mountain biking over there? I hear some of the islands have intersting stuff, but am not sure if interesting tranlates into good mountain biking.

Thanks!

Paula - Well done for getting out there. And well done for riding one of the East coast rental bikes and taking on the Singapore traffic!

I was one of the orange helmets on the bike'n'blade ride. It was only around 50km ride (day 3 of a 400km ride for some). I cycled to the start point in the morning so clocked over 100km. I ended up in one of the latter groups, cycling with a group of kids - it was like rounding up and herding cats! I got home around 8pm and didn't see your pm until later. Sorry I missed you.

By the way I am guessing the walk from the Hilton was more of a workout then the riding!

SprSonic and others. I asked around for higher end bike hire. No one I spoke to is really set up for this but you can try bike boutique whao maybe able to help. They are the regional Cervelo dealer. Website is www.thebikeboutique.com

Also I have an old steelie which I can lend you (used to be highend once upon a time!) It would suit riders 5'7" plus. Let me know so I can lube the chain for you.

The mountain biking here is actually excellent, although it's more trail riding, not a lot in the way of actual mountains!

Hi all,

I too was one of the riders with the orange helmets for the Bike'n'Blade ride. Did the local leg only too. Rollin, I got roped in to train a group of boys from one of the beneficiary organisations after our last corespondence :) I was in group 6. You?

Paula, you can try Kit Runners for road bike rental at the ECP (East Coast Park). It's the large rental set-up beside Burger King, near Macdonalds. Got to know they have road bikes on one of the training rides with the boys when they rented MTBs. The road bikes for rent should be Cannondales if I'm not wrong, just came in some weeks ago and look good to ride. The rental cost is slightly high though - $20 for 1 hour (or was it 2?). The MTBS here are also newer and ride better. I rented a silver/blue Wheeler last week (cos I was too lazy to ride my roadie down, and the boys tend to want to borrow it), and it rode very responsively and well.

Other than that, The Bike Boutique is the other place to rent.

I will be overseas for a few weeks from tonight. Apologies in advance if I do not respond to any PMs or posts.

Regards

Tim

Cordia 75 - Mate I was meant to be in 3, I went back to group 7 and messed around with the kids. One of these days we'll actually meet each other!! By the way I wasn't on my Trek, I was on my BMC

Thanks Tim!
paula

Yeah, it was nice to cool down a bit on the ride! :D

Any advice on bicycle mechanics/ good shops in Singapore? I have a customer of mine moving there after the New Year and was looking for a good place to send him for repairs.
Thanks

Many good mechanics. I would recommend:
Swiss Valley - great service / road bike
Two Wheel Action - more mountain bike
Bike Boutique - Tri specialists

Well, I'm back in Singapore this weekend, this time I did manage to rent a road bike from Bike Boutique. :)

Had a bit of an adventure today, if I'm not too sore (bike is not a perfect fit) will head on out again tomorrow.

Paula

Here's my ride report from this weekend:

Bike:
Picked up the bike at Bike Boutique (I had made arrangements in advance, necessary at least for me because I needed their smallest bike which was still a bit too big). Nice carbon fiber road bike with Dura-Ace components. They charge 50 SGD per day. Didn't get a repair kit or spare tubes, but did get an emergency phone # instead. The only "fitting" they did was to have me take it out on the street and report back as to whether the seat height needed adjusting. So it didn't quite fit right, but that was the only issue I had, otherwise it was great. :)

Saturday:
Rode through town, I got a bit lost because of confusing signs and ended up circling around a couple of times with a bit of a detour onto the Central Expressway at one point. Eventually I made it out onto Upper Thomson Road. I took the side route out onto Old Upper Thomson Road which was definitely the nicest road I've been on in Singapore. :D

Finally made it up to Woodlands to the Causeway, cause I've been wanting to try crossing a border on a bike. Well, the signs indicated lanes for cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles (who had to go via BKE), but nothing for bikes.

I decided instead to find the pedestrian access point, and hauled my bike through the building and the revolving gate, only to be pulled aside by the authorities. :eek:

Apparently, bicycles are motorcycles, not pedestrians, at least as far as Singapore immigration is concerned. Ooops! After quite a lot of discussion and a bit of laughter on their part, they finally agreed to let me through and escorted me out so that I could join up with the motorcycles for the entry to Malaysia (that was much easier).

Rode around Johor Bahru a bit, but decided not to stop (I didn't have a lock for the bike). Then I headed back to the border, again a bit of hassle re-entering Singapore but it wasn't too bad, at least I knew which lane to go in.

Rode back on Woodlands to Upper Bukit Timah back to town. 55 miles total for the day.

Sunday:
I decided it would be easier just to stay in Singapore today, explored a bit of the West side. I somehow ended up on a short stretch of Expressway again (AYE), then got onto the West Coast highway, Jalan Buroh, Corporation Road, then through Bukit Batok, over to Upper Bukit Timah and back to town. 30 miles total today.

Glad I had a chance to get in some riding time! Although I'm hoping at some point to get a folder so I won't have to deal with the rental issues in the future.

Woodlands:
http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/sg01.JPG

View of the water from Johor Bahru:
http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/sg02.JPG

West Coast Park:
http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/sg04.JPG

Close-up of bike:
http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/sg03.JPG

Nice report, it looks beautiful there. I especially enjoyed the expressway detour and border crossings. I've gone through a small border station between Quebec and Vermont several times and I used to wait in line with the cars, but after some encouragement from a group of motorcycle tourists I now pass everyone and go right up to the booth. The border guards aren't too impressed seeing a cyclist, and when I tell them where I'm headed they say I'll never make it.

Nice report and great pics Ms.I. I'd love so see Singapore by bike. I'm not sure I'd be able to take the heat though. Did you make it to some of the more "flavorful" parts of Singapore or Malaysia?

Thanks SG and BR! I didn't really stop anywhere in Malaysia, it's not the best neighborhood there at the border and I didn't have a lock for the bike.

Lunar New Year has been a good time to visit HK and Singapore though. :D

Looks like a great ride!

Like this?

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...k/P2150055.jpg

:rolleyes:;)

Coming back in November, this time I'll bring my folder along. :D

i will be in singapore for the first time in november.

what is the best high-end bike store in singapore?