US Bicycles

[137lbs]

Should I bring our bicycles to Singapore? Or will there be any issue with regard to getting parts, etc.

This may sound like a stupid question, but we encountered major problems when we brought our bikes to the Netherlands for an extended stay. Different bike technology apparently, which meant we could not get replacement parts, tires, etc . We ended up storing our bikes and buying used local bikes. It was a PITA.

I'm just wondering whether we will encounter a similar problem in Singapore.

[137lbs]

Someone answer please!!!

[My Thoughts]

If they are super duper $000 dollar bikes I wouldn't bring them - things rust and rot so quickly in Singapore that unless you intend using them for competitions etc they will pretty much be ruined in a couple of years.

Also Singapore is a metric system and US being imperial still, it may be a problem!

[137lbs]

They are old bikes and not worth money, but they are solid. Though will need fixing every now and then.

Metric vs. imperial - do you mean that no parts would be available for bikes from the US? Totally incompatible?

[Bikes]

We brought our bikes from the US and have not had trouble with repairs. But the chains and unpainted parts rusted in an amazingly short time, so I think it is best to keeps bikes indoors if possible, regardless of where they are bought.

[137lbs]

We brought our bikes from the US and have not had trouble with repairs. But the chains and unpainted parts rusted in an amazingly short time, so I think it is best to keeps bikes indoors if possible, regardless of where they are bought.

OK so you've been able to get replacement tires, for example?

What about accessories?

Indoors - yes one will actually be mostly used as an exercise bike, for use with a detachable trainer.

I've lived in the humid tropics before so I can handle that part. And we won't leave anything out in the elements. But I need to know what's readily available in Singapore because the bikes will eventually need parts.

[The ref]

In Singapore low end bikes like Aleoca and Polycom are much cheaper than in Australia (cant speak for the US) and top end bikes are far, far more expensive.

Parts like tyres, chains, gear cables, accessories are cheaper, brand name gear like cassettes, clustrers, bike computers are ridiculously expensive and can be brought over the web.

So as to bringing from the States, if they are older, average quality bikes I would leave them and buy new ones from Giant (the supermarket, not the bike brand)  If you do serious offroading or 40K + road rides then bring them with you.

[Cyclist]

Mountain bikes here start at about $20 - new.
I bought one for $400 several years ago and have never had to maintain it. I pumped the tyres on two occasions. There are kilometers of very good cycle and roller-blading tracks/roads here, no vehicles, along the East Coast Park and elsewhere.
More robust bikes like Flying Pigeon (Google) are also available and are good value.
Bringing your own is a waste of freight. Put them in the loft.

[137]

Parts like tyres, chains, gear cables, accessories are cheaper, brand name gear like cassettes, clustrers, bike computers are ridiculously expensive and can be brought over the web.

So as to bringing from the States, if they are older, average quality bikes I would leave them and buy new ones from Giant (the supermarket, not the bike brand)  If you do serious offroading or 40K + road rides then bring them with you.

We don't do any serious biking, just purely for fun. One bike is in fact regularly attached to a CycleOps trainer for indoor use. The purpose of bringing our existing bikes is to not have to buy new ones. (The cost of freight is well within my employer's SMALL allotment for our move, as we are not bringing a lot of big stuff).

So my question is whether the tyres, chains, gear cables, accessories I would find in Singapore (the cheap kind, not the brand name expensive kind) are going to be incompatible with the US bikes we already have.

[$Pripps]

Considering there is a lot of theft/petty theft Singapore I think it would be better for you to just buy a couple of cheaper bikes here and then sell them/give away when you move back again.

bike tires etc are normally quite standardized all over the world so that shouldn't be a problem / e.g. even in metric system countries you buy a 26" bike.

[fareastjunebug]

tires, chains and cables will be standard. specialized components like gear sets and derailleurs may be not available for certain brands/models.

[137lbs]

Considering there is a lot of theft/petty theft Singapore I think it would be better for you to just buy a couple of cheaper bikes here and then sell them/give away when you move back again.

Our bikes are currently worth nothing. We would not be able to sell them here for money because they are both over 10 years old, though still in great shape. We'd have to just give them away if we didn't take them with us because we are planning to stay in Singapore for the foreseeable future. 

bike tires etc are normally quite standardized all over the world so that shouldn't be a problem / e.g. even in metric system countries you buy a 26" bike.

This is not true. This is why I posed the original question. We had brought those bikes to the Netherlands a few years ago, and we learned very quickly couldn't get replacement parts, spare tires, etc. We ended up buying one used local bike -- and found our tire pumps would not work on Dutch tires. The two "systems" were totally incompatible.

The only reason we would NOT bring our US bikes is if we would face the same situation in Singapore that we faced in the Netherlands.

[Cyclist]

Your bikes were probably made in China anyway.
Holland is an exception. The Dutch bikes are quite different and have no conventional brakes requiring the rider to pedal furiously backwards in order to avert a collision. 
As you say, if freight is not an issue then bring them, you can always dispose of them here if you need to do so.
 

[$Pripps]

The only reason we would NOT bring our US bikes is if we would face the same situation in Singapore that we faced in the Netherlands.

Seems like a no brainer, bring them, drive them until they break, then if your bikes happen to be so exotic that you can't find parts here, buy some cheap(or expensive) new ones here.

Counting on that we in this forum know whether you can get spare parts when you haven't even mentioned the brand seems a bit optimistic.  or is "US bike" a brand?

BTW again, it has nothing to do with metric or not.

[137lbs]

Your bikes were probably made in China anyway.
Holland is an exception. The Dutch bikes are quite different and have no conventional brakes requiring the rider to pedal furiously backwards in order to avert a collision. 
As you say, if freight is not an issue then bring them, you can always dispose of them here if you need to do so.
 

Yeah most of the stuff here in the US is made in China!
As far as I know when getting parts here in the US, the brand never mattered, it was more what size the bike was to get the right tire, chain, etc. But OK then if Holland is truly an exception then I won't worry.

Our bikes: a Giant from the cheapest end of the mountain bike range from over 10 years ago, and another one is a non-branded bike that was assembled as a hobby using parts bought separately from a bike store. Nothing special, as I said.