His and Hers - Ferrari Bikes

Our 2nd Ferrari Bike - A Foldable Ferrari

Saw a nice Ferrari foldable bike at Marina Bay Sands Ferrari Store last time and have been eyeing it for the longest time decided to get it for my wife as well as a possible alternative to bringing it overseas for cycling.

It was rather affordable at S$799

Prices are expected to rise to S$899 this year

Ain't it a beauty. Shall blog more about how to fold it next time as well as the matching Ferrari helmet I got as well at MKP!

Drive safely - be aware

It has been a harrowing experience for cyclists throughout Singapore since Monday. As I remembered driving past the accident location just hours before the tragedy of the 2 brothers killed by a cement truck.

A message to all drivers out there from the father on his only 2 children's death.



Our actions can change someone else's life.

T-One Bottle Cage and Undercover - How to Secure your Bike

As mentioned that I will do a review on the accessories I bought at this little gem hidden in the west.

The T-One Bottle Cage - only 24grams

Unlike conventional bike cage - this one allows you to rotate your cage according to your  style of reaching out for your bottle!

Using a normal Ikea allen key to remove the screws on the Ferrari Bike

You can use both screws that came with the cage or with the bike - I used the T-ones with plastic washer which will not scratch the bike.

Got it on the bike - Isn't the color just matching with the bike?

The cage is turned slightly to my left as I use my left hand during cycling to reach for my bottle, this is for my stronger right arm to hold the bike.

Matching Nike water bottle to complete the look.

Another product which I bought and I find it very useful is the T-One undercover wireless alarm.

Though it does not have a GPS tracking which will be rather costly given that we need a mobile sim card on it, this alarm feature is quite useful for my usage. Because I often lock the bike and place it at a nearby wall or rail while I am having brunch or dinner along the cafes or restaurants by the river, or street. This alarm prove to be useful in alerting me if someone is trying to touch my bike and will scare them off attracting passersby. Yes, it will not help if I locked the bike at an MRT/void deck and hope it is still around after 8hrs or a couple of days later. But for short term parking, it is ideal and allows me to chase after the bike thief as I can track it up to 300m ahead.

The packaging comes with instructions and 2 set of batteries each for the master and slave device.

It comes with the slave device which I have hidden and screwed it together with my bottle cage.

This is also a 102db loud emitter which I will demonstrate later.

The Slave device screwed under my cage.

Back of the master device which is also a tracker to the slave device

The tracker has 2 buttons and in this case the left (bottom) and the right (top) which is all you need to use this device. There is a set of LEDs located in the tracker which will indicate the strength of the slave device up to 300m.

2 buttons to mute the alarm (left) and also another button (right) to activate the tracking.

You can hear from my video, even with the loud background street noise, it is rather loud. There is an accelerometer chip in the slave device and if there is a movement, as you can see my video, a slight 1cm move forward already triggers the alarm.

Saving cyclists lives when it matters

Credits: EPA/Piroschka van de Wouw from Popsci.com

Dummy meets car: This is what a crash test for bicycle airbags looks like.

In the United States, only 1 percent of trips are made by bicycle. In the Netherlands, which has only 1/18 of the U.S.’s population, that number is close to 26 percent. With so many bikes on the road, Dutch company TNO is working on a car airbag that deploys outside the vehicle to reduce bicyclist injuries. 

Accessories galore

So I had an outing last week when I found the guys who brought in Ferrari bikes as well as Lamborghini bikes into Singapore. I called up and checked if they are open and went to their showroom at Toh Guan area. I was looking for locks as well as a new bike handle for my old Trek bike. Also was looking for matching accessories for my new Ferrari bike...I ended up spending way too much money!

Lots of lock options - From Keys to Combination locks

Got a red Jet Black grip for my old Trek

Now for the matching accessories for my Ferrari bike. Check out what they stocked! Ended up buying a Ferrari saddle bag at S$69 which has reflective strip for night cycling. Will post more reviews of this bag later.

Saddle bag

Ferrari helmet at S$129.

Did not get this but another similar one which looks nicer with my Ferrari bike.

Bottle cage with IF design award

They stocked this bottle cage which was light weight at 24gms and I will also post a review later as I got the matching red one for my bike!

Brooks Saddle

This is the crazy awesome accessory I saw which I was gloating on...not the cool Ferrari bag but the Brooks saddle! Leather and British made - This is the epitome of excellent leather handmade saddles, going back to the 19th century England times. Brooks saddles are supposed to be the greatest leather seats you can find for bikes. Did not buy this...yet because my Ferrari seat is still quite nice and I need more time to save $!

Yells from car

Haha, a friend shared this on Facebook.

Lots of money spent - Accessory 1: Laser Light Lane

So I found out the guys who brought in the Ferrari bikes into Singapore - MKP Bikes; and decided to drop in on them to look for accessories to match my new bike. Boy did I spend quite a bit... Will cover the accessories in stages. First one on the list was this amazing product which I found online quite some time ago and did not know they are here in Singapore. MKP carries them and selling the lights for quite a steal...

Laser Light Lane

There are quite a few of such lights in the market but Laser Light Lane is designed in Singapore! Anyway check out the videos as I plan my first night ride in a long time!

Demo of the light lane which has a MCU Microchip in it, and probably a gyroscope/accelerometer as well as it can detect when turning left or right. 

Next the drop test, this thing doesn't even scratch!

Ministry of Transport - On road safety and cycling

This is a must read for Singapore cyclists on the road. Issues and questions raised in Parliament for cyclists. Some key questions and response quoted:

What a cyclist should never to do in Singapore

Photo Credits: Stomp

I don't condone this person's actions because I am not sure what really happened. But seriously, the road isn't just for cars, and neither it is just for bikes. In order for the population to accept cyclists on the road or pavements, we should observe good cycling etiquette in Singapore, or anywhere else in the world.

This person stopped a car after the driver "supposedly" honked to warn him of his presence. The passenger is also a biker. This cyclist held them up and even hit the car after they decided to avoid confrontation and moved the car off. More details here. Seriously, this isn't Holland or Portland...don't expect everyone to give way or wave Hi to you as you cycle by. The pent up frustrations in the densely built-up Singapore from transportation woes as well as overcrowding due to an increase of over 2 million people since 1990s isn't helping.

Anyway a cyclist should never attempt to do things which could get you on social/state media. We have Facebook, Stomp and the various forums in Singapore. Our HardwareZone team of CSIers have been known to bring down many of such media attention "celebrities". They can find out your name, where you work, live etc in matter of days!

How the Dutch get their cycle paths

A follow up to my solution to transportation woes in Singapore. This is a short ~6min video on how the Dutch built up their cycling infrastructure and echoed my concerns and benefits of cycling in cities like Singapore.
In Netherlands, there are 35,000 km of  bike paths and 18 million bikes...just insane for a population of 16 million?! Cycling accounts for about 60% of transportation in the cities.


From the video you can see the huge cost from switching from bicycles to cars. Which eventually from the civil bike protests which were lobbying the government back to supporting cycling - implementing policies to encourage cycling and also reducing their dependence on oil. I would love a car free Sunday and our entire island is out cycling on bikes, how about you?

Looking at Beijing now, with the city smogs from pollution, it was never like that 20 years ago when almost everyone is cycling. The price of mass modernisation and how cars are killing people and the environment. Without governments pushing, it will never be successful.

Built it and they will come

Solution to the Transportation Woes in Singapore

With the new CEO and his military commanders installed at our "privatised" SMRT (Singapore's train and bus services company which is stock-exchanged listed and yet subsidised with tax payers $); we still see breakdowns occurring. We might take some time to fix this mess, given that the ex-retail enterprise CEO was clearly sleeping on the engineering aspects of the job for awhile.

Loud Bicycle Car Horn

Another Kickstarter project which I missed and would consider buying because of the safety it brings if you do cycle on the roads. The Kickstarter campaign has ended but you can still order it from their official website. It is a tad expensive at USD$95 each.
My Ferrari bike already comes with a cool small bell on the handle but this would be awesome if it sounds like a actual car instead! "Ferrari coming through!"

Cool Bike Lock - The InterLock

Been looking for aesthetically pleasing lock for my new Ferrari Bike. Check out this Kickstart project currently ongoing. Has about 20 days to go before being funded and it isn't costly - USD$39 only!

Bike Trail - Alexandra Park Connector

 
There is a Park Connector Network just nearby my area, though it ain't long - about 1.7km. It is rather scenic with many opportunities for stopping; where there is a playground or a fitness area for family time. The Alexandra Park Connector is another nice Sunday morning ride. Which if you can do 5-7 rounds, you can clock a decent 10km.


There are nice scenic sights along the Alexandra Canal.
Where on weekends, there is not much traffic in the morning or evenings with a nice cool breeze.

Bringing my new ride out for a spin

There are nice fitness parks and places to rest.

Doesn't feel like a bike or running trail

A water play area as it is called

My first Ferrari Bike!

Ok it's no secret I bought another bike and it's a Ferrari bike! I saw it at MBS while having dinner there one night. There is a Ferrari merchandise store right at MBS, probably for tourists or high rollers.
I am always holding back getting anything with a Ferrari badge, since I don't own any of it's expensive cars...but being a supporter for Ferrari in the F1 races, I am in constant conflict if I should get those nice Ferrari Puma shoes or polo tees. But now that I have the bike...time to stock up on the accessories!

Everything in red!

The bike that caught my eye on display there..

The carbon frame Ferrari bike

This is a beauty but right now, the price is out of my reach at over S$3000 and it weighs at only 9kg!

The bike comes with it's own nice small bell and front reflectors.

So with my limited budget, I bought this other beauty - the alloy 17" bike instead from the Ferrari store for S$1199, about the same price as my Trek but with Radius disc brakes!

Beautiful isn't it?

The SRAM X4 Rear Derailleur

The reason why I got the bike?

Alonso has one too!!

Can't wait to cycle more around my area with my first Ferrari!

Taking it out for a spin

It is a beautiful Sunday morning and love the ride so far, taking it out for a spin at Robertson Quay. Getting lots of stares and questions about the bike.

Cycling along Robertson Quay

There are nice quaint cafes along the river where we can park the bikes on the side and savour a slow breakfast or brunch. Basking in the sunshine on a weekend is just lovely.

Do check out this nice cafe called Kith cafe, where I swear by the Hazelnut Nutella shake. Simply heavenly.

Ladyironchef has a nice review of the eateries around the Quay, easily accessible by bikes.

The Hazelnut Nutella shake vs the Chocolate shake...mine wins hands down!

New Toy

A brief introduction to this new beauty I just picked up. It's so beautiful! So many people in my area is asking if it's for real.

Mountain Cycling in Taipei

Was in and out of Taiwan in 24hrs but managed to take a Cable Car up one of their nearby mountains and took some pictures of the bikes in Taipei. The trails and views given to the cyclists there is just wonderful. Would love to bring my bike over for a ride if possible.

Look at their accessories. Nice bike bags, bottles and lights.

Their glorious view after a tough cycle up the 250m mountain.

Nice skyline of Taipei.

I think the closest awesome view you can get similarly from Singapore is cycling up Mount Faber. However, the winding roads up is very dangerous as there are no signs indicating to drivers to be careful of cyclists etc.

In Taiwan, they have segregation on roads for cyclists with clear signs and a wide lane.