The dream 🚲

All you need is to completely disregard human rights and Singapore is pretty decent.
- Other than the gross attitude toward people from weaker country and their treament of maid as if they're dog, what other human right issue they have?
  
  They love executing people and long prison sentences like it’s medieval era.
  
  marijuana? DEATH
  
  "other than abusing people from other countries, what other issue do they have"
  
  I love that I can feel your vernacular in your writing. please never change. /gen
- Disneyland with the death penalty
- The same goes for the UAE or Saudi Arabia
  
  I live in Singapore; this comparision is deranged. The worst you could say for SG are draconian drug laws, we aren't upholding slavery and slaughtering journalists/opposition parties in broad daylight. This is like equating Taiwan to Palestine or South Korea to North Korea for fuck sake

Singapore is not the dream. It's a police state and dictatorship
- Came here to say this. People don't realize how backwards that place is. Just being gay is illegal as fuck over there. Fuck Singapore.
  
  Thank you! Finally someone speaks out, too. Singapore is a totalitarian capitalist dictatorship and the closest thing we have to a true cyberpunk dystopia. It is a horrible place with clean sidewalks.
  
  The law hadn't been applied decades, male homosexual sex was decriminalised in 2007 and legalised in 2022.
  The legal situation before that was inherited from the British Empire, a 1871 law which made all kinds of "sodomy" (oral, anal) illegal for everyone. By now you also have protections against discrimination, hate speech, etc. There's a gazillion things to criticise about Singapore you don't need to make shit up. Other things on the list of "don't criticise about Singapore" include public transit, public housing (though they could ease on the mandatory ethnic mixing a bit), and the food. Oh gods the food.
  Dictatorship is also kind of a misnomer... Singapore is one of a kind. Certainly paternalistic as fuck, authoritarian it depends, the PAP is actually listening to people and considers electoral results <70% an issue that must be addressed by fixing shit -- and no they don't mess with the ballot: They mess with media and election timing, as is British tradition.
  Two particular things that stand out is the lack of corruption and actual respect for the law, otherwise the whole system would long since have collapsed. That is: All the authoritarianism is actually codified, there's laws you can read, rights that you have, you're not going to prison because some big-wig doesn't like your face or your business idea is interfering with their kleptocracy but because you broke the law, and there's no easily abused laws like Thailand's lese-majeste, either. All that is highly untypical for your usual run-off-the-mill dictatorship where favours and loyalty are the only legal currency.
  Things to criticise that aren't caning for littering or insanely hardcore drug laws? Things like the abysmal status of foreign workers. Or, from a more Confucian perspective actually: The failure of the grand daddy PAP to properly see discontent coming, and address them proactively. Lack of connection to younger people who don't happen to be PAP members.
- Can confirm Singapore is a one-party police state ruled by a political dynasty.
- Do they still publicly flog people and criminalize chewing gum?
  
  Chewing gum is not illegal, the importation and sale is. You can bring in gum from abroad and chew it. What you do with it afterwards is also important.
  
  Once, there was this kid who
  Took a trip to Singapore and brought along his spray paint
  And when he finally came back
  He had cane marks all over his bottom
  He said that it was from when
  The warden whacked it soooooo haaaaard

Singapore laws play for keeps tho
- 1 to 2 years for selling gum. 100 to 500 USD for chewing.
  
  Jaywalking? Fuckin life with no parole.
  
  No, not chewing. POP'n.
  He had it com'n. He had it com'n. He only had himself to blame.
  
  Sounds reasonable.

I know it's almost impossible but I'd be taking the bike out so much more often if I knew I could leave it somewhere and it'd still be there when I got back.
- Same, and mine is not even close to this price range. I heard Japan is like that as well. If you have any semblance of protection, like tying it up with rope, no one will touch it, ever. Must be nice living in civilized world.
  
  Crazy how when you design a society around meeting people's basic needs, petty theft almost disappears.
- Absolutely this. The only times I take my bike out is when I know I'll never have to leave it. Which basically excludes using it for transportation purposes, and leaves only cycling just to cycle (which I do still enjoy).
  Just too high of a chance for it to get stolen (completely or just parts), or vandalized. It's not even that great of a bike either.
  I have a friend who "solved" this problem by having such a junker of a bike that it didn't even look like it functioned.
  
  Check if there are any facilities in your area for secure bike storage, my nearby city for example offers free staffed bike parking and a free bus to get around. The inter city train station offers 20/7 keycard access bike parking with changing facilities, but that requires a deposit, proof of address etc.
  I usually end up using one of these two facilities when I visit the city because of the rampant bike theft issues there, with the preferred one being the inter city station since it's open almost all the time
  There was even a docked e-bike hire offered by the local govt, which sadly went bankrupt because people were vandalising the e-bikes and destroying the docks ☹️
- It's the only reason I don't own a bike. They get stolen even when locked up in the daytime with a good lock. Bolt cutters are quick.
- if you're not destitute you can pull the dutch gambit: use a shitty rustbucket bike that you give precisely 0 fucks about being stolen

Is it unattended? Looks like someone is standing right in front of it taking a photo for Twitter.

I'm pretty sure it's because Singapore has security cameras pointing everywhere. Also, caning is a big deterrent to theft.
- Yeah, we just need less privacy, more fascism, and more brutal cops.
  
  I don't understand how you've equated security cameras in a PUBLIC PLACE as "less privacy".
  What do you want privacy for in a public place?

The secret ingredient is surveillance.
- We have that over here too
- That's why there aren't any thieves in London. With surveillance you can live the best of lifes, free and save. /s

How TF is that bike (or any) $15k?!? Does it come with a bike path concierge on every trip?
- Multiple, actually. No one can keep up with him for long, so they swap out. Each concierge (usually called "Domestiques") sweeps the path clean of all gravel, dirt, and random people with strollers for the rider.
  (I just realized how much I miss /r/bicyclingcirclejerk.)
- How TF are lamborghinis so expensive? A car is a car after all
  
  But... a Lamborghini is a tractor.
- Was in a bike shop the other day and they were selling a wheel for €1.2k. Didn't even come with the axle or the tyre
  
  at that point it really just feels like being expensive for the sake of being expensive, so that rich twats can show off how rich they are
  
  I met a guy at a party who said he was into cycling. I told him I used to like cycling but my bike is so broken the repair tech said I should cut my losses and get a new one. He started giving me advice about what wheels and tires to put on my new bike. I asked him how much they would cost and he said they weren't expensive - just about $1200 per wheel. Turns out this guy was significantly richer than me.
- Carbon fiber wheels, carbon fiber frame, high end bearings, location of manufacture, billet machined parts from titanium or aluminum, and the brand tax.
  I don't get it but if you got the money for the nicest and lightest ride; why not?
- It's called midlife crisis excessive spending
- ¯(ツ)/¯ niche parts made by niche companies that charge a significant amount of money

To me, the culture shock would be that there is a bicycle that costs $15K
- I'm into mountain biking and it's fucking criminal what they charge for bike prices these days. A good bike with decent quality components is like $5000-$7000. High end name brand components will bring that up to $9000 easily. Higher end frames and boutique components can bring it into the $11000-$15000 range. It's fucked lol.
  Oh and for an electric bike add $2000-3000 to the price.
  
  Where are you buying this shit? I got a nice KHS like 5 years ago for $700 and it's not terribly expensive to get a motor, controller, and batteries.
  
  Your notion of "decent" is certainly not the same as 99.99% of the population. Or you live in a very expensive place and have a very specific use of mountain bikes.
  
  Wow I suddenly feel privileged to have had a bicycle growing up.
  EDIT oh actually even then it looks like they're relatively affordable. This was the hot brand for cool kids when I was growing up

I'm more wondering why someone would spend that much on a damn bike. I bought my car for 15k of course that was in 2010 but I'm still driving it to this day. Toyota Corolla before anyone asks.
Edit: I just realized this was posted under fuck cars and now I feel like a dick comparing it to the price of my car. It wasn't intentional but still holy shit that's still a stupid amount of money to spend on a bike. Like how can you even justify that price? It has to be a completely insane amount of markup.
- He admits he has a car, get him fellas!
- Entry level racing bikes are about $3-5k these days. That's a top end Pinarello with custom paint. It might be $15k, but it's probably closer to $10-$12k with those wheels.
  I'm the guy who puts my $8k mountain bike on the back of my 20 year old shitbox Honda when I drive to the trails
  
  Not a biker, but it makes complete sense to me. Car = transport, bike = great pleasure.
  
  It's one of "the rules" that bikes on top of your car should cost more than the car itself.
  
  and also, 15k would be like the cost of a drivers license there.
  I don't know the actual numbers, but it is wicked costly to even get the privilege to drive there, let alone get a car.
  
  I think most people forget when you get these bikes it's like buying an f1 car in motorsports. That 15k bike is probably nearly identical to what the pros are running, like maybe they use a different hand grip or seat but for the most part that's a completely custom chasis, redesigned from the previous year and up to spec to compete in a professional capacity right off the bat.
- Almost certainly competition / training. A bike like this is your exercise, leisure, hobby, your source of competitive spirit, your hobby, and of course its your baby who you love and keep tuned up. A 15k car is a great value, a workhorse. Is it your baby? Maybe it is if you're still driving it.
  
  There's nothing can legit do to a bike to make it be worth 15. Grand except put a motor on it
  
  Definitely not my baby. Just a cheap reliable source or transportation in a city that you have to own a car to get anywhere. Paints chipping off and it has rust but still gets me to work everyday so I don't care. I'm a tightwad so spending like this will never make any since to me. I'm just not a person that wants many material things.
- Probably a status symbol to some extent. And some people are so rich they will spend a lot more for very slight, incremental improvements. For them, the difference between $5k and $15k might be more like $5 and $15 for an average person.
- Because they can afford it and want to have top end carbon, dura-ace, etc.
  Do you need it ? No! Does it feel good to ride? Hell yeah!
- now I feel like a dick comparing it to the price of my car
  I don't think its an unfair comparison. There's simply nothing that you can do to a bicycle that will make it more complex or difficult to manufacture than the most bare bones automobile. So it is a bit crazy that folks can charge $15k for a fancy frame and tire set, when an extra ton of precision engineered material costs the same.
  At some level, it just feels like gouging. A good bicycle should be the sort of thing anyone can afford, not a luxury good reserved for wealthy hobbyists.
- I once asked a friend of mine why he spends £90 on fancy branded T-shirts and a £1500 watch.
  He said it was so he didn't have to walk down the street and see somebody else wearing one.
  So it's mostly that. It's not $15k of bike. It's $15k of wanting to have something nice other bike people will see and think "that's a nice bike".
- Someone who spends 10k+ on a bike is probably fit as fuck, so biking 10s of miles to get somewhere is nothing, plus you can take it on the train. New bottom bracket every couple years, maybe 200 in tyres, maybe 100 in brake parts. Cost of getting around, it only takes a few years to pay for itself even at those prices when you add on the actual costs of running a car, saying all this as someone who drives. If you don't need to move a bunch of stuff or other people around, in terms of transport cost even an expensive bike is cheap of you use it.

look guys! I can leave my unguarded outside in a dictatorial police state!
Eh, sure? Great?
- Pretty sure it's because Singapore is notoriously harsh on crime.
  
  Im baffled youre confused, this clearly isnt a direct quote of anyone. This style of reframing a statement to emphasize a specific aspect you want to draw attention to while making clear who made the original statement isnt new.

It might have a tracker.
- You have to be very brave to keep your 15k bike with an airtag only
  
  In Singapore?
  Not in Singapore, but I see a lot of people in my area doing this. I've always wondered how the unafraid part works when the bike is obviously over $5k.
  
  Where you wanna go after stealing it?
- Unfortunately wouldn't deter anyone where I live... addicts will flip that for $20 within an hour, and go get their drug fix, before the owner even has a chance to catch the thief
  Even worse are the organized criminals driving around in SUVs looking for high end bicycles, a good few videos of them all over xitter sadly, brazen enough to follow people home and rob them in their driveway
  
  What country is this, so that I never travel there?
  
  Yet people complain when Singapore has death penalty for drugs 🤔

I've left my bike like this for 50 seconds total in the 25 years I've had it - and I had to chase it down to get it back.

Reminds me of my first weeks in Japan....
I took my Kona Private Jake with me (nowhere near that bike, but $2-3k) which I would expect to be gone in an instant in the UK. I kept placed my bike on the balcony of the monthly apartment in Roppongi, which was only on the 2nd floor, and would check it at night as I thought someone would nick it
This shortly progressed to leaving it outside when going to the conbini, etc
- I love how you casually slipped in the word "conbini" as if it were English, lol
  
  conbiniens storu

$1,500 bike blocking access to the coffee shop window and the beer kegs.
Edit: I have been corrected, the bike is $15K. Thanks u/pacoboyd!
- *$15,000
  https://epic-cycles.com/products/dogma-f-disc-dura-ace-di2?variant=41682009489455¤cy=USD&srsltid=AfmBOoqoiGdKEeWPjmKGueoCpT9IDfFEvgXJulGU_wN3euYAxJAl8_TQGWg
- Yeah, I was thinking this was a mispost and the intended community was supposed to be "fuckbikes" since this ahole is blocking a to go order window that patrons will use.

I'd much prefer bicycles be affordable.
- I got one for $20 at a garage sale and worked ok until the tires gave out and I haven't gotten around to changing them yet. But I don't need high performance tires or anything since I just bike around the neighborhood, so that will be what, another $50? Bikes are cheap if you don't care if they're brand new.
  
  Finding one that's the right size can sometimes feel like you won the lottery.
- They are, but that is a halo product
  
  Certainly has a product placement feel to it.

I thought the title was an exaggeration but nope

- 5 years for being gay.
- Beats the American system where they put 30 rounds into your back for lunging at them while smoking a joint.
- Should be a lot more... theft should not be tolerated and severely punished

Can do too, Germany, the nicer part of the city here. Left my car with open windows in the summer, with my stuff in it, over night, nothing. Wouldn't do it in the northern city though. My seats would've been gone.
- I'll raise that by the time I left my car window open for 4 days in a semi big German town. After police couldn't get ahold of me, a neighbour covered it himself with plastic so the inside wouldn't get wet.
- Reminds me of when my friend moved to Las Vegas, the shitty side of town, not the strip. And on the first day he had every wheel stolen off of his car when he stepped in a store for a couple of minutes.
  
  Is your friend Clark W. Griswold?

Much like how Vlad the impaler would leave the golden chalice in the city square, daring anyone to take it...

Not my kind of bike personally, but damn that looks nice 😍 the matt black one in the back looks hella stealthy too

This needed a trigger warning, I'm having heart palpitations 😵‍💫

I heard that owning a car in Singapore is very expensive, even for the cheap model. Leaving the money for a better bicycle seems legit

Is that a hardwood sidewalk??

It's my dream to ever be well enough off to be able to spend 15k on anything, let alone a bike.

This must be one of those AI pictures

Holy shit, a 15k bike?! It better be electric.

Ah yes, people commenting how much Singapore is a facist/police state. Can't have nice thing, eh?
- genuinely curious here: are you saying that we should just ignore that part because people can leave expensive bikes unattended?
  
  What part am I ignoring here, exactly?
- When i went to Singapore people told me how bad it is and you're not even allowed to throw trash on the street and might get to jail for spitting your chewing gum on the street. Sooooo, you're saying I'm perfectly fine in that nice city then?
  
  If your motivation of traveling is to litter, than it's best that you fuck off and stay home.
  
  I mean your examples are trashy things to do in the first place. If you're traveling to other countries and your main fear is "am I allowed to litter here" then it's best you stay home.
  Singapore has a lot of intense laws, and they enforce everything fairly strictly. That being said, almost every country has littering laws, just because they're not enforced doesn't mean you should litter.
- Speaking of not having a nice thing...
  Possession or consumption [of cannabis] can result in a maximum of 10 years in prison, with a possible fine of $20,000, as well as caning, under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Trafficking, import or export of more than 500 grams may result in the death penalty.
  As we say her in the USA, let the punishment fit the crime. There's a Star Trek episode where Wesley gets sentenced to death for walking on the grass or something like that... Singapore is basically that.