Apollo bike from Halfords

robrymond

Reading some of the posts on here, I seem to have made a bit of a boo-boo. I picked up this bike from Halfords:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 08956#dtab

I also got 10% off the sale price for being a student so I had it for £170. I'm going to be using my bike for a few rides on the Peak District, off and on-road, some of the trails and the canal. I wanted something cheap with a quick release wheel which this has.

However is it really that bad? I don't want to go out riding if it's going to be awful, as I can always take it back as it is.

Any thoughts?

blablablacksheep

i had appoll abiys seemed very simular, tbh heres my thoughts:

the bike itself is VERY VERY heavy, i mean, it a bitch to carry over a gate or fence.

the quality of the bike is pretty poor, and found the gearset VERY poor, and had near impossible time going hill routes.

though quality of the building on mine was terrible, 3 take backs it depends which and where you shop in halfords i beleive, enfield was terrible.


good:

the breaks worked. and it very fast for a suspen bike on road, i did 15 mph a few times quite well.

you said peak district, i did a load of hikes there for soem chanlanges and terrian wise the bike will die, if you take it "off the beaten track"

best advise if you use bike keep it on pavements or if you dare go off road try keep it realitive easy routes nothin to bumpy or the forks will break like mine and mates did.

nothin over 1 foot or very rooty.

sorrry for this horrid review but me and 3 mates had appolls during our school days and was terrible off road.

still yor might be different maybe.

johnnyrotten

Hey, the important thing is, it's a BIKE. If you get bitten by the bug, you'll WANT to buy something better. Sell a kidney or something!

Golden rules of mountain bike buying?
1- Research!
2- Never buy a cheap full suss, buy a hardtail and get better value for money.
3- Resarch
4- You get what you pay for.....

Above all, enjoy!

europeandy

dont like to be negative but if you can take it back I would. there's better out there for the cash and bikes are one area worth spending a bit more on- you'll enjoy it a lot more.

xtreem

The good bikes start from £250.

noodleman

If you kept it for 6 months or so and decided you like cycling you could then upgrade and really appreciate the difference a more expensive bike would make. I know its not the best for the money, but to be honest your not going to get much for that sort of cash. Some folk go straight out and buy a really expensive bike straight away and don't really appreciate or know how to get the best out of it as they never cut their biking teeth on anything nearer the bottom end of the range.
You may still want to take it back but as i said, i think you will need to spend a bit more to get a competent bike.

blister pus

If you can get it back to Halfords get it back and exchange it for a Vulcan (What Hardtail Sticky Thread - Buying Advice Forum ).

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499

It's £250 but right now there's 20% off bringing it down to £200, If you need a bike now at a similar price I'd go that route or get to a Decathlon store and look at the Rockrider.

wordnumb

Although it's fair to say that this forum is going to be biased toward the higher end of the bike market, people telling you that you shouldn't buy a full suspension bike for under a grand etc, fact is: that ain't a good bike.

The rear shock on a decent full suspension bike costs more than that Apollo. That should give you an idea of the quality of its construction.

So yeah, I'd add my voice to those above. Take it back if you can and get a hardtail. For under £500 you shouldn't be looking for fancy bits and pieces, you want a basic bike that is as light as possible and which won't fall apart.

deadliest

My first bike was an Apollo which i used for commuting 6 miles a day, Sadly it died after 4 months bits kept falling off the gears would not change and it weighed more than the wife's car, Take it back and look at some of the better hardtails they have.

This far better and 20% off too when added to the basket.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_208956

BoardinBob

Be very careful. Someone I know bought a full susser Apollo from Halfords that had a warning sticker on the frame advising that it wasn't for off road use :shock:

schmako

Surely they can't advertise Apollo's as bikes, as they are just a few pieces of metal badly put together in the hope that they are going to function. (which they never do) They should advertise them as the all new: "cheap frame, cheap components and cheap sales service. Built to last you 1 ride, which will be impossible to do due to your new heap weighing a ton and falling apart when you get round the corner from halfords"

If only everyone knew this before they took the plunge, I would love to see a world without apollos.

As you can tell I really hate that brand.

Raymondavalon

The hatred of, and bad experiences with the Apollo brand shouldn't be taken into consideration.

Cycling is a strange sport, some people drive into it with fat wallets and buy all an singing, all dancing MTB with all the bells and whistles. That bike gets used on asphalt and the forest type roads a few times then ends up gathering dust in the garage or shed as the buyer found out that cycling wasn't quite his/her thing

Someone else buys an "El Cheapo" brand bike on a shoestring budget. The owner likes cycling and rides the bike regularly. As capable as it is on the road, it's just not cut out for anything ambitious as far as off road goes, so then comes the upgrade - after the bug has bitten - and a justified upgrade at that.

The Apollo's spec isn't that bad (or good) but it's a cost effective step into the world of MTB'ing and should you not like the sport, then you've not wasted too much money. If you like the sport, but don't like the (Apollo) bike, then upgrade and you'll be astounded by the difference a good bike can make

That's my view on the purchase anyway.. :¬P

supersonic

Far better bikes for that cash though.

blablablacksheep

the main thing with a cheap bike id try and get is a relative good frame at least you can upgrade as you begin to like biking.

getting a apollo frame is tbh not a good idea as the frame limits you a lot and it so heavy i swear you will cry when trying to take it uphill.

good frame then the rest can be extra as you enjoy more,

supersonic

Have to be wary of the Halfords false inflated RRP too - £420??!!!

I think there should be a law on the misrepresnetation of the true value.

Furbes

We don't have the Apollo Brand over here (at least not in the Branches i've been in) , What is their Carrera Brand like ? Are they any good :?:

TwoWheelDrift

There are much worse than Apollo for sale .. you could have gone for this instead:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499

The FS.26 SE is incredibly heavy, I almost pop a hernia lifting it into the stand for assembly. You'll get in shape quickly if youre tackling hills with that for definate. Take it back if you can, and go for the Carrera Vulcan V-spec if at all possible. the difference in quality compared to the difference in price is worth it alone.

@ Furbes: the Carrera range are pretty good actually, very good value.

deadliest

supersonic wrote:

Have to be wary of the Halfords false inflated RRP too - £420??!!!

I think there should be a law on the misrepresnetation of the true value.

I thought the exact same thing, There has to be a law against it.

robrymond

I'm literrally a casual user and won't be tackling real big rocky paths and stuff. My bike before was old and it did the job, nothing fancy but I used to ride it now and again on distance stuff usually on country lanes.

I noticed it was heavy despite the 'light frame' as described. This alternative, does it have the quick release wheel and is it fiddly because it has V-brakes, at least with the disc it's just a quick lineup and slot it in place.

Potentially at £199.99 with 10% discount, I can get it down to £179, which is 9 quid more than the apollo.

TwoWheelDrift

it has got QR wheels, and the V brakes are decent quality tektro so there isnt a lot of adjustment needed. certainly less adjustment is needed then on the unbranded disc brakes on the apollo, which generally come with pre-warped discs for your convenience.

wordnumb

Robrymond - there's nothing wrong with V brakes, I have them on several of my bikes and they haven't ever stopped me from stopping. They are far easier to adjust and maintain than cheap disc brakes - which don't necessarily stay lined up and are often difficult to find replacement pads for.

blister pus

You get the best bike you can for the money. A better quality v-brake set up is going to be preferable to a built down to a price disc set up and a lot less hassle keeping set up correctly long term. Don't know whether the discount will be available on top of the 20% already off the Vulcan but you certainly go for it.

robrymond

I had discount on top of the sale price for the Apollo, so I may consider changing it. I might give them a call tomorrow.

geordiefreerider

The Apollo FS.26 SE Mens dual Suspension Mountain Bike is a rugged bike with a lightweight 7005 Series Aluminium bike Frame and front and rear suspension. I laughed my a*s off when I read this - rugged !!!!

stumpyjon

TwoWheelDrift wrote:

There are much worse than Apollo for sale .. you could have gone for this instead:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499

That's so ironic, it even has the word outrage on the frame Now that is a fair description of the bike :twisted: .

The Northern Monkey

stumpyjon wrote:

TwoWheelDrift wrote:

There are much worse than Apollo for sale .. you could have gone for this instead:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499

That's so ironic, it even has the word outrage on the frame Now that is a fair description of the bike :twisted: .

HaHa!! someone has a very good sense of humour!

Daz555

supersonic wrote:

Have to be wary of the Halfords false inflated RRP too - £420??!!!

I think there should be a law on the misrepresnetation of the true value.

Big chains like Halfords find it easy to do this and remain legal - all they have to do is have the bike for sale at an inflated price at a small number of their stores and then they can later 'discount' it at all their stores in the future. It is a dishonest practice that should be stamped out.

geordiefreerider

Yeah and they probably sell the rrp ones in remote places like norfolk, where a bicycle is relatively new technology so the populace are happy to pay that kind of money for something that has wheels on

greenphotos

BoardinBob wrote:

Be very careful. Someone I know bought a full susser Apollo from Halfords that had a warning sticker on the frame advising that it wasn't for off road use :shock:

I had an old Apollo Rampage, now used by my wife. Yes the bike was heavy, but it worked for what I needed at the time. Spose it helps I got it for free...

Mark

soy_sauce

my girlfriend has her Apollo HT bike for a really long time (about 8-9 years) and it still work well. i was using her bike for commuting before i finally got my bike via my work C2W scheme.

the Apollo bike my girlfriend has, the model is Fenzy. it is a heavy bike but i didn't realise how heavy it really was during that month of commuting with it as i never had a bicycle before.

as others already pointed out that it def not for prop off-road but it is fine for fire-road and on road cycling.

robrymond

Did a 16 mile ride on it today down the Manifold Valley. I can't decide if it's me being unfit or the bike, but it seemed more difficult going despite it being relatively flat.

Also on the way back there was a nagging rubbing/squeaking sound but I couldn't work out what from, but certainly enough to piss me off.

The brakes were good, gears seemed a bit strange compared to my old bike and the wheel removal is nice and simple. But do I need to bed the bike in more or perhaps change the wheels for smaller ones?

I had a look at that other bike suggested in Halfords, and it didn't seem much lighter.