Poorly assembled Apollo Flamme

spbidiot

Recently I brought a Apollo Flamme for commuting and found that the factory assembled it didn't put the put the crowning race in the headset. (the part which make sure the fork stays in place) Which I found to be a very dangerious mistake from them to make, and quite disappointing.

Here are some pictures.

Serial of the bike (also note the cheap ass BB Apollo uses)


The lower crownrace missing



Howmuch the Canecreek label got scratched



How much the fork moves in the headtube (note the white C on the front)






Two things of note is that the rim is Alex X 1000 (single WALL )
not the Weinmann ZAC-19 Double Wall advertised, and the stem is not
the adjustable type bu a fixed one (I am ok with the stem since i can change it easily and the quality seems OK). (Maybe last year's model???)

The hubs are Joy-tech



(here is the long story)

Trying to to get a cheap commuter bike to get around I got an Apollo Flamme recently. So i got one thats on sale for 170 dollars. The bike was factory semi-assembled.

The first impression was that the handlebar was way too wide (Lee-Chi made 620mm flatbar) and the initial test ride was interesting with a stiff ride from the rear triangle but the front wheel/fork combination seems very well damped and comfortable. The cable routings were poor, and the weight is darn heavy for its setup (similar setups from Trek/Merida/Fuji/Scott/Giant are lighter by about 1.5Kg, which is in line with Apollo's raceline series) with 12.6Kg measured by the bike shop. The 700x32C tires were as narrow as the Detonator 28c ones though, with no brand on it but looks like Cheng-shin's. The pedals by VP is very poor and something a few cent more should have been fitted.


The geometry is interesting with something in between a MTB and a true RB. But for commuting it was ok, and so i rode the bike to my dorm. (The Bikeshop which sold this is about 200km from my dorm) The ride was a little bumpy due to the frame and road condition but at least its quite speedy.

Now after a day of none riding, I took it to the local mountains to do some climbing (on road that is). Again the front seems a bit soft which actually made it more comfortable.

However on the way back down I felt something is funny. With every break to the front wheel the frok wobbles in the head tube. So I thought that the things weren't properly tightened and so i stopped and retighten the upper seal. However this didn't fix the issue and finally i decide to ride home slowly with only the rear break.

After I got home with some inspection I found that the
VP-A71 Headset it uses was missing the
http://www.vpcomponents.com/headset_show.asp?pid=31


leftmost and right most pieces, and thus the wobble.

alfeng

The bike is what it is & spec'd with whatever components are on it [specs change] ...

You should blame the bike shop for poor prep.

matagi

Where did you get the bike? If it came from a bike shop, that is the sort of stuff they should check before handing the bike over.

spbidiot

I am not complaining about the spec and such. But i put at least part of the blame on Apollo because the assembly of headset part is their job. The shop should have caught this though.

spbidiot

Yamazaki Bike.

And yes thats the sort of stuff they should have checked. They didn't caught it probabily because its both uncommon and they didn't want to spend time on "cheap" bikes.

caferacerwanabe

Crikey a bargain for 170 bucks ... that's about 2 months of coffee stops for the average cyclist on here .
If it was sold in a box for half its retail value obviously you have no recourse with the manufacturer because it would have clearly stated on the box & on numerous swingtags that it should be assembled by a qualified bike mechanic who would have either rectified the problem or returned it to the manufacturer.

spbidiot

well thats how much i spend on food for 1/2 year here. different purchasing power. And no it was not sold to me in a box. It was sold to the shop 90% assembled in a box and no the box got no swingtags saying those.


The boxs here usually looks like
(this is someone else's bike)

mattyb

From my experiences that seems really odd. I have an Apollo Enduro (raceline series) and I know many people with Apollo bikes. None have had any sort of issue.

You should take it back to the store.

caferacerwanabe

this is getting stranger ?

A bike designed & made for the Aus/Nz market in China but still in Asia, unless you know the real story behind the bike you might find it was rejected by quality control & sold cheap to a local dealer to fix up and sell.

alfeng

Okay, at this point you have to weigh your options ...

• Take the bike back (granted it is a VERY LONG distance & great inconvenience) & have them "fix" it
• OR, if you can be off your bike for a bit, buy a BETTER headset (e.g., Cane Creek, FSA) and install it (yourself?) ...
• OR, take it back and you pay the shop the difference (wholesale price -- get a sense of how much that would be by checking the going sales price on eBay auctions & estimate accordingly -- $25, max, should cover it) of a better (known brand, as mentioned) headset that they would install LABOR FREE.
• have the shop send you a COMPLETE new (but, same) headset which you install ... the missing components won't be enough since you don't know if ANY (probably not) damage has occurred. The bigger concern is with possible damage to the headtube (it is good that you notice the problem EARLY ... but, who knows if any damage occurred?!?).
• OR, __________?___________.

FWIW. While your bike may have been inexpensive, it is probably those bikes that keep most bike shops in business, so it would be wise of them to spend the time to ensure that they are properly prepped OTHERWISE there is no reason not to buy an economically-priced bike from a department OR big-box store.