Apollo CX 10S. What do you think?

[salmon]

Just wanted to get opinions on the Apollo CX 10S bike. I bought one
but have been reading some of the earlier posts which don't seem to
rate Apollo very highly. The price was my main factor due to being on
a limited budget and concerns about it being stolen anyway in London.
Overall it seems to be quite well built and looks fairly sturdy. It
will only get light/medium usage. Road and Towpaths. The other bikes
available were all very nice but to be honest apart from the price
they looked a little bit over-engineered for my needs and looked like
thief magnets. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Rob Morley]

In article <85f7ddce-9ea8-461e-9b38-f11098cec996
@j28g2000hsj.googlegroups.com>, salmon
[email protected] says...
> Just wanted to get opinions on the Apollo CX 10S bike. I bought one
> but have been reading some of the earlier posts which don't seem to
> rate Apollo very highly. The price was my main factor due to being on
> a limited budget and concerns about it being stolen anyway in London.
> Overall it seems to be quite well built and looks fairly sturdy. It
> will only get light/medium usage. Road and Towpaths. The other bikes
> available were all very nice but to be honest apart from the price
> they looked a little bit over-engineered for my needs and looked like
> thief magnets. Your thoughts would be appreciated.
>
It's hard to tell from the description on Halford's website, but it
doesn't seem too bad - alloy frame, alloy brakes, rigid forks. The
cheapest Apollos are steel and plastic, and a bit nasty, but as nasty
steel and plastic bikes go I don't think they're the worst ever made.
Yours looks to be a step up from that - the lack of suspension is a
definite plus as far as weight and ride are concerned. Did you get the
package deal with lights, lock and pump?
As for avoiding thief magnets, I think you made a good choice.

 

[MJP]

"salmon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:85f7ddce-9ea8-461e-9b38-f11098cec996@j28g2000hsj.googlegroups.com...
> Just wanted to get opinions on the Apollo CX 10S bike. I bought one
> but have been reading some of the earlier posts which don't seem to
> rate Apollo very highly. The price was my main factor due to being on
> a limited budget and concerns about it being stolen anyway in London.
> Overall it seems to be quite well built and looks fairly sturdy. It
> will only get light/medium usage. Road and Towpaths. The other bikes
> available were all very nice but to be honest apart from the price
> they looked a little bit over-engineered for my needs and looked like
> thief magnets. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Whilst no expert on this bike, can I make a few suggestions.
If you have the necessary technical skills or know someone who has, check
that the bike has been set up correctly as I have seen a brand new bike from
Halfords with the following faults.

1. Front fork installed back to front.
2. Brakes incorrectly set up with the brake blocks too high and rubbing on
the tyre.
3. Brake blocks set too low.
4. Derailleurs incorectly set.

MJP


1.

 

[Simon Brooke]

salmon wrote:

> Just wanted to get opinions on the Apollo CX 10S bike. I bought one
> but have been reading some of the earlier posts which don't seem to
> rate Apollo very highly. The price was my main factor due to being on
> a limited budget and concerns about it being stolen anyway in London.
> Overall it seems to be quite well built and looks fairly sturdy. It
> will only get light/medium usage. Road and Towpaths. The other bikes
> available were all very nice but to be honest apart from the price
> they looked a little bit over-engineered for my needs and looked like
> thief magnets. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Apollo tend to be at the cheap end of cheerful; Halfords these days seem to
put the 'Carrera' brand name on their slightly-better own-brand bikes.
However, they're a mixed bag and some Apollos are OK. I put about 30,000
miles onto an Apollo about twenty-five years ago, and when I replaced it it
wasn't because the bike was dead, it was because I could afford something
better.

I really can't tell enough from the description on Halfords website -
Shimano make transmission components in all qualities from utter shite to
really good, and without specifying what level of Shimano the transmission
is it really tells you nothing. Similarly with aluminium frames - the best
are good and the worst are awful.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

IMHO, there aren't enough committed Christians, but that's care
in the community for you. -- Ben Evans