Halfords Apollo bikes

Tosh said:

Hi I know halfords own brand don't get a great press but
can anyone tell me anything about the Apollo Enduro 1000,
spec, build quility etc. Thanks Tosh

Made by bikes france same people as made the crosstrack last
year, not a very good bike really but the choice is yours

Me

Quoted message said:

Hi I know halfords own brand don't get a great press but
can anyone tell me anything about the Apollo Enduro 1000,
spec, build quility etc. Thanks Tosh

H*lf*rds is not the place to actually buy a bike willingly.
It's fine for basics such as h*lm*ts, basic lights, puncture
kits... but I'd never ever buy a bike there again. Quality
control - naff. Knowledge of staff - naff. Got the offspring
a *basic* MTB there to use as a bike for the school run.
Lots of problems, several return visits & exchange of bike -
even me, a non-techhie, could see the large gaps in
knowledge of the sales guy when it came to bikes. I cannot
recommend them as a place from which to buy a bike in
confidence.

Cheers, helen s

--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get
correct one remove fame & fortune
h*$el*$$e*nd**$o$ts**i*$*$m*m$o*n*s@$*a$o*l.c**$om$

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is switched off--

Tosh said:

I know halfords own brand don't get a great press but can
anyone tell me anything about the Apollo Enduro 1000,
spec, build quility etc.

Riding home from an errand on Sunday I saw an acquaintance
pushing a bike along the pavement. I pulled in, joked they
work better if you ride them, and he pointed at the
handlebars, which had come off a couple of days after
purchase. I don't know what particular model it was, but it
was an Apollo, and he was just on his way to Halfords to
"suggest" they gave him his money back.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext.
33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177
Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

I know halfords own brand don't get a great press but can
anyone tell me anything about the Apollo Enduro 1000,
spec, build quility etc.

At the end of the day you get what you pay for. None of the
Apollo range can claim to be well specced when compared
against the equivalent model from other well known
manufacturers. Apollo bikes tend to be heavy and use lower
grade components. You'd be better off spending the money on
a good second hand bike.

Having said that, I am more than happy with my Carerra
(another Halfords own brand) Kraken SE mountain bike which
has served me well and meets my modest off-road needs. My
only criticism of it was the use of a Suntour chainset which
wore out a tad too fast for my liking.

The quality of service at Halfords is variable from
branch to branch and indeed within a single branch. I've
been served by some very knowledgeable assistants and
some real idiots.

My local bike shop in Leeds, Woodrups gets a fair amount of
my trade because of the continuity of service and the build
up of customer/proprietor relationship that can make all the
difference when asking for trivial information, favours and
discounts. I've never been disappointed with the service at
Woodrups though no doubt there will be some disgruntled
costomers out there.

Have you considered a local bike shop?

If you are looking for s/h bikes you could do worse than use
www.upmystreet.co.uk which compiles the small adds from
local newspapers and presents them via its web site. I've
had some real bargains from the site.....

A well cared for Dawes Galaxy @£200 A virtually mint
Ridgeback Chro-mo framed hybrid at £70 or £80...can't
remember the price I used when justifying the purchase to my
wife :-) A brand new Raleigh R100 road bike for £160 A free
- yes free! Raeight Equipe road bike Another Raleigh road
bike @ £25

Look around, you are certain to get a better deal with
s/h bikes.

Vernon in Leeds

Tosh said:

Hi I know halfords own brand don't get a great press but
can anyone tell me anything about the Apollo Enduro 1000,
spec, build quility etc. Thanks Tosh

One thing you need to remember is that Apollo Is Ownbrand
but Apollo itself does not have a factory, nor does carrera,
Top end Apollo's and New carreras are made now by tradestar,
That enduro is made by a french brand, other apollos made by
different companies.

Cheers

Michael

dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers said:

Knowledge of staff - naff.

Not strictly true there helen what would you like to know?
Try coming in to my store i think you'll have a pleasant
surprise lol.

The problem we get is no one over 25 will apply, so you end
up with either a youngster who knows a lot about bikes but
could sell water to a desert nomad, or a good salesman who
has no bike knowledge. Arghhhh

You need to view each separate bikehut as exactly that
separate. I know for a fact that the local (proper) riders
much prefer our shop to the LBS, they didnt even know there
was such a thing as a crown race extraction tool.

My mechanic is a downhiller, with a custom built kona
stinky, I have both a custom built full sus and a road
racing bike, I have two part time staff both trials riders
and also a bmxer. Ok so the part timers are young and have
not much customer service experiance but they know there
stuff about bikes.

All im saying is dont put us all in one box. If you have a
bad time with one LBS GT dealer does that mean that all GT
bikes are bad, no. Does it mean that all GT dealers are
[censored], no. Please dont stereotype us.

Cheers and sorry for the rant

Michael

vernon levy said:

Quoted message said:

I know halfords own brand don't get a great press but can
anyone tell me anything about the Apollo Enduro 1000,
spec, build quility etc.

At the end of the day you get what you pay for. None of
the Apollo range can claim to be well specced when
compared against the equivalent model from other well
known manufacturers. Apollo bikes tend to be heavy and use
lower grade components. You'd be better off spending the
money on a good second hand bike.

Having said that, I am more than happy with my Carerra
(another Halfords own brand) Kraken SE mountain bike which
has served me well and meets my modest off-road needs. My
only criticism of it was the use of a Suntour chainset
which wore out a tad too fast for my liking.

The bike you have was made in the same factory by the same
people as the GT brand of bikes.

Quoted message said:

The quality of service at Halfords is variable from
branch to branch and indeed within a single branch. I've
been served by some very knowledgeable assistants and
some real idiots.

This is the problem.

Cheers Michael

"vernon levy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The quality of service at Halfords is variable from branch
to branch and indeed within a single branch. I've been
served by some very

knowledgeable

Quoted message said:

assistants and some real idiots.

So Halfords is just like a proper bike shop then? :-)

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says... <snipped - rant>

Just so that people know. Where is your store?

Jon

"Michael" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

All im saying is dont put us all in one box. If you have a
bad time with one LBS GT dealer does that mean that all GT
bikes are bad, no. Does it mean that all GT dealers are
[censored], no. Please dont stereotype us.

Very true. Up until recently, here in Harlow, we had a very
knowledgable and keen young man[1] that made the LBS in the
town centre look [censored]. My friend used to take his
DeKerf/SID in for a service every now and then and got a
thoroughly good job done for next to nothing. Pretty much
they'll charge for parts and nothing else.
[1] - Used to race BMXs.

Michael said:

Quoted message said:

The quality of service at Halfords is variable from
branch to branch and indeed within a single branch. I've
been served by some very knowledgeable assistants and
some real idiots.

This is the problem.

Whis is no different to using LBSs.

John B

"Michael" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The problem we get is no one over 25 will apply, so you
end up with either a youngster who knows a lot about bikes
but could sell water to a desert nomad, or a good salesman
who has no bike knowledge. Arghhhh

To be fair to Halfords, I got my Raleigh hybrid there in 01
and I still commute on it even now. Wasn't bothered about
after sales etc as I can do most adjustments myself. Just
wanted the convenience of picking up a bike at a decent
price. Stock loads of useful stuff at useful hours and I
use our 2 local ones quite a lot as I can get car and bike
gear in the same store. The other evening at 2000 got touch
up paint for bike, oil for car, car detergent and bike
inner tube and the staff are very pleasant.
--

Simon M.

Jon Senior said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says... <snipped - rant>

Just so that people know. Where is your store?

Jon

Trowbridge, I've just taken over the bikehut but have been
working there for two years.

Cheers Michael

vernon levy said:

If you are looking for s/h bikes you could do worse than
use www.upmystreet.co.uk which compiles the small adds
from local newspapers and presents them via its web site.
I've had some real bargains from the site.....

Also consider (if it hasn't already taken place, and if
you're local enough) Oxted cycle fair : the year that Khanh
and I went, there were well over 200 2nd-hand cycles for
sale, and we picked up her Peugeot and my Sakae-Ringyo for
very reasonable prices indeed.

** Phil.

dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers said:

Alas, I can only go off my experience of local branches.
Certainly the staff are *willing* but lackign in ability
and quality control of stock is, IME *dreadful*

Staff? Your local Halfwits has /staff?/ You lot don't know
you're born!

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. chapmancentral.co.ukchapmancentral.co.ukOpen ↗

Victory is ours! Down with Eric the Half A Brain!

"JohnB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Michael said:

Quoted message said:

The quality of service at Halfords is variable from
branch to branch

and

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

indeed within a single branch. I've been served by
some very

knowledgeable

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

assistants and some real idiots.

This is the problem.

Whis is no different to using LBSs.

Great minds think alike, but sometimes seven minutes
apart....

Quoted message said:

Subject: Re: Halfords Apollo bikes
From: [email hidden] (dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers)
Date: 29/04/2004 07:40 GMT Daylight Time
Message-id: <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Hi I know halfords own brand don't get a great press but
can anyone tell me anything about the Apollo Enduro 1000,
spec, build quility etc. Thanks Tosh

H*lf*rds is not the place to actually buy a bike willingly.
It's fine for basics such as h*lm*ts, basic lights,
puncture kits... but I'd never ever buy a bike there again.
Quality control - naff. Knowledge of staff - naff. Got the
offspring a *basic* MTB there to use as a bike for the
school run. Lots of problems, several return visits &
exchange of bike - even me, a non-techhie, could see the
large gaps in knowledge of the sales guy when it came to
bikes. I cannot recommend them as a place from which to buy
a bike in confidence.

Cheers, helen s

I would like to put in a good word for the Halfords chap in
Dover - he's helpful, friendly, and allowing for the fact
that I dunno a lot about bikes (yet), he has been as
knowledgeable as I've needed him to be.

He's given me a lot of free advice regarding my Argos bike
(Jeep) & even gave me a spare c-spanner that I needed!

It's obviously gonna depend on the store although I would've
have thought that an organisation as large as Halfords would
ensure there was a minimum level of competence.

Regards,

Jorolat

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism
members.aol.comTEM.htmlOpen ↗

'Where Darwin meets Lamarck?' Discussion Egroup
groups.yahoo.comevomechOpen ↗

in message <[email hidden]>, oujamaflip

(') said:

Tosh said:

Hi I know halfords own brand don't get a great press but
can anyone tell me anything about the Apollo Enduro 1000,
spec, build quility etc.

Made by bikes france same people as made the crosstrack
last year, not a very good bike really but the choice
is yours

OK, OK, I know it's easy to be snobbish about Halfords bikes
when you can afford something better. I'm sure I have been
in the past and I'm sure I will be again in the future.

When I was 16 I bought a yellow Apollo something or other
and rode it from Lockerbie to Cheltenham, as well as using
it as my everyday transport around Edinburgh. It went all
right and I had a lot of fun on
it. Later when I was a research student I bought another, a
gold and orange thing which, with a bike hod on the back
carrying my camping and fieldwork equipment, took me all
over the country doing fieldwork.

These days I have a choice of much nicer bikes, but it
has to be said that as utilitarian workhorses the Apollos
did all right and got me about, and I even had a lot of
fun on them.

Having said that, if you can get to Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op
you'll get somethign much better for not a lot more.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke)
jasmine.org.uk~simonOpen ↗

[ This mind intentionally left blank ]

Quoted message said:

I would like to put in a good word for the Halfords chap
in Dover - he's helpful, friendly, and allowing for the
fact that I dunno a lot about bikes (yet), he has been as
knowledgeable as I've needed him to be.

He's given me a lot of free advice regarding my Argos bike
(Jeep) & even gave me a spare c-spanner that I needed!

It's obviously gonna depend on the store although I
would've have thought that an organisation as large as
Halfords would ensure there was a minimum level of
competence.

Unfortunatley bikehut staff turnover is pretty high mainly
because of uni, as I've said no one over 25 really aplies so
when september comes you lose the staff.

Cheers

Michael