Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

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rangersac
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby rangersac » Thu Jun 22, 2017 12:50 pm

Incorrectly advertised, surely this is a V? A touch too big for me otherwise I'd be taking a squizz.
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singlespeedscott
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby singlespeedscott » Thu Jun 22, 2017 4:47 pm

rangersac wrote:Incorrectly advertised, surely this is a V? A touch too big for me otherwise I'd be taking a squizz.
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dros
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby dros » Wed Jun 28, 2017 6:16 pm

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP ... lnQlkxTTZ3

Pics of the competitor , forks I believe to be unoriginal . Anybody familiar with this era bike?

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singlespeedscott
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby singlespeedscott » Wed Jun 28, 2017 9:42 pm

dros wrote:https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP ... lnQlkxTTZ3

Pics of the competitor , forks I believe to be unoriginal . Anybody familiar with this era bike?
Looks like an early 1990-91 model. Tange Prestige is pretty flash for a 105 equipped bike. I think the original fork was a unicrown.
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby dros » Thu Jun 29, 2017 9:24 am

Hey thanks for the input .

http://teamdalby.blogspot.com.au/2006_0 ... chive.html

Interesting article of a late 80's apollo. Tubing used on this bike looks like ishwata 019 , and a mismatch of 105/600 parts .

The 1050 set on my competitor is dated 87-88 for production and the araya 1w are an early aero style 700c clincher . I have a repco eurosport tri-a with the same 1050 group , rims are of the lower spec single walled araya. The frame is infinity and fork is a lugged tange 8d 660grams. Centurion was the other player for the wildly coloured era bikes of same period in aus.

The stickers on this era of apollo's are vinyl and the design/font appears to have been run for only a short period.
Now Apollo , please , where are all of your old catalogues!

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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby Kermit TF » Tue Jul 04, 2017 9:28 pm

Ok munga, pics as requested.. Crappiest pics you will ever get, no apologise , it was minus 8 when I went to my shed. There a gaggle of Vs, the VI, the grey one is a 3.5 and under the bed sheet is a concours black IV.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2fi84icih8xxc ... M.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a33xfx6e1d872 ... M.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4rk24ealjjz30 ... M.jpg?dl=0
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby singlespeedscott » Wed Jul 05, 2017 9:24 am

Kermit TF wrote:Ok munga, pics as requested.. Crappiest pics you will ever get, no apologise , it was minus 8 when I went to my shed. There a gaggle of Vs, the VI, the grey one is a 3.5 and under the bed sheet is a concours black IV.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2fi84icih8xxc ... M.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a33xfx6e1d872 ... M.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4rk24ealjjz30 ... M.jpg?dl=0
A nice quiver of Apollo's there Kermit. It's strange how your VI is equiped the same as my V but the fork is not as nicely built as mine even though tubing is better.
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby scgc » Fri Jul 14, 2017 6:40 pm

Hi, I recently purchased this one and cant seem to find out exactly what it is. It has a model sticker of 'access', sunjoy accushift shifters, sakae handlebar, star brakes, unfortunately the brand name has worn of the derailleur. Sorry I couldn't bring any more information there wasnt much branding on this one at all.

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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby jroles » Sun Aug 20, 2017 11:15 pm

I am wondering whether one of my bikes might be an Apollo V or VI. It has been re-spray painted at some point. The serial number is 0609687, the group is mainly Suntour Superbe and it seems to have some details similar to a VI. It also has Superbe Dropouts. Some more pictures here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/79445062@ ... res/q4F4r2
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slidetaker
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby slidetaker » Mon Sep 04, 2017 1:45 pm

morini wrote:Good question about the numbers. I re-read this whole thread before posting and some one made the comment that there were 2 runs of them and they used both tube types, Ishiwata/Tange. Maybe they're confusing the Superbe spec'd V, like Scott's, with the small run of VI's? I don't know what to think but I'm tending to believe the Apollo guy. He was late 50's, career industry type, an ex bicycle racer so he might have know something.
The telling factor is that there are hardly any of them around and I've only ever seen the Ishiwata/Superbe versions on here. All of us are pretty ferocious hunters of this era of bikes so surely we'd notice one somewhere if it popped up. Or the others are at the bottom of the tip!
My count is 4. Mine, Mungas small one, another guy who has some brilliant pictures of his one on here that he bought new for $1100 and he even raced it and QuangVuong's friend's bike.

Six to find? Sounds hard but Koen, on here, has just found one of his holy grail so maybe we'll locate them yet.
I have a Apollo VI, 83 built marked bottom of seat tube, made in Osaka, Tange Champion No. 2 tubing. 26.8 seatpost size. Pretty sure some Apollo V were made with Champion No. 1 tubing, larger seat post size than 26.8.

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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby Ajd » Thu Sep 28, 2017 6:03 pm

Apollo jaguar special edition? Just picked up this bike and was wondering if it is with restoring/selling. Was my father in laws. As far as date goes I can find a 71 and a 62 stamped on Frame.

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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby practicalfool » Sat Jan 13, 2018 11:31 am

I need help to ID this apollo I picked up, so I can fix her.

Guessing it is not a super fancy model. Looks to be a 1984. Serial number 84 6 11405.

Sticker says built with 012 hi-tension tubes and forks. KCL Japan.

Has a 6 speed shimano altus rear derailleur. Single speed front crank. Stem mounted shifter.

Has one of those wide handlebars with a small rise - called a vintage ladies handlebar apparently.

Any ideas what this could be?

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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby find_bruce » Mon Feb 05, 2018 7:32 pm

Sounds like a vintage ladies bike. Hi-tensile & altus is fairly low range, but with a little bit of care & attention should be a perfectly acceptable ride.

What size wheels does it have ?

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uart
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby uart » Tue Feb 06, 2018 12:13 pm

Imagine if some day that someone invented a machine that you could just point at something, and press a button, and it would capture an exact image of that thing.

Imagine how much better all of the "can you identify this …" type of threads would be! Call me a crazy wide eyed dreamer, but honestly I believe that one day it’s going to happen. Perhaps not in my lifetime, but eventually. ;)

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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby uart » Tue Feb 06, 2018 4:20 pm

Sorry for above sarcasm. I just think people could help a lot more if there were images. So many of these posts just get left unanswered without them.
practicalfool wrote: Sticker says built with 012 hi-tension tubes and forks. KCL Japan.
Are you sure it isn't 1021 hi-ten tubing. I've got an old Apollo with 1020 tubing, which is basically just plain low carbon steel. I'm not sure what the difference between 1020 and 1021 is, probably not much, but I do recalling seeing it before.
https://www.sae.org/standards/content/j2467_200802/

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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby uart » Sat Mar 17, 2018 1:06 am

I picked this old bike up a few weeks ago just to pinch the forks. Wanted them to replace the very slightly damaged ones on my old beater, which is also a fairly low end Apollo (Clipper). The white forks (not shown) looked to be totally identical.

Now just wondering about this frame, has anyone even heard of an "Apollo Access"? It looks like another lowish end 90's model. They sure seemed to have a lot of different names for their models in the 90's. Absolutely no idea where this one fits, can't even find a single reference to an "Apollo Access" anywhere on line.

And what the heck is this "Race Series Tubing"? I'm guessing it's just some kind of hi-ten or something, otherwise I'm sure it would say chome moly. At least it's not a super thick heavy tubing though - not particularly light weight, but reasonably thin and certainly not real heavy.

Not sure what it is, but it's a nice frame size for me at 61cm ST (center to top). So now I'm thinking it might be worth fixing up as a beater. Its stripped down here while I checked the frame for alignment, but it's complete with forks and components. Does anyone have any idea about this model?

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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Sat Mar 17, 2018 2:28 am

uart wrote:I picked this old bike up a few weeks ago just to pinch the forks. Wanted them to replace the very slightly damaged ones on my old beater, which is also a fairly low end Apollo (Clipper). The white forks (not shown) looked to be totally identical.

Now just wondering about this frame, has anyone even heard of an "Apollo Access"? It looks like another lowish end 90's model. They sure seemed to have a lot of different names for their models in the 90's. Absolutely no idea where this one fits, can't even find a single reference to an "Apollo Access" anywhere on line.

And what the heck is this "Race Series Tubing"? I'm guessing it's just some kind of hi-ten or something, otherwise I'm sure it would say chome moly. At least it's not a super thick heavy tubing though - not particularly light weight, but reasonably thin and certainly not real heavy.

Not sure what it is, but it's a nice frame size for me at 61cm ST (center to top). So now I'm thinking it might be worth fixing up as a beater. Its stripped down here while I checked the frame for alignment, but it's complete with forks and components. Does anyone have any idea about this model?

Image
Have vaguely heard of, but never seen. May have just seen the name in a catalogue back in the late 80s / early 90s. Is around the Eclipse level, a step up from Jaguar and I think may even be the SunTour version of the Eclipse which had various iterations of Shimano Exage. A decent frame, but again, can't admit or recall as ever having seen one in the metal.
Campagnolo for show, SunTour for go

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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby uart » Sat Mar 17, 2018 2:32 pm

10speedsemiracer wrote: Have vaguely heard of, but never seen. May have just seen the name in a catalogue back in the late 80s / early 90s. Is around the Eclipse level, a step up from Jaguar and I think may even be the SunTour version of the Eclipse which had various iterations of Shimano Exage. A decent frame, but again, can't admit or recall as ever having seen one in the metal.
Thanks for the info 10speed. I found a date code under the saddle: mm-yy is 07-90. So early 90s sounds about right for the bike.

The components look like the usual collection of low-middle end stuff from the era.

- Araya 27 x 1 1/4 alloy rims on steel hubs (bearings all seem smooth). Quick release front and rear.
- SR Sakae square taper alloy cranks, but with non removable pressed steel chainrings.
- Alloy brakes (with quick release) and alloy levers.
- Alloy stem with "pretend" alloy bars (steel bars with alloy sleeve).
- Shimano "Tourney" front and rear derailleurs (RD-TY20 FD-TY20). Low end pressed steel stuff, but quite functional in my experience.
- Steel seatpost with those crappy side clamp thingys.
- Viscount saddle. (seems reasonably comfortable with a nice pliable shell).
- Very basic looking plastic coated shifters.
- Basic looking plastic pedals, but complete with toe clips and straps.
- And here's the kicker (um - literally), a lightweight alloy kick stand. :)

The components probably place it just above the real low end stuff, but not all that far.

TBH I was going to throw everything but the forks, because the frame had taken a ding on one of the rear seatstays and the components are all blobs of mediocrity. The ding on the stay straightened out a bit easier than expected, so now I'm considering rebuilding it as the "new" beater. Mainly just because the frame is quite a nice size for me at 58cm TT (c-c) and nearly 62 cm ST (c-t). Plenty of space/mount points for racks/guards and super relaxed geometry at nearly 106 cm wheelbase. :shock: Might even have been a low end touring model.

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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Sat Mar 17, 2018 3:54 pm

uart wrote: Thanks for the info 10speed. I found a date code under the saddle: mm-yy is 07-90. So early 90s sounds about right for the bike.

The components look like the usual collection of low-middle end stuff from the era.

- Araya 27 x 1 1/4 alloy rims on steel hubs (bearings all seem smooth). Quick release front and rear.
- SR Sakae square taper alloy cranks, but with non removable pressed steel chainrings.
- Alloy brakes (with quick release) and alloy levers.
- Alloy stem with "pretend" alloy bars (steel bars with alloy sleeve).
- Shimano "Tourney" front and rear derailleurs (RD-TY20 FD-TY20). Low end pressed steel stuff, but quite functional in my experience.
- Steel seatpost with those crappy side clamp thingys.
- Viscount saddle. (seems reasonably comfortable with a nice pliable shell).
- Very basic looking plastic coated shifters.
- Basic looking plastic pedals, but complete with toe clips and straps.
- And here's the kicker (um - literally), a lightweight alloy kick stand. :)

The components probably place it just above the real low end stuff, but not all that far.

TBH I was going to throw everything but the forks, because the frame had taken a ding on one of the rear seatstays and the components are all blobs of mediocrity. The ding on the stay straightened out a bit easier than expected, so now I'm considering rebuilding it as the "new" beater. Mainly just because the frame is quite a nice size for me at 58cm TT (c-c) and nearly 62 cm ST (c-t). Plenty of space/mount points for racks/guards and super relaxed geometry at nearly 106 cm wheelbase. :shock: Might even have been a low end touring model.
It is distinctly possible that the Tourney stuff was fitted afterward, as I recall the Access in a catalogue with SunTour bits. Perhaps someone has sold off the SunTour bits for $s and fitted bargain-basement Shimano Tourney, although for the life of me I can't remember which SunTour group it would have had.
Campagnolo for show, SunTour for go

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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby uart » Sat Mar 17, 2018 3:58 pm

Photos of the bike with components.

1. The bike in context. Nice loooong wheelbase.
Image

2. A ragtag mixed bag of early 90s mediocrity.
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3. Interesting toe clip wear pattern (identical on both pedals).
Image

I thought that the last photo was kind of interesting. Like an archeologist looking over uncovered artifacts and asking the question, "what can the wear marks on these ancient tools tell us about the primitives who used them?

When I saw intact toe clips on this bike the first thing it seemed to be telling me was that this bike was ridden by a "real" cyclist. But then on closer inspection I noticed that the upper nylon part was completely worn through from abrasion - symmetrically on both pedals. It took me a few minutes to figure it out an then it finally hit me, the numpty previous owner rode it extensively with the pedals upside down and the clips a scrape scrape a scraping down the road. :lol:

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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby uart » Sat Mar 17, 2018 4:16 pm

10speedsemiracer wrote: It is distinctly possible that the Tourney stuff was fitted afterward, as I recall the Access in a catalogue with SunTour bits. Perhaps someone has sold off the SunTour bits for $s and fitted bargain-basement Shimano Tourney, although for the life of me I can't remember which SunTour group it would have had.
Nah, I think this bike is mostly original equipment. It seems that even removing the toe clips (that he wasn't using and hence ridding with the pedals upside down) was a bit too much effort for this one's previous owner. ;) I highly doubt that they would have done anything regarding mixing and matching parts.

Also (just visible in the top first photo) is a sticker reading "12 Speed SIS System" on the seat tube, and another reading "HYPERGLIDE" on the drive side chainstay. I'm pretty sure that these were both Shimano logos, and they are definitely original stickers (their design, colour and fonts precisely match the "Access" and "Apollo" stickers).

Perhaps either an earlier or a later incarnation of this model sported Suntour gear?

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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Sat Mar 17, 2018 10:31 pm

uart wrote:
10speedsemiracer wrote: It is distinctly possible that the Tourney stuff was fitted afterward, as I recall the Access in a catalogue with SunTour bits. Perhaps someone has sold off the SunTour bits for $s and fitted bargain-basement Shimano Tourney, although for the life of me I can't remember which SunTour group it would have had.
Nah, I think this bike is mostly original equipment. It seems that even removing the toe clips (that he wasn't using and hence ridding with the pedals upside down) was a bit too much effort for this one's previous owner. ;) I highly doubt that they would have done anything regarding mixing and matching parts.

Also (just visible in the top first photo) is a sticker reading "12 Speed SIS System" on the seat tube, and another reading "HYPERGLIDE" on the drive side chainstay. I'm pretty sure that these were both Shimano logos, and they are definitely original stickers (their design, colour and fonts precisely match the "Access" and "Apollo" stickers).

Perhaps either an earlier or a later incarnation of this model sported Suntour gear?
Yeah that would put paid to the SunTour thing. Never mind, still a decent frame, fit it up with 2x7, some nice Arayas and 28s, and enjoy.
Campagnolo for show, SunTour for go

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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby uart » Sun Apr 08, 2018 6:15 pm

Here is the old damaged Apollo Access cleaned up a bit and back on the road.

The original wheels would clean up alright but I don't really need any more 27" wheels at the moment so I've left them for now. The wheels installed are an old mismatched set that I had spare. The rest is mostly original except that I found a slightly longer stem and a set of alloys bars and seat post in my old parts bin, which has no doubt cut down the weight a little bit.

I've taken it for a few spins now and TBH I was surprised how nicely this bike rides considering that one of the seat stays had been really badly walloped and needed to be pounded straight. The frame size is fairly large at ST 62cm CT (or 60cm CC) and TT 58cm CC (needed to use a Zefal 4 frame pump to fit). Weight is 11.4 kg as pictured (but without the pump and bottle), though I expect the original weight as purchased would have been another kg or so heavier.

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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby 1madgerman » Sun Apr 08, 2018 6:53 pm

Hi new here looking to buy this does anyone know what year it is so I can find some more specs on it?
Apollo Summit is all I have.
https://ibb.co/dVoDnH

sorry I can't insert the image you will have to click on the link.

Thanks in advance

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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread

Postby find_bruce » Sun Apr 08, 2018 8:39 pm

1madgerman wrote:Hi new here looking to buy this does anyone know what year it is so I can find some more specs on it?
Apollo Summit is all I have.
https://ibb.co/dVoDnH

sorry I can't insert the image you will have to click on the link.

Thanks in advance
Using the image tags takes a bit of getting used to. Right click on the image, copy image location, paste in tags ie

Code: Select all

[img]https://image.ibb.co/f2Pm7H/29541317_10155030065961792_3987406147226422234_n.jpg[/img]
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