1988 Apollo Concorde refresh

[im_no_pro]

Got to spend a little time in the man cave tonight... end result: functioning bike!

Still got some work to do but it's running. Rebuilt the front wheel with new spokes, left the rear as is (didnt have spokes for the drive side). Shifted pretty nicely off the bat but still needs a little fine tuning, true the front wheel, clean the pedals up and fix up a spot on the saddle that has come apart. Waiting on lever hoods to make their way over from the states then I can get the cockpit finished. Pretty happy with it so far for my first rebuild, even more disappointed now its too big (which I forgot about in my excitement to get on it, let's just say im glad I already have a child ) Will probably end up owing me more than I get for it, but that wasnt the point of the exercise anyways...

Snapped a quick phone pic. Yeah I know its not in the big ring, the rear wheel isnt straight and it was too dark to use the garage door as a backdrop

[im_no_pro]

Aaaand..... She's done. Took it for a bit of a spin around the block and she rides quite nice. Just a shame it's so big. Pretty happy with how it ended up, learnt a lot. Now its time to move her on and look for something a little more size appropriate. Hopefully I can at least break even, ended up dropping a bit more into it than planned

[QuangVuong]

So the 1055 hoods fit well?

It's looking good, and very clean. Add some lens flare and it'll go for 500-1500!

[im_no_pro]

Hoods fit perfect, only difference is external aesthetics. Cheers for the heads up.

[jax83]

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread. I was doing some googling on a bike I have, and it looks to be the one you posted about here, at least according to the serial number on the frame (P3987142)!

https://imgur.com/a/Vxep4Ag

Thought I'd let you it's still going strong, and still being used a lot. You did a great job on the refresh too by the way!

[find_bruce]

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread. I was doing some googling on a bike I have, and it looks to be the one you posted about here, at least according to the serial number on the frame (P3987142)!

https://imgur.com/a/Vxep4Ag

Thought I'd let you it's still going strong, and still being used a lot. You did a great job on the refresh too by the way!

Nice! With imgur, right click on the image and copy the image link

Code: Select all

[img]https://i.imgur.com/Z2J7Lkw.jpeg[/img]

gives you

[TopSide]

Not as confident on the 1989 date now, checked the date codes on some of the running gear and it was manufactured in 1990. Serial #P9387142 is stamped on the underside of the downtube at the base near the BB. Cant seem to find any info about Apollo serial #'s though other than the Kuwahara built ones which apparently had serial #'s on the base of the seat tube starting with 2 digits that indicated the year of manufacture. Guess I'll have to settle for knowing approximately how old it is and thats about it.

The serial number is from Pacific Cycles of Taiwan. The first digit "9" is for the year of frame manufacture, 1989.

So the model year of the bicycle is 1989 or 1990.

The splatter paint job is very 1990ish. Many brand names did this in that year.

[myermano]

x2 apologies for commenting so long after the original post, however, your build is quite similar to one i am currently working on (Concorde 1980s frame) turning a frame i picked up into a fixie.
My question is about the bearings you used on the headset, i went to a local bike store and the guy (filling me in on my somewhat scant knowledge) informed me that the bike needed pin bearings (instead of ball), and that getting ones which fit would require some digging around.
I am wondering how you approached this and what headset/bearing set you used?

Cheers!

[uart]

the guy (filling me in on my somewhat scant knowledge) informed me that the bike needed pin bearings (instead of ball), and that getting ones which fit would require some digging around.

They're called "needle roller" (or often just roller) bearings, and they're generally stronger than regular ball bearings because they spread the load over a larger area. Sorry I don't have any info on where to get replacement caged rollers, but just wondering what's the condition of the existing ones. Is just cleaning them up an option?

x2 apologies for commenting so long after the original post,

Ooh, I think you're gonna have to make that at least an "x3 apology" if you're talking about making old bikes into fixies in this forum.

[rkelsen]

x2 apologies for commenting so long after the original post, however, your build is quite similar to one i am currently working on (Concorde 1980s frame) turning a frame i picked up into a fixie.

Yeah, what the previous guy said.

The rear ends on geared vs fixed bikes are differently spaced. Converting a geared bike to fixed is not trivial.

Single speed is a different matter, if that's what you're talking about.

[Stovepipe]

Thread re-dig!
@im_no_pro if you had to guess, what's the biggest tyre these frames could fit? Seeing if appropriate for a gravel bike

[warthog1]

Looking at the clearance (or lack thereof) on the fork crown, brake bridge and seat post I would say no.

[uart]

what's the biggest tyre these frames could fit? Seeing if appropriate for a gravel bike

The one I restored might not be exactly the same vintage as the one in the op, but it's very similar, and the maximum tyre size was 25c, so not suitable for gravel. The max tyre size on mine was limited by the rear brake stay, and even with 25c it was pretty tight.

The thing I usually find with old steel bikes is that it's the low to mid range bikes that usually have all the tyre clearance. That low/mid range stuff was often fitted with 27x1 1/4 inch tyres, and in 700c they'll often go to 38c pretty easily. The problem of course is that the lower end stuff was usually fairly plain steel (not CroMo) so not particularly light, but I have set up a few old steelies like that for touring or gravel and despite the very plain steel they're often quite nice to ride.

With higher end stuff that was more marketed to racers, the clearances are often pretty tight, especially by the late 80s and 90s.

[im_no_pro]

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread. I was doing some googling on a bike I have, and it looks to be the one you posted about here, at least according to the serial number on the frame (P3987142)!

https://imgur.com/a/Vxep4Ag

Thought I'd let you it's still going strong, and still being used a lot. You did a great job on the refresh too by the way!

So clearly im (years) behind on catching up on posts, but wow! I'd say that's definitely it. Glad to hear it is/was serving you well.

Thread re-dig!
@im_no_pro if you had to guess, what's the biggest tyre these frames could fit? Seeing if appropriate for a gravel bike

Eek.... that's really digging into the memory bank. The fact that the original pics are gone unless I fork cash over to photobucket doesnt help, but i'd second above comments that it probably wasn't gravel tyre appropriate from memory.