Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
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Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby Paddles » Mon Feb 21, 2011 10:21 pm
and my 1980 Apollo IV 27" 12 speed
A brace of Apollo's finest working class tar burners for 1980. I've gotta figure out how to post photos without cutting the end off.
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby brokenbus » Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:43 pm
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby Paddles » Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:11 am
I figured that if there's a Repco appreciation thread then why not an Apollo one too.
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby rkelsen » Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:55 am
I have 2 Apollos, and they're both workhorses.
Got this one as a Christmas present to myself to use as a commuter:
http://www.apollobikes.com/bikes11/commuter/gamma-nexus
So far I've done a bit over 800km on it.
The other one is a late 1980s ('87 I think) Vitesse which I picked up as a bare frame from CERES for $10 last April. It was purple, so I had to rattle-can it black. I put all of the bits from the broken Shogun on it (mostly Shimano 400ex), and it has been great. It's done about 3,050km since April with minimal trouble. Our camera is broken, so I haven't got any pics, unfortunately.
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby penseleit » Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:59 am
Here is a pic before the flat bar conversion. Only difference is a flat handlebar and caliper brake levers to suit and an old-fashioned 6 speed stem shifter:
I left the down tube shifter for the front derailleur, cos I don't want to buy a new front derailleur suitable for a flat bar shifter.
I use it for commuting to work.
It rides brilliantly. I have a friend I ride with who has a brand new Kona and my old Concorde might be a bit older, but it rides just as fast, changes gears just about as smoothly and is very comfortable to boot.
All for just $30 from the local tip plus some spit and polish.
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby Paddles » Tue Feb 22, 2011 1:32 pm
My IV was a $20 ebay buy that came without cranks. It was supposed to be my project over christmas to turn it into a single speed. I simply couldn't bring myself to pull it apart so scored some 600 Arabesque cranks off single speed scott, stripped, serviced and rebuilt everything, got new bearings, tyres, tubes, bar tape and hoods on and started riding it. It's come in at well under $150 and rides beautifully.
I then needed something to be my 27" single speed and discovered the III on ebay for $30, it was completely original but the bars were bent. I installed new wheels, seat, bars/tape, brake levers, and also some dodgy caliper brakes from the late 70's early 80's to make a nice solid ride bike. I tried it with flat bars for a bit and then installed some Sakae drop bars. The tyres on this one are 27x1-3/8 as a bit of an experiment. The decals are a bit tatty and there's the scratches and marks you'd expect for a 30 year old bike that's been thrashed around Redcliffe (still had the Hoffy Cycles sticker), but like the IV, this bike rides beautifully as well.
I've serviced and stored the derailleurs and shifters from the III so I can return it to being geared at some stage and have bought uniglide hubsets and clusters with the 125mm spacing to keep them on the road for at least my lifetime.
Refurbishing these two clunkers kept me sane through the rain this christmas.
Nothing like the feel of steel ............
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby spirito » Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:16 pm
Cranky Jim wrote: God did not invent gears. Men invented gears ... because we are not gods.
- hazmat5765
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby hazmat5765 » Tue Feb 22, 2011 5:06 pm
Dead right mate!rkelsen wrote:This thread is way overdue.
This posting of mine is a bit dated (approx. 20 months) - http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewt ... 23&t=16236 - but it's a good old Apollo. I will take some up to date pics of it and post them here.
Rob.
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby randyandy4 » Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:15 pm
Paddles - love your III wanna swap? Its just like mine but in much better condition. Heres mine, i bought it for 50:
and a ladies frame ive been building up:
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby ldrcycles » Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:28 pm
spirito wrote:I reconfigured and cleaned up an old Apollo for a mate of mine to commute on. Wasn't a bad bike, and my dog was there to inspect my work.
Is that a very small frame or a HUGE dog?! lol.
A mate gave me an early 90s Concorde with full 400EX exage a while back, only rode it once because it was way too small for me but OH it was the smoothest road bike in the world! Would love to find another one in my size just to feel that sweet ride again.
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby spirito » Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:54 pm
55x56cm frame ... 52kg dogldrcycles wrote:
Is that a very small frame or a HUGE dog?! lol.
Cranky Jim wrote: God did not invent gears. Men invented gears ... because we are not gods.
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby familyguy » Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:27 pm
Randyandy: needs non-aero levers, but still looks the business as is, nice find.
Jim
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby Paddles » Tue Feb 22, 2011 11:31 pm
your machine would make an uber cool commuter or travel bike
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby Ferrovelo » Tue Feb 22, 2011 11:51 pm
Not sure true Apollo fans will be to excited, but it did get a new lease on life.
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby penseleit » Wed Feb 23, 2011 9:40 am
so give us the details then.
Hi-Ten or Cro-Mo frame?
Which parts did you keep from the original bike and which are new?
Original stem, headset, seatpost, crankset, bottom bracket?
Did you do a rattle-can DIY paint job or powder coat?
Are there more pics/info in the Fixed Gear Forum?
I want to put together a single speed bike for my son, who won't ride his old mountain bike to school 'cos all the other bikes in the bike rack are BMX bikes.
(Peer pressure, oh yeah I remember that)
If he has a shiny single speed, he might set a new trend in the small country town we live in.
From my limited experience, Apollo frames seem as good as any for a single speed platform.
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby Paddles » Wed Feb 23, 2011 9:44 am
How did you set up that rear hub, is that the original steel hub with a bmx freewheel on it? Actually, looking at it a bit closer, is that a brake hub? That's even groovier. They still look like 27" wheels too, great work!
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby Ferrovelo » Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:21 am
plus some 'new' bars (cut back from an old MTB bars I had), and an old seat from another bike that I recovered with some new white vinyl.
Everything else is original.
The idea was to make it as clean as possible, no cables etc, so everything that could be was removed from the frame, cable guides and stops, mud guard eyelets, etc
The frame was powder coated black, then I added the white to the lugs and a clear coat over the top of it all.
27†Alloy arayas, handle bars (and a fixed read hub that I didn’t end up using) were powder coated white.
Some more before and after picture pairs below and some more pics of the finished bike here: http://img193.imageshack.us/g/p1090080w.jpg/
. . . .
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby hazmat5765 » Thu Feb 24, 2011 2:25 pm
-1991 Apollo Concorde.
Cheers, Rob.
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby Alistair » Fri Feb 25, 2011 11:15 am
Crap picture, and it has brifters on it now.
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby brokenbus » Fri Feb 25, 2011 2:52 pm
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby champ76 » Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:58 am
"Paddles" nice Naish SUP board in the background mate. I have one as well but the wood grain model.....Great fun!
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby Lark2004 » Sun Feb 27, 2011 1:22 pm
How I got it from the Tip shop. A rather neglected Apollo III.
After a bit of TLC, she road really nice. Nothing fancy on the running gear, it had Shimano Tourney centerpull brakes, and Shimano Altus LT shifters and derailleurs, with Super Maxy cranks.
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby Paddles » Sun Feb 27, 2011 2:22 pm
that's a nice apollo III lark, for what they were intended to be (a budget tourer), i reckon the III was a great machine. i made sure i kept all of my deraileurs when i single speeded mine.
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Re: Apollophiles - The Apollo Appreciation Thread
Postby justD » Sun Feb 27, 2011 2:51 pm
carry on then
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