Is this a good bike?

IamtheWalrus

Hi all,

I plan to start cycling 3 miles to work. I am considering buying this bike. Do any of you know if this is a good deal? I know it's entry level but my distance is only 3 miles.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_762395_langId_-1_categoryId_165534

Any suggestions are welcome.
Walrus

tampopo

it looks okay, but how come bikes nowadays don't have horizontal crossbars?

how're you going to get your mrs. home???

wholly impractical. (for me)

makre sure it's big enough. I'm looking for a new bike. I'm very tall. I'm sick of squeezing onto too small frames.

IamtheWalrus

I'm 6' so I'm buying a 21.

The only bump I could think of.

petethedrummer

Apollo have a poor reputation and are built with shoddy parts. They're at the better end of BSO's but they're still BSO's (That's bicycle shaped object). It's better than a Trax or a Jeep but that wouldn't be difficult.

A few mechanics and previous owners on here have had bad experiences with them. IIRC someone had the handlebars come loose going down hill.

It should do 6 miles a day, but I wouldn't expect to get any joy out of the experience.

Tonyandthewhale

Most bikes should survive 3 miles a day if you don't abuse it completely but at the same time I wouldn't be surprised if it fell apart on you. For 200 beans you can't garauntee quality. It does at least fulfill the first rule of cheap bikes in that it's fairly simple and doesn't have useless suspension or disc brakes which are never going to work at that price point so I'd buy it ahead of most of the crappy mountain bikes you see at that price-point.

Mr. Grieves

Somebody mentioned this the other day:http://www.sportsdirect.com/muddyfox-phatsta-city-bike-933042

Don't think you'd do better for the price.

IamtheWalrus

Mr. Grieves wrote: »

Somebody mentioned this the other day:http://www.sportsdirect.com/muddyfox-phatsta-city-bike-933042

Don't think you'd do better for the price.

Looks good but only 3 gears and no mud guards...

kenmc

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

Looks good but only 3 gears and no mud guards...

You're only going 3 miles! You can put mudguards on yourself, it's easy.

IamtheWalrus

kenmc wrote: »

You're only going 3 miles! You can put mudguards on yourself, it's easy.

Yes, my daily commute is 3 miles each way but someday I may go for a long bike ride. Not often but i still want the option.

Mr. Grieves

I agree you should have mudguards for commuting. Use the cash you save to get a nice pair.

As for 3 speeds - you only need 1 speed for 3 miles! And it's a hub gear, so should need next to no maintenance.

Tonyandthewhale

I agree that a 3 speed sturmey archer hub is better than the crappy tourney derailleur gears on the apollo but I still think you can do better than the muddyfox for 399£ (that's 450e). I'm not sure from the pics if it even has rack mounts.

IamtheWalrus

Tonyandthewhale wrote: »

I agree that a 3 speed sturmey archer hub is better than the crappy tourney derailleur gears on the apollo but I still think you can do better than the muddyfox for 399£ (that's 450e). I'm not sure from the pics if it even has rack mounts.

It's down to 150. That make a difference?

kenmc

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

Yes, my daily commute is 3 miles each way but someday I may go for a long bike ride. Not often but i still want the option.

Then you should really spend a bit more and get a better bike if you're going to go for a long ride.

IamtheWalrus

Ok. Can any of you recommend a good valued bike at £400 max?

Nate--IRL--

The Carrera Subway 1 is a very decent bike for the money.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_551273_langId_-1_categoryId_165534

Nate

IamtheWalrus

Nate--IRL-- wrote: »

The Carrera Subway 1 is a very decent bike for the money.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_551273_langId_-1_categoryId_165534

Nate

Does anyone agree with this?

kenmc

It's a slightly better bike. The problem with buying bikes from Halfords is that the quality of assembly and service is generally poor. If you know what you're doing, that's not an issue. But it doesn't really sound like you do.

happytramp

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

Does anyone agree with this?

Yes, worth the extra £30. Have you tried looking at gumtree, adverts.ie, donedeal etc?? You may find something pretty good secondhand at that price.

CianRyan

I bought a proper road bike for €450 with new tyres and a full service thrown in.
I use it for 60-70km rides and for short trips to the shops and that.
In this price range second hand is the way to go, in my opinion anyway.

IamtheWalrus

I agree with the second hand approach but I would have no idea if i'm buying a dud. The seller could tell me ET 'rode' it to the moon and I'd believe him.

CianRyan

When I started looking I didn't know a whole lot either, best bet is to get down to your local bike shop and ask them about bikes and see if they have anything second hand in stock.

A lot of places can take trade ins against new bikes so they're left with secOnd hand bikes that would have once cost over a grand being sold for ~€400. Find a clean one in your s

CianRyan

When I started looking I didn't know a whole lot either, best bet is to get down to your local bike shop and ask them about bikes and see if they have anything second hand in stock.

A lot of places can take trade ins against new bikes so they're left with secOnd hand bikes that would have once cost over a grand being sold for ~€400. Find a clean one in your size and you're laughing!

IamtheWalrus

I went into Evans Cycles to price and came out with the model below. Bike (£314), helmet and lock came to £380GBP. The sales guy seemed to be knowledgeable so I went for it.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/scott/sportster-60-2011-hybrid-bike-ec025472?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=froogle&utm_campaign=froogle

studiorat

That doesn't strike me as particularly good value tbh.

The Carrera subway would be better value IMO.

kenmc

studiorat wrote: »

That doesn't strike me as particularly good value tbh.

The Carrera subway would be better value IMO.

Yeah but if you factor in peace-of-mind then it works out better than the halfords lottery and the carrera.

studiorat

Is Halfords really as bad as that though?

Regarding piece of mind, I've had work done by some of the 'serious' shops around the place and I've plenty of times found the quality of the work lacking. Bearings not re-packed properly, slippy cables, crank bolts... A few years ago one of the really 'big' shops gave me my bike back with gouges out of the tubing where they'd trapped the cables in the work stand. It ended up with them insisting I knew nothing about bikes and it was like that before I gave it to them, barring taking them to court I simply had to take the hit. Perhaps they take more care with the 4 grand race machines, I dunno.

That said I've a pretty good rapport with my LBS these days, but that's taken time and money, I digress...

Anyway, perhaps the trick is to get the Halfords chap to go through the PDI with you, not just sign it. Get him to tell you what each part means and check it with you there.

Nate--IRL--

kenmc wrote: »

Yeah but if you factor in peace-of-mind then it works out better than the halfords lottery and the carrera.

I'll be honest, I wouldn't let them assemble it either. But then it was hardy rocket science to do it myself. 30 mins max, and then I knew it was done properly.

Oh and for the feint of heart there are illustrations.

Nate

bedirect

try and buy a light bike, it is easier to cycle, also think or repairs, your local bike shop may have better back up service