An Apollo Voyager Bicycle

[Wester]

I have been looking at an Apollo Voyager Alloy Hybrid Bike that Halfords have on offer for £160 which is something like half the normal price

it is a lightweight bike which would suit me fine for my commute to work is it a bargin at that price or not . Would you go for it yes or no ? . What are the pros and cons of this bike ?

Your advice please

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

My view is that realistically £160 is what that bike is worth rather than it being a bargain. Halfords have quite frequent sales so I doubt many people have bought it at the claimed £319.99 "full price".

Points I notice from the spec:

• 14kg isn't especially light for an alloy framed bike.
• Low end components - steel hubs & seat post for example.
• 24-34-42 tooth chainset with a 14-28 tooth freewheel. Good if you have lots of hills to climb but on the low side for fast cruising.
• SRAM MRX shifters - I like SRAM shifters so this is a plus point.

I won't say don't buy it, but please don't think you are getting a huge bargain as this will not be as good as a genuine £320 bike from a big name brand.

 

[festival]

Its very easy to rubbish halfords so I will refrain and be objective, It is a fact they regularly inflate bike prices to make it seem a big saving at 'sale' time.
Anyone in the know will tell you it is only worth about £160, and the 'normal' price is cleverly positioned through the year to legally enable them to promote bikes as 'half price' etc at regular intervals.
As for the term 'lightweight' this has no legal standing and means nothing, its not lightweight and although the name suggests it is a space craft, it is not either.
You say it "would suit you fine" but to be frank how would you know? Everything in your post shouts "I don't know anything about bikes".
Sorry to be blunt, if you have a short commute of say, 3 miles, £160 is your limit and you have a low expectation of what you get from a bike then fair enough but don't expect much at that price.
My advice, spend £300, from a good bike shop having got good advice from them and enjoy the ride.

 

[HovR]

I echo what the above posters have said about the Halfords 'sales'. As an Example the Carrera TDF from Halfords normally sits at around £320, during October they raised it to £500 for a very short while, and have now lowered it down to £300 claiming a £200 saving, when realistically it's only around £20 off the usual price.

You could do worse at that price point, but on the other hand the components on that bike won't be of the best quality. You'll probably find that parts such as wheel bearings, bottom brackets, cheap derailleurs etc will wear out fairly quickly, requiring you to spend money to get the bike working again - Making the low price not as low as it would originally seem!

For only a little more you could do much better. For example, the Carrera Subway Ltd Edition, for only £40 more at £200, would be a higher quality bike with better quality components.

You could also consider buying second hand.

 

[MrJamie]

I think in that price range Decathlon's entry level bikes are pretty decent value. I'd definitely stretch that extra £40 to the Carrera Subway though, lots of good reviews of it iirc. You said you already have an Apollo though?

As already said Halfords sale prices are misleading (like many other big retailers), youd get that price 90% of the time, its definitely not £320 of bike.

 

[sheddy]

How far is your commute ?

 

[Wester]

How far is your commute ?

A return commute of about 13 miles through busy London traffic

 

[subaqua]

A return commute of about 13 miles through busy London traffic

then get yourself to surrey quays decathlon and get a really good bike.

 

[ianrauk]

To be honest that Apollo is awful and so not what you need for your commute through London.
I would echo what others have said, get a Subway Carrera (They make for excellent commute bikes, decent component's and pretty much bombproof).. or get down to Decathlon and have a look at their range.

 

[AnythingButVanilla]

I bought the Apollo Etienne two and a half years ago for £200 in the "sale" and it's fine for commuting on the flat but I'm stumped when it comes to hills or going anywhere fast as it weighs a ton before I put a basket or panniers on it. Save your money and buy something a bit better and a lot lighter.

 

[musa]

question is which I don't think has been asked from others or yourself, is do you plan to commute 5 days a week or whatever your work routine is like. or is it more 2 days a week the rest by transport

once you answer that yourself, your budget should move accordingly

 

[Kins]

With money tight loads of bargains to be had for many things on gumtree, ebay etc if you don't mind trawling through pages. Not just bikes.

 

[Steve79]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I have just bought an Apollo Voyager for £140 from Halford and reading this has slightly worried me!

I fully admit I know nothing about bikes. To summarise I am 33 years old and physically very fit, through a combination of football and running, but until today I hadn’t ridden a bike since I was 13.

I bought the Apollo Voyager so I can cycle from my house to the station, around 2.5miles, to catch the train to my work, and then do the same journey home. So all in all I will be doing about 5 miles a day, probably four times a week. The journey is quite flat and not too taxing.

To be honest I didn’t want to spend more than about £200 on this bike, as:

A) I might get fed up with the cycling and go back to driving straight to work as I used to do (although I hasten to add I am determined not to let this happen!)​

B) As I said this is my first bike in 20 years and I don’t intend using it for more than a straightforward journey to the station at the moment. This might change in the future, and if it does I will look at spending a bit more.​

Have I made a real mistake in buying this bike? I may graduate onto something better in around 6 months or so, and if I do I will choose it much more carefully and go to somewhere like Decathlon, not Halfords!

Also my dad is considering getting a bike for short journeys, so in six months or so I could always pass this down to him (he is 72, so I don’t think he will be going too far on it!)

 

[ianrauk]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I have just bought an Apollo Voyager for £140 from Halford and reading this has slightly worried me!

I fully admit I know nothing about bikes. To summarise I am 33 years old and physically very fit, through a combination of football and running, but until today I hadn’t ridden a bike since I was 13.

I bought the Apollo Voyager so I can cycle from my house to the station, around 2.5miles, to catch the train to my work, and then do the same journey home. So all in all I will be doing about 5 miles a day, probably four times a week. The journey is quite flat and not too taxing.

To be honest I didn’t want to spend more than about £200 on this bike, as:

A) I might get fed up with the cycling and go back to driving straight to work as I used to do (although I hasten to add I am determined not to let this happen!)​

B) As I said this is my first bike in 20 years and I don’t intend using it for more than a straightforward journey to the station at the moment. This might change in the future, and if it does I will look at spending a bit more.​

Have I made a real mistake in buying this bike? I may graduate onto something better in around 6 months or so, and if I do I will choose it much more carefully and go to somewhere like Decathlon, not Halfords!

Also my dad is considering getting a bike for short journeys, so in six months or so I could always pass this down to him (he is 72, so I don’t think he will be going too far on it!)

Don't worry. For a 2.5mile commute the bike will be fine.
You have the right idea.
For one reason, you really don't want to leave a more expensive bike at a train station all day, and as you say, you can graduate to something better if you feel like you are getting the cycling bug.

 

[fossyant]

Just keep it well oiled.