2007 Apollo Evolution XC Disk
I needed a mountain bike for riding around off road on and looked at several brands and models. I found the Apollo Evolution XC disk brake model most appealing when compared to other bikes in the same price bracket. I've only ever owned one bike before with a disk brake and it was an Apollo with the front disk brake only. It was a pile of junk! This one isn't. Read on.....
This bike however is a pleasant surprise. It has disk brakes front and rear, is shiny red and has some good design features. There are a couple of small things they left out, but overall the bike is worth the money. I found it rides very well and is adequately geared low enough for some steep off road riding.
Apollo Evolution XC
I found the disk brakes very good and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the brakes to lock. The indexed 24 gears shifted well with the Shimano shifters. I always need a larger frame bike so I was lucky in that this model was in stock in the 24" XL model. The disk brakes are cable operated and the gears are changed by handlebar mounted index shifters.
Apollo with integrated indexed shifters and brake lever
Rear Disk
I did find one excellent design which is common among the Apollo range of bikes and that is that the gear and brake cabling runs along the top of the top tube. This makes it easier to mount the bike onto a car rack if you have one. Other models have the cables underneath the top tube, or as in the case of my touring bike, they run down the front of the down tube and collect rubbish flicked up by the front tyre.
Gear and brake cable safely routed along the top of the top tube.
The one thing that I did notice was missing was a chain anti derailment guide on the inside of the front chain rings. It's quite possible for the chain to come off of the front small chain in some circumstances when changing down and the chain lands on the bottom bracket. Other mountain bikes that I have owned have a plate installed to stop this.
No plate to stop the chain dropping off.
The front cranks are SRAM Truvativ and have three chain rings. I found the gears shifted smoothly, but time will tell as some kilometers get put onto them in the sand and other off road conditions. The front derailleur is a Shimano SIS.
SRAM Cranks on the Apollo
The rear derailleur is a Shimano Acera and the rear gear cluster is an eight speed. I found this shifted very well and was quiet in it's shifting. Once again time will tell as the gear cables stretch and the indexing starts to drift, which will then require adjustment. This is why I prefer friction shifters.
This is the first bike that I have owned that actually has suspension forks with a lock out. The headset is a Cane Creek headset and the forks are XTC V2. The front forks have a lock adjuster on the top right hand side allowing the suspension mechanism to be locked out.
Front forks lock out.
I found the seat to be absolutely awful, which can be expected on any new bike. It's a personal preference and most people change the seat anyway. (I already have). The pedals are a plastic cage and the bike shop offered to swap them for some cheap metal ones, but I declined as I have fitted pedals with SPD cleats on instead.
The frame is aluminium and has two water cage mounts in a good position so larger bottles can be used, unlike some bike frames that put the water cage mounts in ridiculous places so they can't be used. In it's stock form the bike is good value for the price that I paid.
I paid $499 and received the bike, a free VDO speedo (value $59) and a free helmet (value $49), so I really got the bike for $391. There are a few things that I had to do out of necessity, and a few other things that I did out of personal preference.
I always take the cheap tubes out that manufacturers fit on new bikes, so I have put thorn resistant tubes in. I have also fitted slightly narrower tyres that are road and gravel which give me a faster ride on the road while still maintaining good gravel traction. I don't plan on riding in mud so the knobby tyres are not needed.
I also needed a rear rack and being a disk brake model a normal rack won't fit. I managed to track down a Topeak Super Tourist Disk compatible rack and have fitted this. I will do a review on this shortly.
So if you plan on buying one of these bikes they are good value if you can get them at the same price as I did. Budget a little bit more for a pump, some water cages and some decent inner tubes.
One thing I noticed is that there is a sticker on the frame that reads: WARNING! This bicycle is not designed for off road riding or stunting. If this is so, where am I supposed to ride it then?
