Info on vintage Apollo bikes, have they always been cheap?

[Ugo51]

Hi guys,

I'm looking for info on the brand Apollo. I know it's now owned by Halfords and they are their cheapest brand. But I recently stumbled across pictures of old Apollo bikes, and I was wondering if it's the same brand that has changed ownership over the years, or is it a different brand?

Cheers

 

[dirttorpedo]

Re:

I live in Canada and we had a domestic bike brand called Apollo in the late 70's / early 80's. Originally they were called DeeLite bikes because the brand owner was Fred Deely a local hardware store owner. This was a classic north american bike boom brand which was designed in North America and manufactured in Japan. DeeLites/Apollos were made by Kuwahara. Like so many of those classic American/Japanese brands the change in the exchange rate seems to have killed the brand. Kuwahara continued to sell bikes into the Canadian market under their own name for a few more years.

My perception as a child / teen of the 70's and 80's is that Canadian Apollos were considered a step up from the common herd. Similar to Nishiki. Maybe not as nice as a Miyata. Definitely better than a Norco.

My Eroica bike is a 1980'ish sport / touring model from Apollo.

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=348893

It was built using 100% Champion No. 2 tubing, has some nice chrome bits on the fork and stays and was built up with a complete Shimano 600 Arabesque groupset. It rides quite nicely and like many of those later Japanese made bikes I believe they were quite under rated. Its a much nicer bike than the 79 Raleigh Grand Prix I bought with my paper route money as a 13 year old.

 

[Ugo51]

Hehe, the Apollo bike I am talking about is in fact in Canada, on the west coast
Thanks for this, it answers my question beautifully and it gives special meaning to that bike.

I checked yours and it looks beautiful.

Are the champion #2 tubes you are talking about made by Tange?

 

[dirttorpedo]

Re:

According to Retrogrouch yes, it is.

http://bikeretrogrouch.blogspot.com/201 ... iwata.html

Hehe, the Apollo bike I am talking about is in fact in Canada, on the west coast
Thanks for this, it answers my question beautifully and it gives special meaning to that bike.

I checked yours and it looks beautiful.

Are the champion #2 tubes you are talking about made by Tange?