Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Hi all, can I please get some feedback on this Apollo women's bike? It's on special and within budget. Is it a hybrid and a comfortable ride? Sturdy and reliable? I'm just a newbie starting out so don't want to spend heaps of $$$. At the same time I don't want to be penny wise, pound foolish.

Just hoping to lean on the collective wisdom of this forum

Many thanks all!

https://www.buycycles.com.au/a/hardtail ... d=10244288

Have you checked whether the XS is your size? Apollo website suggests this bike suits a person 147-160cm tall.
The components (gears, etc) are not bad for the price, but most people on this forum would suggest you avoid front suspension at this price point, as cheap forks are heavy and likely to be more trouble than they are worth.

You'd need to be shorter than 5'0 for the XS. And around 5'2/3 for the small

I don't think this is a hybrid bike - more like a very old design basic 26" ladies MTB. Hybrids would usually have skinnier tyres than 2"/51mm. Should be reasonable comfortable (assuming the size / bike fit is correct) with 2" tyres. Normally the saddle would be set a lot higher than what is shown in the photo - closer to the height of the handlebars - the photo looks like the MTBs I see kids (boys) riding around on where they have dropped the saddle to make them look like overgrown BMX bikes.

It is certainly VERY basic and I am not sure how much use the 50mm coil spring front shocks would be, but for your intended purpose (as mentioned in your other thread), it should be capable of pottering around your suburb for short 30 minute rides.

Ignore the RRP - I don't think anyone in their right mind would pay $550 for it (for $550 you could get a basic Liv/Giant 27.5" MTB, probably with mechanical disc brakes & 100mm front shocks), but at $250 it may be better than the cheaper chain store bikes (think KMart or BigW). I am not sure how this might compare with a basic ladies MTB at Anaconda (they are almost permanently "on sale") - assuming you have Anaconda stores in WA ?