I am writing for my mate, and i didnt say i had it or was having it !

Well, his is writing, that’s the spelling is rubish

Daily Mail headline -“13 year old boy abused and sworn at on mountainbike forum outrage”.
Pull yer heads in people…really.

James – you are either a Troll or a Twit. Either way there is no point in you posting anything unless you are willing to listen. If what your mate wants is someone to say “well done for finding this great bike – you are so clever” he has come to the wrong place and I’d suggest he shows it to his Gran.

OK, here’s a few simple facts. I’ve got experience of those Apollos from working on them in the shop.

1- The brakes are, quite frankly, dangerous. It would be safer if it had V-brakes as the ones supplied do not work- the pads fail to grip the disc properly and the lever pulls to the bar when the brake is set up so it doesn’t rub. Also, once the pads wear out they can’t be replaced as spares aren’t available.

2- The forks don’t work. They will seize up within a few months. They’re also plagued by play- they rock back and forth due to poor tolerances and bad manufacturing.

3- The wheels are not up to proper mountain biking. They’ll handle a bit, but the hubs are very basic and the bearings will collapse very quickly once dirt gets inside.

4- The drive train, while simple, is reliable which is good. However the left hand crank arm is made of very soft alloy and it’s fairly likely (though not certain) that it will come loose and need replacing.

The Carrera Subway, by comparison is a better bike.

1- The brakes, while not the best, are of a reasonable quality being Shimano and are reliable. They work better than a V-brake and you can get spares.

2- The fork is rigid, but because of this it’s lighter and more reliable than the poor quality suspension fork fitted to the Apollo. It will do its job and stay safe. Rigid forks will also teach you skills and make you a better rider when you have the funds for a more serious bike.

3- The wheels have mountain bike rims. Again, the hubs aren’t the best but they do have some basic sealing and we’ve never seen any problems with these wheelsets.

4- The drivetrain is a step up in quality. The cranks will handle off road pretty well and the gears will keep behaving. Also the cassette is a proper cassette, not a freewheel (where the cogs and freewheel mechanism are a single unit) and so much more reliable.

So, while the Carrera appears more basic, it’s a higher quality product and will last you a lot longer. The tyres are cheap and easy to replace and then you’l have a decent enough bike for learning XC on.

Maybe he just doesn’t know the difference yet? Give him a break.

The bike will function, but this forum is the wrong place to ask for advice on a Halfords bike (they appear to be a good place to buy a bike from until you learn about bikes).

Second hand bikes are a gamble, but so is an overpriced basic bike.

Get some advice on what would suit you, save a bit and buy something used, loved and upgraded. I got my road bike from here and it’s been brilliant.

Even though it’s a troll… the weight of the bike is 36lbs. FAIL.

Shouldnt you be at school young man?

I didnt even know you could get GCSE’s in trolling, but good luck none the less

Carrera Vulcan for a bit more, but at least he’ll have the whole “MTB” shaped bicycle, if he can’t face the better “Hybrid” Subway suggested earlier.

I’d also worry about the sizing, as a 20″ bike frame will be huge, and you tend to be better-off with a smaller frame for off-road cycling.