I've never considered myself a C&V candidate, however memories of my 10 speed (2x5) Apollo from the '80's was enough to get me to part with the cash to buy this local bike. From research here on BF I believe that it's about an '83 Apollo Imperial. The seller included the original bars and stem, completely wrapped with black electrical tape. The flat bars will surely have to go.

Not sure what or how far I'm going to go with the restore. I'd be interested to hear from the experienced C&V'ers what and/or how far to restore this bike. Saw a photo of SixtyFiver's UO-8 converted to a fixie ... that would be kind of interesting, and I don't have one of those bikes ... yet.


Winter project bike by h2oxtc, on Flickr

Edit: Found the serial number. It's an '81.

Build it close to the way you remember the 1st bike.
Then change it as your needs evolve.

Funny, I had never heard/seen of Apollo bikes until tonight in town and then you post. I would agree - build it as you remember

Were I the OP, I would return the bicycle to its original state, or as close to it as possible. Ride it that way and then decide if upgrades are in order.

I have owned a few Apollo bicycles, including an Imperial(it was in horrible shape but had great components). The nicest of the Apollo bikes owned was, by far, my Apollo Gran Tourist, a really nice touring bicycle...

I have one of those frame sets, also an '81, in the same colour scheme.

All mine had left was the Dura Ace BB and Kuwahara branded headset, though the frame itself and original paint are actually in great shape.

Whatever your resto plans, you'll want to hold on to those shift levers - the frame has Shimano 'B' type bosses, and will only fit DA/600/Golden Arrow from that era (other shifters don't fit the bosses without modification).

They're nice bikes, top of the line for Apollo in their time.

I found mine a bit flexy, but I'm 6'3" and over 250lbs…so that may have more to do with the rider than the frame characteristics. Currently partially disassembled in the basement, but I might build it up w/moustache bars and a single front ring soon...

It's a Canadian brand, so we don't see that many of them south of the border. I have one, a high-ten model called the Prestige. I also have a Canadian market Nishiki and a Canadian market Kuwahara MTB frame. They just sorta find me, I guess.

24 hours of thinking about what to do with the bike has led me to agree with the recommendations to restore it to what it was originally. Basically put the original bars back on and a new cable set. The other thing would be to replace the non-original 105 derailleur with the Dura Ace 7200 EX - if I can find one. A Google search has turned up only a couple on fleabay, both very well used and pricey considering their condition. Actually there was a new one also available for $400. Uh ... not going to happen. The Google search did bring another thought to mind ... I could sell the parts that are on the bike and make 3 or 4x what I paid for it. Uh ... not going to happen.

Thank you for the comments ... tomorrow morning I can start in earnest with the elbow grease.

One final thought. It's hard to imagine that 30 years ago we actually rode bikes with only 5, yes 5, gears in the back. How did I ever ride up all those hills?

Hills were different then:-)

It depends on which five gears. (And which front gears too.)

Some of us still ride just 2x5 or 2x6.

Build yours the way it was. You'll like it.

Project Update:

It's been an interesting project, in some ways similar to my experience with old houses. Nothing is ever as simple as it first appears, and from my experience cycling ... where I thought I was going is not where I ended up.

Here's a photo of the bike almost complete. My intent was to follow randyjawa's recommendation to rebuilt it to the way it was, which if possible would have been much nicer than the Apollo I owned in the 80's. The result however took a decided turn when I could not acquire an original RD at a reasonable cost and then discovered that the alloy clamp on the FD was broken. As with life, some things seem to happen for a reason. Several weeks earlier I found another bike in the local classifieds that interested me for the aero bars and bar end shifters that a friend needed. The bike ended up being the donor for it's front and rear derailleur, brake set, wheels, and seat post. This ended up converting the bike from a 5 spd to 7 spd with a freehub. The remnants of the donor bike will become the next project, a single speed.



If you're observant, you'll notice that the FD is missing. The seat post diameter is 29.2 and I'm pondering whether I should buy the 28.6 braze on clamp and hope it fits or 31.8 and shim the clamp. Suggestions?

If there's an irony to this bike project, its that the saddle cost more than the bike and miscellaneous parts purchased.

very handsome; thanks for posting the update!

judging by the frame size and the amount of pillar showing you must be a center on the local basketball team.

A Tange Champion No. 2 seat tube should measure 28.6mm (+ paint, and margin of error in measuring a round tube with precision).

I know a 28.6mm clamp-on FD fits my '81 Apollo Imperial (same make, model, year).

I had a 105 28.6 clamp-on FD on there for a while, and now have a Paul SS chainkeeper with a 28.6 clamp, as I've converted it to a 1x6 setup.

Go with that, and I reckon you won't have any problems.

Nice build! The 1055 suits nicely.

How do you like the ride?

The seat post is maybe an inch or so high - since it snowed today I couldn't (or didn't want to) ride it. Will wait for a nice dry day.


Thanks for the confirmation of the tube size. I measured it numerous times using a piece of masking tape around the circumference and then dividing by pi. After I read your post the thought occurred to me to measure the original (broken) derailleur - no surprise it measures 28 point something.

As for the ride ... that'll have to wait for another day when the snow is gone.

Is that your bike that I've seen photos of here on BF? If so, your Imperial appears to be in mint condition. I "may" have copied the color scheme too - why mess with a good thing.

Nice job!

Finally a beautiful day out where the roads were dry and nice enough to take the new baby out for a spin. Here's a few photos from after the ride.

Restoring this bike was an interesting learning experience obtained through facing a number of obstacles requiring patience, elbow grease, help from fellow forum members and some new tools.

My original intention was to "restore" it with all original components. Some of the original Dura Ace EX components were either expensive or hard to get, so I used a 7 spd 105 groupset from a donor bike - another winter project. I kept the original DA crankset however as I thought it looked much nicer than the 105.

As for the ride ... it was different than what I expected. The Apollo Imperial has a very stiff ride, which isn't a bad thing. At some points in the ride I thought that I was riding my aluminum Cannondale Caad8 R5000. I have other steel frame bikes. 4130 Cromoly and Reynolds 631, that each have their own personality, and again ride very different from this bike. I'm not saying that I don't like it ... just not what I expected. Conclusion - I'd ride this speedy bike with any group ride ... unless the route includes riding big hills. The lowest gear is 42:25 which is a tad high for me on the bigger hills around here.

All in all, a fun project, and probably the best bike value per dollar spent of any of the bikes I have.

Looks very nice, turned out quite well for your C&V ride, IMHO. Enjoy the rides.

Bill

Top work there.

Those 105 dual pivot brakes are excellent little things, I have them on a number of bikes.

congratulations on a wonderful restoration job!

h2oxtc - what a great transformation and very inspiring. I have a NOS 1989 Schwinn Tempo that I have been trying to figure out what to build it up with... seeing yours I am pretty sure I am going old school with downtube shifters and everything. Thanks for sharing a great build!

Very Nice work. You could always put a vintage style compact double on there for the hill. The imperial was a top notch frame made in Japan, no slouch. I love the colour and the white tape and saddle compliment it quite nicely. I'd have gone with a dark purple for the housing, but it looks good with red too.

Thanks all for the complements. It really was a fun experience.

I have enough other bikes to ride on the big hills that I'll leave this one as is. The donor bike and next project bike (almost finished) is a SS - also not a bike for hills. Another interesting experience, but that post is for another part of the forum.

Hey Bill ... unless you've been holding out on us, I thought you're riding a Caad10 and it's not that old (yet)? How is it that you've found your way into C&V? Or does "Vintage" refer to us in the 50+ crowd?

I came here when I first joined the site, in 2008, actually was lurking unregistered in late 2007, always was a C&V guy in the sense that I really appreciated my Raleigh International and Bottecchia Special back in the 70's and miss them terribly. I had just bought my R500T and was trying to ride again, after the first 12 of my 16 surgeries, and this forum and the 50+ caught me as the right place to be. I only have the CAAD 10 now, my daughter has the R500 in Atlanta, as her weekend fast bike (a totally car-free lady). I am a future C&V owner, might be happening shortly/hopefully, depends on a few things.

Bill