Apollo folder
 

Hi folks. I havent been in here for ages. I used to have a few Raleigh Twentys and an RSW. Also a Concept folding bike. I was originally Alecw35. But changed for a while to Griftereck. As I forgot my login and this place wouldnt reset my pass word. :(
My life kind of fell apart. I gave away most of my stuff. And got thrown out of my house. But things are nearly ok now. Ive got a place. and a kitchen full of bikes. :)

Ive been modding an Apollo Wayfairer. Its like a Hercules Compact.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...5/PICT0379.jpg

thats in on the day I got it from the big bike recycling place in town. I had a limited time to get about a mile or 2 down a hill beside a dual carraige way, on a path. riding with no brakes. everytime I felt I was going too fast. I rode on the grass. that killed the speed. I got to the bus stop. 3 minutes before the bus. I got out some bin bags and tape I had in my bag. wrapped the bike and got on the bus. :)

I got a suspension seat post. then filed out the seat tube to 25.4mm to fit it. I got a set of BMX alloy sidepull brakes new from ebay. But didnt intend to use the levers or black outer casing. I got time trial bar end brake levers. fitted them. got shiny red outer casing. taped up the bars with red bar tape. It takes a bit of getting used to. as when riding. I cant see the levers or cables.

I was going to use a twist grip on the stem. but I tried the trigger on the stem. Its easier to shift. I filed slots in the down tube and behind the bb, so the cables are running in the frame. Theres a bracket on the chainstay. I fitted a cable adjuster from a gyro cable from a wrecked bmx I found. the gear cable goes thru that.

I took all the stickers off it. waxed the frame. fitted mostly stainless fasteners.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...5/PICT0398.jpg

thats it half way thru the build.

It had 20x 175 wheels. chrome steel rims, 28 spoke. I wanted alloys. I got a few wheels from the bike recycling place. Only 28 spoke they had was black anodised. so over christmas. I sanded it to silver alloy. heres it on its original front hub.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...icture0414.jpg

I rebuilt it onto the 3 speed hub by tapping the rim to the rusty rim and tranfering the spokes over. I brillo padded them. Could do with new spokes as they should be a bit shorter as the alloys got a deeper well.

That rim didnt match up with the alloy I had on the front. But I had got a front wheel from ebay for a Pound or 2. Its silver anodised. I sanded the streaky anodising off the rim sides. brillo padded the spokes and greased the bearings. Its a close match for the rear. tho not as shiny.

I took the bike to shake down the new wheels. ended up at the beach. Its a good going bike.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...5/PICT0430.jpg

going to fit an alloy seat clamp, that came from the wrecked bmx. also make better light brackets out of stainless steel. Might get folding pedals and a bike bag.

nice bike. good luck and hang in there. life will be better...

I'm glad that your life is slowly getting back on track - complete with a kitchen full of bikes.:D

Cool looking Apollo. Looks like a solid ride. Yes, I think some folding or QR pedals would do nicely. May I suggest a contrasting color - like red - to stand out against the white.

Looking forward to more updates and pics as you progress with your redo.

thanks for the encouragement.

The Apollos on the sick list. as one cotter pins wobbly. Its threads stripped. Just ordered a pair from ebay.

Ive been working on my Raleigh Traveler roadster. Been building an Alloy 26 X 1 3/8 rim onto its 3 speed hub. I think white bikes took the huff and went to sulk...licking its sore cotter pin. :/

I had planned on more red on this bike. I had looked to get red tyres. but the white walls match in with the paint. .
I havent seen red folding pedals. would be interested in them. I have seen huge MTB pedals, in colours. want a normal sized pedal

Recently there was a thread started that talked about a Wellgo QR pedal. They were red.

Here's a link to the thread.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...1#post11485771

Saw some on ebay. A little pricey - at least for me.

In the thread you'll also see a post that lines up some pedals (according to size) you can possibly use on a folder.

I'm also interested in getting thinner folding or QR pedals for the Raleigh but it will have to wait. I have an older (non-folding) bike that's in dire need of an upgrade.

I had problems of everytime I go out the bike has a puncture. Its so annoying. I think its that Im riding on tarmac bike paths mostly. so there not swept with the draft of cars and trucks.
I got a pair of red tyres. Kenda Kontact. in 2.25 size. a bit of a tight fit in the forks. had to massage the mudguard stays.
As usual. the bikes in the room with a flat rear tyre. :(

Ive got some other bikes recently. been haunting the scrap yard in town. I got an alloy bmx for £5, this week. No seat pin. but otherwise ok. Plans are to strip the gold laquer off the frame and polish it up.

I did find another bmx in the river recently. I took it to police lost property. if no one claims it. I get it in 3 months.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...Photo-0086.jpg
I dont know what make it is. I think it said mongoose on the gyro. I had been riding about on it. Looking at the pic I took beside the police station. Its got bent forks. That'll explain the brake rubbing the tyre. I was thinking just strip it for bits. I got a Raleigh burner mark1 from the scrap yard a while ago.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...icture0438.jpg
I built it up. Suprise suprise. Its sitting in the room with a tube that exploded. :( I could use the chrome bikes bits on the Burner. But Ive been looking at minivelos on here. So thinking of fitting a pair of suspension forks, the stem from a Bart Simpson cruiser, its 22.2mm shaft, but bmx top. Build a 3 speed hub to a 20" rim. Maybe get a racer crank and mod the chainring to fit the bmx.
Ive had a 3 speed bmx before. But it didnt work all that well. due to the bars were from a scooter and too big. the cranks were 180mm. so tiring to pedal any distance

Ive been biking about on my Apollo a bit. Its 6.38 miles to the edge of town, on the tarmac bike path and road. Has been a few days of really strong wind. tail wind mostly. but theres a mile or so, I call it the traverse. where I go inland, has a strong sidewind there. Last time on white bike I got to the end of the traverse in 22 minutes. then absolutely nailed in on the bike path. I seen 21mph on there. with other cyclists coming towards me on the narrow path. :o Did the second part of ride in 11 minutes. total of 33 minutes. about 11.5 mph average.
My white bike computers strange. I got it to match the bike. It was a free gift from a cereal coupons, tho I bought it from ebay. Ive got the instructions. But its functions are silly. No stopwatch when youve got the speedo going. Think I'll swap the computer from my Apollo FS26, wanting to sell that bike.
I got a mountain bike wheel and a 17" lcd monitor, when in town. I lightly bungied them onto the rack. the monitors got a slot in its foot. I went along the grassy path along the seafront to get home. Its smooth for the first part. then a bit rougher. I took the path beside the railway fence. I hadnt been along that side. I come upto a green stream with foam on it. infront of the sewage works. there was 2 rotten old planks to cross there. I did not want to fall in there. :/ I got home ok.
I wanted to got to the car boot sale, er swap meet, on sunday. I got my bag strapped to the white bikes rack. I pushed it outside. the front end felt funny. Oh come on. Its flatted again. Im sick of this bike. It flats about everytime I use it. Tho to be fair. Its on everykind of surface. I took the bag off and got my woods bike. A cheapo mtb. I was angry. I got to the end of the traverse in 17 minutes. It was a still sunny day. I did the second part in 11 minutes. so a record time of 28 minutes to town. around 14mph average. :)
I got a Rossin road bike at the car boot sale. £15. Ive posted this pic on Classic and vintage. people there like it. Apparantly Mario Rossin used to work for Colnago. Its a great bike. tho the campag seat pins stuck in the frame.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...5/PICT0451.jpg
I waited 3 hours for the train home. As I had 2 bikes and a couple of bags. the rossins a tiny bit to big for me. but Ive been riding about on it.

Ive been mooching around the scrapo yard recently. lots of old bikes get thrown out. got 3 or 4. now the yards been cleared out. not much stuff there. I did see an alloy mtb frame with cranks and mechs. And a hybrid rear wheel. so got them for £1.50. heres white bike loaded up and going to ride 10 miles home.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...Photo-0103.jpg

I fitted a pair of Schwalbe Marathon 20 X 1.5 tyres. first ride out on them. very flighty. well it had 2.2" tyres on before. I did a 12mph average to town. grounded my foot, 5 times. was ok going home. getting used to them

I got a wheel thats a 26X 1 3/8 steel rim on a Sturmey Archer AG dyno hub. Ive allready got a DynoHub that was on my Raleigh Traveller roadster bike. Travellers rim and spokes wer damaged tho. so I stripped them out. I built up an AW hub onto a new alloy rim for the traveller. Im thinking of building its AG hub with the spokes from the fridays wheel. Into another alloy rim. So I can have the dated hub on the Raleigh.
Fridays AG hub, I want to build into a 20" alloy rim for the Apollo. I dont know the spoke lengths tho. My AW hub on 20" wheel is a 28 spoke. so cant measure them, for the non drive side spokes. A spoke calculator is confusing to use. especially with hub flanges of differing diameters. Does anyone have the measurements of the spokes. Or tell me how to measure the hub, for a spoke calculator. Ive got a digital vernier caliper. so can make acurate measurements.
I was out on the Apollo on sunday. Theres a grassy bike path to town. It goes along the seafront. Its 5 miles, so a mile and a half shorter than going the tarmac path. I got onto the offroad part. I spotted there was soft sand on the path. I tried to foot on the scrubby grass at the side. But my narrow schwalbes washed out in the sand. my leg got pushed back. and I fell on my knee. was sore for a while.
Ive been along there on my mtbs. they do the 5.13 miles from my house to bridge at edge of town in 30 minutes. 10mph. about a mile of thats on tarmac. rest is on grass/sand/rabbit holes.

I walked back from town with a kids bike I got for spares. tho its got quite a good spec. alloy frame, alloy quando hubs. SR suspension forks. Tektro disc front brake.
the headsets 1 1/8" threaded. White bikes got a 1" threaded headset. but the headstocks a larger diameter then thins down for the bearing cups. I wonder if I could cut of the end of the headstock and fit the disc brake front end? Ive got other steel bikes with an oversize headstock. I'll get the vernier caliper out to see if the headstock diameters the same.

well I rebuilt the kids bike. Its kind of worn out. so not much will get used on other bikes. I have been out on it tho. it actually rides ok.
Ive got it sitting beside the folding bike. Its about 4" shorter than it. didnt seem too twitchy.

Im going to town today to get a bike I had found and put in police lost property. Its a early 90s raleigh ladies mtb. Its got the same headset as my Raleigh burner. hope thats ok. as the burner ones chipped.

I got a bike that was going to be dumped. A 1979 Record folding bike.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...cw35/006-1.jpg
this is the style of bike I was wanting when I got my Appolo. Well I would have likes a Raleigh Stowaway all modded up. :/
Ive pumped the tyres, cleaned it. come up ok. Its got 406 wheels. 28 spoke. So will be looking for a 28 spoke alloy rim for it. Its got a Thomson bb. the one cotter pin was chewed up. cranks are rusty. I cant get the left arm to come off. pin comes out. It can turn on the bb. but wont come off. Im wanting a square taper axle in there. so I can run an alloy crank. I cant see them on ebay, SJS cycles or Chain reaction. will keep an eye out for it.
the bike had a square Everready rear lamp. with an orange switch. Is that incredibly rare? It had the rustiest Everready SP2 batteries Ive ever seen. tho the terminals look ok.
Oh yeah. I got the chrome bmx back from police lost property. Its in a sorry state. I took tools with me. so I could bike it home. I couldnt get the chain tensioned, as the axle would slip when near tight. I biked home about 7 miles on the grassy path. It near didnt make it tho. threw it into the long grass when it got annoying. I was wanting to strip it for parts. not much on it that works tho.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...cw35/002-1.jpg

My Apollo folder looks like its near the end of its days. :( no it hasnt broken into a thousand peices. Its ok.

I was up at the junk yard today. I had seen a Bart Simpson chopper bike. I had plans of building 3 speed alloys and modding it. It was moved from where I left it. so was going round a pile of metal. when I saw a pair of Carbon Fibre forks sticking out of the pile. It was a Specialized Sirrus hybrid bike. Its an alloy frame with carbon fibre forks and seat stays. It seems all there. Minus the rear wheel and tyres. Broken gear hanger tho. :/
I was moving stuff to get the hybrid out. was a baby cart and bedframes on there. when I spotted the dark green of an old bike. Er...not just any bike. A Raleigh Stowaway. :) Yet more moving of junk to get that out. I put the Specialized, Chopper and some BMX alloys under a tree. will get them another day.
I got the Raleigh and a stainless steel thermos flask and a hacksaw frame. 17.5 kilograms on the scales. ....better not look at this bit...skip to the picture. It was £6. :)

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...cw35/017-1.jpg

I had my pump and spanners in my bag. so pumped the tyres. and tightened up the handle bars. was riding it about the town. :)

Intentions is for it to get the wheels and brakes from my Apollo.

Wow good find!

Hub dates 4 76.

the rear rim has a ding on it. the chromes lifting from the rim. theres a Vindec shopper bike in the yard. Might get the wheels off that. Think there 451. Planning on building a pair of 406 20" alloys for it. Theres a eastern european curved tube shopper bike there with 406 steels. But like the Stowaway. Its got 28 spoke hubs. :/ Theres a heard of kids bikes. I'll look thru them to see if any have 28 hole 406 alloy rims. I do allready have a Strumley Archer AG dyno hub from my Raleigh Traveller. its 36 hole. got good output voltage. But dont know the spoke lengths for a 20" wheel.
Ive got a 26" steel wheel with a 36 hole AW hub in it. Whats the spoke lengths for to a normal U section 406 wheel? I have seen spoke calculators. but they seem confusing. Whats the measurements Ive got to put in from a AW or AG hub?
Theres a ladies roadster with a 3 speed wheel. Im going to get its alloy bars and GB stem. get the rear wheel too. so can use the parts on the Stowaway
I did have daydreams of building up a pair of disc wheels with an 11 to 34 cassette. should have a good range of gears. Ive got a few disc front wheels. but only 1 disc/ cassette rear wheel. got a Mongoose Fireball thats waiting for me to build it up with those wheels tho. :/ I dont know about modding the Raleigh frame to fit disc wheels. Ok I know they would have to be cold set to 135mm overlocknut to hold the hub. but then the NDS chainstay and seat stay might be close to the disc

I went to the yard on friday. but they had the grab crane thing in to tidy up a bit. I had wanted the bars and stem and rear wheel from a ladies roadster. It was gone. I passed the tree I had stashed the Specialized hybrid under, was still there. I walked thru the valley in the mountain of metal. the ladies bike was on the north face. It had been grabbed by the rear wheel, wrecking the rim,tyre and tube. grrr. I wanted the tyre for my Roadster. didnt want the rim. as Im going to build the AW hub into a 20" 406 alloy rim. when I find out the spoke lengths. I had my adjustable spanner in my pocket. so took the wheel off. undid the expander bolt in the ITM stem. and the stem come out the forks no problem. :) I found a screwdriver and took the gear cable clamp off the chainstay. I found a MTB front wheel. taco rim but nice hub and stainless spokes. so will use them on other bikes. I went to the tree. the Hybrid was gone. grrrrr. there was others in the yard. they had took it while I was there. :( I got the 700c front wheel that had been with the specialzed. nice hub and stainless spokes. but rim was worn thin. so will be more spares for another wheel. so thats all I got. was 5kg weight. £2.
The ITM roadster alloy bars and stem will go on the Stowaway. the look to be 1970s in design. got a hole on the front of the bar clamp. lightweight. :)

OMG you left the Vindec? They are supposedly in the same league as the Twenty but much rarer and probably easier to do up.

the vindec was a solid frame bike. was in much better condition than the Twenty, when I first seen it. easier to get out of the pile too. it was folded in half by the crane now. :(
I used to have a Vindec. same orange colour. always thought the lower tube was weird, random bends in it.
Today I took the rear wheel off a parts bike. Raleigh Salsa girls mtb. I was going to build the alloy rim onto the bike trailer wheel, as its got rusty steels. I pulled some spokes out. then thought to count how many there was. Its 28 spoke alloy rims. :) So I'll go up a get the wheels I had left at the scrap yard. build the 3 speed hub into it, tape the alloy rim to the rusty steels and transfer over the spokes. Oh yeah. I had got the bike trailer. Trail a tot, it says on it. from the junk yard. I got a pair of alloys from a kids raleigh activator, at the same time. Was £5 for trailer and wheels. looks like its been left in a garden. as its all green mould and surface rust. been scrubbing it. will paint the frame. I dont have kids. Will use it for shopping/ moving bike stuff about.
I cleaned the Stowaway today. hammered flat the ding in the rim. the soubitiz chrome plastic bottle dynamo is stiff or seized. can the be taken to bits and oiled? I had my first part of the weight loss plan. I undid the seat spring. and took off the Squire lock. :)
Other stuff I cleaned, a set of Shimano Sora cranks. 52/42/30 rings. from a bike I rescued from the river. I have been toying with fitting them to the Stowaway. Not sure if I want all the complication of gear mechs tho. theres minor pitting to the alloy. will file and sand them.
I had a 5 minute ride out on the Stowaway. Its ok. headsets a bit tight. think they all do that sir. the twist grip seems a bit worn. difficult to keep it in first. Ive got another twist grip and some triggers too.

Ive cleaned up the Stowaway a bit. heres a better pic from my digital camera.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c296/Alecw35/012.jpg
as is usual. It looks better than it is. most surfaces have rust on them. Only the seat pins rust free, and Ive got a alloy micro adjustable seat pin to replace that. :/

I got alloy bars/stem/levers and a trigger shifter from a roadster bike at the scrap yard. Fitted them today. I was wanting to use my twist grip. But the bars are a thicker diameter. Weimmann levers say 23.5mm on them. Bars are a bit low. had to bend the lamp bracket out of the way.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...5/PICT0638.jpg
I dissasembled the SA chrome steel brake calipers. brillo padded them and greased the bolts and reassembled. I took the bottom off the Soubitiz chrome plated plastic bottle dynamo. It would hardly turn. I couldnt get it any further to bits. sprayed oil in there. it spins now. good voltage on the lights. B)
I took it to the beach. so you can really see the colour of it. Its standing up by itself here. As I squashed it into the sand.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...5/PICT0642.jpg
think I'll bike to the next town soon. As it gets dark soon. so will try the lights. If there not working. Its only 4 miles on a flat bike path. so no problem