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Apollo Endeavour Womens Mountain Bike
by Whizz11
In a bid to get rid of my baby weight and my mummy tummy I have taken up riding my bike again. I say again as I really used to enjoy going riding on the lots of lovely trails and woods we have around our house but when I was pregnant and had tiny babies around the house it just wasn't practical. Now they are a bit older I can get out ... again on my bike and I love the exercise, the challenge of the hills and the wind in my hair as I am speeding, well gently traversing down the hills.
My bike is an Apollo Endeavour and my husband bought it for me from Halfords about three years ago. If I remember rightly he paid in the £120 region which he said wasn't too bad for a mountain bike. Now, I guess I am somewhat of a typical woman and choose my bikes like I choose my cars, by the colour. This bike is a lovely blue colour and I was immediately attracted to it in the showroom because it was also nice and shiny. I also did the sit test like you do when looking at new cars, can I sit on the bike and reach the handlebars, yes, perfect, I'll take it. As this bike is specifically designed for women it has the dropped/angled bar in the middle of a bike allowing you to get your leg over unlike a men's bike which has the straight bar. I find it easy to get on and off this bike although I do have to stop and put a foot down when I get off to make sure I don't fall off.
The seat is somewhat comfortable although show me a bike that has a really comfortable seat, I don't think one exists. The seat is higher at the top and then comes into quite an angle at the crutch. The first few times I rode this bike I definitely had some saddle sore but now I can jump right back in the saddle as they say and I don't feel anything at all.
The handlebars have a nice grip to them. I often cycle up hills and for a challenge try not to get off the bike so I stand up to peddle to give myself some extra oomph and to do this I really need to grip and pull on the handlebars and so far they have been great. I can get a really strong hold and never lose my grip.
As this is a mountain bike the wheels are thick and chunky and my tyres have been great. I think I've only had one puncture which my husband fixed and I can still get a soft, bouncy ride from my bike.
Now, onto the subject of gears. I do not understand gears at all, don't know how they work on a bike and I don't think I ever will. My gears on either side are set at a certain number and they stay in these gears regardless of whether I am going uphill, downhill or just cruising. I will often come back from a ride and my husband will say,"what gear did you go in for this and that," and I tell him I never changed them. The way they are set means I can pedal nicely and can do my hills and everything else so I don't want to risk changing them and upsetting the balance. I remember when I first got the bike I used to change them by pressing a lever forwards to go one way and then pressing it towards me to go the other and you had to pedal as you were doing this otherwise they would not change properly. Anyway, I will refer to the Halfords website to tell you what gears this bike has. "The Apollo Endeavour Womens Mountain Bike is a full suspension mountain bike with front suspension fork and rear suspension which smooths out rugged terrain. 18-speed Shimano gearing and powerful v-brakes."
I do find the brakes to be very powerful. As I've mentioned above I don't like to go downhill too fast for fear of falling off and the hills I go on are full of big loose gravel so it would be very painful. I will get up a bit of speed and then I will gently press the brakes and they do stop very fast and actually quite sudden if you are too quick so I find you do need to be a bit gentle.
After almost three months of biking now I am feeling a bit fitter, am noticing a bit of definition in my legs and more importantly am feeling better about myself as a whole so I encourage everyone to get on their bike and if you need to buy one choose the Apollo!
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