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Monday, July 23, 2012

Interesting Bikes Spotted: Apollo Roadster Tandem

Hello friends! Here is a long-overdue installment in "Interesting Bikes Spotted", aka "Other People's Bikes".

For this segment, we'll go back about a month and a half to my PDX-Oly-Astoria Tour. When in Olympia, I spotted this interesting specimen:

An Apollo roaster tandem!

It's of British make, unknown age, with possibly a Sturmey-Archer four speed hub. Note the double top tube on the front (captain) portion. And the stoker (rear) handlebars and stem. On most tandems, the rear handlebar attaches to the front seatpost. But not here.

Unfortunately, the side with the writing was not facing me.
Love that kickstand!
And of course, the rod brakes. Rod brakes are "sketchy" in even normal situations on normal bikes, but on a tandem where extra stopping power is needed? I would never, ever want to ride this bike in the rain.
I don't know too much about Apollo. They were a sub-brand of Hercules, which got consumed by the great Raleigh empire eventually. I'm guessing this bike is post-Raleigh takeover (60's or so), since Hercules had their own three speed hubs (which were much like Sturmey-Archer hubs.)
Anyone have any more information on this particular type of bike? Let me know!
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3 comments:

  1. CullenTuesday, July 24, 2012 at 6:11:00 AM PDT

    The image had me confused. At first, I didn't notice their were TWO bikes on the rack.

    I thought that this was an interesting tandem because the person in rear was seated with their back to the person in the front. And out of pure bicycle ingenuity, together, they made the bike mobile.

    Have you ever actually seen a bike like that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. adventure!Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 2:10:00 PM PDT

      A tandem with a rearward facing stoker? Oh yes, I have seen those.

      Delete
  2. DANSaturday, August 4, 2012 at 9:22:00 AM PDT

    Nice

    ReplyDelete

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