Apollo Transfer men’s hybrid bike

Price £130, halfords.com

Frame steel

Gears 18-speed Shimano

Brakes steel V-brakes

Tyres Kenda

In the Lycra-wrapped, Insta-aspirational world of cycling today, it’s all too easy to forget that bikes, first and foremost, are just simple machines designed to get us from one place to another. In the case of Nick Hatton from Worcester that means covering the three miles from his home to where he now works as a cleaner at often antisocial hours. Last week, he wrote to ask if I’d consider reviewing his bike, because he was so delighted with it. “It’s an absolute bargain, “ he enthused. “I would recommend the Apollo to anybody struggling to get around, for work or pleasure. The price means keeping fit and travelling can be done in an affordable way.”

I wrote back and asked why he’d chosen the Apollo. Nick soon replied: “The Job Centre offered me £120 towards the cost of a new bike. I was previously reliant on an old Barracuda my father had passed on to me, but it was costing me a fortune in inner tubes. I’ve had no maintenance issues with it at all. It’s great for roads and trails. It goes faster than my old mountain bike as it has thinner tyres, and the gears are great for hilly terrain, such as where I live.”

I promised Nick I’d go along to my local Halfords to check out it out. The Apollo Transfer is the cheapest adult bike the store sells. It’s currently on sale at £104. It isn’t the chain’s bestseller; that honour goes to the Pendleton Somerby (£280). I’ve been the owner of some very shoddy bikes in my time. I’ve had to live with creaking chains, rasping brakes and seats that make shooting sticks feel like club loungers, so I was prepared for the worst. The Apollo, however, came as a series of pleasant surprises.

The first is that the frame is steel. Most ultra-cheap bikes use some form of aluminium alloy. This is so flimsy the tubework has to be swollen to offer any kind of strength. By using steel, the Apollo manages to look quite slick. The welding, which can resemble wrinkled keloid scarring, is smooth and flush. It’s heavy but not tank-like – the friendly assistant couldn’t tell me how much it actually weighed. (It’s 14kg – about average.) It has an 18-speed gearset and standard hybrid tyres rugged enough to cope with the crappiest tarmac surfaces. I felt that having 18 gears was overkill. I’d rather ride a 9-speed and have them throw in mudguards or a rack instead.

To ride, it’s pleasant enough. But it’s like comparing a £4 bottle of wine with an £8 one. El cheapo vino gets the job done but it’s rough and rattles your teeth. The real question with short-term affordability is how much it will cost you in the long run. As Benjamin Franklin said: “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”

For the moment, though, it’s hard to argue with Nick’s positivity. He tells me cycling has changed his life and sparked an interest in exploring. “Recently, I made a 20-mile round trip to the Droitwich Food and Drink Festival,” he says. “I cycled along the canal to get there.” That’s biking at its best.

Email Martin at martin.love@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter@MartinLove166