Lidl Road Bike - Anyone tried one?

tailwindhome

This Lidl Road Bike seems like great value at £799

Can only imagine the frame is rubbish, has anyone seen or tested one?

(Think its only in Irish stores)

EDIT

Groupset ~£500
Wheels ~£140
Saddle ~£35
Pedals _£35
Tyres ~£40

Seems like value

All academic to me as I have no money

chuckcork

I'd wait until it comes into UK stores, the prices in Ireland are considrably higher than the UK, even for Lidl.

TheBoyBilly

It seems reasonably well-specced to me for the price, and the frame looks quite nice too. However, I would rather buy elsewhere. It just doesn't look like an £800 bike (perhaps investing in a nice paint job would do the trick)
For me, there is better value out there from the likes of Scott, Bianchi and Specialized from mainstream dealers.

prawny

TheBoyBilly wrote:

It seems reasonably well-specced to me for the price, and the frame looks quite nice too. However, I would rather buy elsewhere. It just doesn't look like an £800 bike (perhaps investing in a nice paint job would do the trick)
For me, there is better value out there from the likes of Scott, Bianchi and Specialized from mainstream dealers.

Wouldn't that be 800 Euro though? That seems well cheap the ultegra group is £600 list price!

The frame does look dull, but it's probably made in one of the faceless eastern frame facotories that make frames for everybody else. I'd be tempted to buy it and a half decent frame from some where else when that one cracks.

blorg

£799 is a sterling price for Northern Ireland; as Lidl is organised on an all-island basis the offers in the North sync with those in the Republic rather than the rest of the UK. It's €899 in the Republic. Quite a bit of passionate discussion on the bike here. Personally I would agree with prawny, the frame is probably whatever generic and as good/bad as any other. What would be more of a concern would be the very limited range of sizes, especially as it seems to be traditional geometry- 53, 57 and 60 is it.

They haven't skimped on any of the components though, it is a full Ultegra triple group and the rest of the components are good quality name brands too and not the cheapest they could have gone for either.

To give you an idea of comparable price ranges from an LBS in Ireland, a Trek 1.5 with Sora is €945, so the Lidl offer looks like a reasonable deal to me. (Lidl bike also includes SPD-SL pedals.)

symo

It seems unbelievably good value.

weepiglet

I agree and am very interested in popping along to have a look at it. Maybe the frame weighs 25lbs or something but if this was stripped and sold for parts I reckon you could be quids in!!

tuxpoo

States bike is 8.85kg for the 53 bike!!!

I actually checked the date wasnt from 1st april

Tux

CiB

If the bike is as good as the Lidl gear I bought a few weeks ago I wouldn't touch it.

What did I buy? A helmet. Never wear one, this one cost about £8 so I thought I'd placate the family and get one, but this is just junk. Uncomfortable, actually causes me pain on the contact points, doesn't sit right, makes me look like an absolute dork who's just discovered how to ride a bike, a complete waste of money. Now in the garage.

Shoes, with a recess for SPD cleats. They look like what they are - a pair of naff training shoes, ones that house the cleats just proud of the recess so walking in them is still a slippery slidey clickety clack affair, just like the proper road shoes. Now in the garage.

A pump. The worst pump ever. I had a puncture last night, found that the pump can't get enough air into the tube before it all leaks out around the valve instead of going in to the tube. And the effort to pump it is arm-breaking. More junk. Now in the garage.

There's a lesson here. Buy tat, buy twice. I've reverted to giving Lidl and their ilk a wide berth.

Beeblebrox

ChrisInBicester wrote:

If the bike is as good as the Lidl gear I bought a few weeks ago I wouldn't touch it.

What did I buy? A helmet. Never wear one, this one cost about £8 so I thought I'd placate the family and get one, but this is just junk. Uncomfortable, actually causes me pain on the contact points, doesn't sit right, makes me look like an absolute dork who's just discovered how to ride a bike, a complete waste of money. Now in the garage.

Shoes, with a recess for SPD cleats. They look like what they are - a pair of naff training shoes, ones that house the cleats just proud of the recess so walking in them is still a slippery slidey clickety clack affair, just like the proper road shoes. Now in the garage.

A pump. The worst pump ever. I had a puncture last night, found that the pump can't get enough air into the tube before it all leaks out around the valve instead of going in to the tube. And the effort to pump it is arm-breaking. More junk. Now in the garage.

There's a lesson here. Buy tat, buy twice. I've reverted to giving Lidl and their ilk a wide berth.

I bought the saddle bag for my girlfriend's bike and I'm very happy with it. If you are going to buy something from Lidl, make sure it something that can't go wrong.

bigmat

ChrisInBicester wrote:

If the bike is as good as the Lidl gear I bought a few weeks ago I wouldn't touch it.

What did I buy? A helmet. Never wear one, this one cost about £8 so I thought I'd placate the family and get one, but this is just junk. Uncomfortable, actually causes me pain on the contact points, doesn't sit right, makes me look like an absolute dork who's just discovered how to ride a bike, a complete waste of money. Now in the garage.

Shoes, with a recess for SPD cleats. They look like what they are - a pair of naff training shoes, ones that house the cleats just proud of the recess so walking in them is still a slippery slidey clickety clack affair, just like the proper road shoes. Now in the garage.

A pump. The worst pump ever. I had a puncture last night, found that the pump can't get enough air into the tube before it all leaks out around the valve instead of going in to the tube. And the effort to pump it is arm-breaking. More junk. Now in the garage.

There's a lesson here. Buy tat, buy twice. I've reverted to giving Lidl and their ilk a wide berth.

Nothing wrong with the shoes - not the most stylish and the fit is a bit random, but the cleats should fit fine (the ones I tried did, but the fit was c**p so I took them back).

Helmets vary in size and shape - try before you buy. This goes for all types, from Giro to Lidl. Why did you buy a helmet that doesn't fit?!

The pumps ARE appalling though, can't argue with that.

CiB

MatHammond wrote:

Helmets vary in size and shape - try before you buy. This goes for all types, from Giro to Lidl. Why did you buy a helmet that doesn't fit?!

Because the three I've bought in the past fitted and were comfy enough without having to open the box and try them on. I naively assumed that that's how we buy helmets. Doesn't matter - I don't need one anyway. And it's one less bottle of wine to fatten me up...

MatHammond wrote:

The pumps ARE appalling though, can't argue with that.

Appalling doesn't begin to describe them. Designed no doubt by some fresh-out-of-art-&-design-school spotty youth with no concept of what a pump might need to do, or how it might be used.

bigmat

ChrisInBicester wrote:

Designed no doubt by some fresh-out-of-art-&-design-school spotty youth with no concept of what a pump might need to do, or how it might be used.

I think that's probably being generous...