Thread to tell everyone what bargains you've spotted!

bendertherobot

I've not had both in my hands so will deign to you on that.

But, if this is correct, I have to say the charging ports appear identical.

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jP-zmIHB0nU/ ... C_4061.JPG

Anyhow, they've been great. Mine still works, some rust on that metal band aside. I'm not convinced of the light/video in the dark aspect of the Fly6 so we'll have to see how it all works together. If the quality is rubbish it makes for a poor thing to have on the seatpost given that there are almost certainly better rear lights (and this will have to occupy the space taken by them)

apreading

bendertherobot wrote:

I've not had both in my hands so will deign to you on that.

But, if this is correct, I have to say the charging ports appear identical.

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jP-zmIHB0nU/ ... C_4061.JPG

Anyhow, they've been great. Mine still works, some rust on that metal band aside. I'm not convinced of the light/video in the dark aspect of the Fly6 so we'll have to see how it all works together. If the quality is rubbish it makes for a poor thing to have on the seatpost given that there are almost certainly better rear lights (and this will have to occupy the space taken by them)

Hopefully you can see these:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/98135428@ ... 6250565070

Note - different rubber on charging ports, different writing on back, different colour red, different dots where the LEDs are on the LED strip, different power buttons, different direction machining on side aluminium and the red plastic is a slightly different profile from the side. If you didnt have both together you would never notice. And I havent noticed any difference in operation but definately not the same production on both.

bendertherobot

Yep. Definitely different. That said, so similar as you have to wonder whether they're just built to a different spec in the same place. Hell of a lot of trouble to go somewhere else and clone them so perfectly. Alternatively, if they are same place, why not just use most of the same moulds etc. So, there we are. Let's see how good the cycliq is.

tangled_metal

Things are cloned a lot and some are so very close to the originals that the brand cannot tell their own. Look at the head of Lego in China, he said in an interview the quality of the cloned Lego was inferior in an interview for a documentary only to not tell the difference between real and copy Lego.

I suspect it is not hard for a cloning manufacturer to make a nebula clone once they have a few real ones in their hands. Bought in parts and some made in house. Relatively easy.

gaijintendo

Tangled Metal wrote:

...
I suspect it is not hard for a cloning manufacturer to make a nebula clone once they have a few real ones in their hands. Bought in parts and some made in house. Relatively easy.

That is way too much effort. The more realistic scenario is someone was paid for, or CAD designs were taken from a manufacturer whose product sells in sufficient quantity.

Then when it comes to manufacturing, you swap out components, or amend the design to match your production line capability.

I seem to recall Pelamis spotted their wave energy product appear in China within a year of a break in.

Back on topic - I am hoping this is Cycliq ramping up production. I noticed recently they had a few price drops on the Fly6. I had been expecting a Fly6VI to be announced. So perhaps they are using Aldi as a distribution route and differentiating their products? I hope so.

I would have been quite excited about a Fly12 clone... but if we show enough demand, the Chinese cloners will appease us.

Back on the topic for real though. Anyone spotted any bargains?

daniel_b

Me, the missus and our 4 year old will all be on the commute this coming winter.

The two supposed adults have light and bright Lumos helmets, and we have a fair few lights, but I'd like to grab a few of these for backups and additional lighting options for redundancy.

If anyone spots when these go on sale, and if they can be bought online (I just ordered a sledgehammer from Aldi!) would very much appreciate if they could flag it up on this thread :-)

pangolin

gaijintendo wrote:

Tangled Metal wrote:

...
I suspect it is not hard for a cloning manufacturer to make a nebula clone once they have a few real ones in their hands. Bought in parts and some made in house. Relatively easy.

That is way too much effort. The more realistic scenario is someone was paid for, or CAD designs were taken from a manufacturer whose product sells in sufficient quantity.

Then when it comes to manufacturing, you swap out components, or amend the design to match your production line capability.

I seem to recall Pelamis spotted their wave energy product appear in China within a year of a break in.

Back on topic - I am hoping this is Cycliq ramping up production. I noticed recently they had a few price drops on the Fly6. I had been expecting a Fly6VI to be announced. So perhaps they are using Aldi as a distribution route and differentiating their products? I hope so.

I would have been quite excited about a Fly12 clone... but if we show enough demand, the Chinese cloners will appease us.

Back on the topic for real though. Anyone spotted any bargains?

Seems Cycliq are not happy, so it is just a knock off.

https://www.facebook.com/roadcc/posts/10154724479830614?comment_id=10154726745890614&reply_comment_id=10154727194235614

I am the Chairman of Cycliq LTD so I can assure you they are NOT producing these under license, and we have a range of Patents, registered designs and trade marks, Thus I am not a 'typically shouty person with no evidence to back up the claim', I trust this answers your question

Kind regards,
Chris Singleton

bendertherobot

That's interesting. I wonder when the prohibitory injunction will be issued?

lancew

I would have picked up one of those video recorder lights, but with the Cyclic guys not being happy I actually feel that I won't on moral grounds.

Cloning of products discourages innovation in small firms that those patents are there to protect.

tangled_metal

Patents are only good if you can defend them in court. A lot of small companies can afford to get them but not defend them. If Cyclic can't afford to defend their patents then TBH it's fair game. It's not fair but coming from a company who held a few patents it was a license for patent attorneys to print money. My former employers spent thousands of pounds each year, 5 figures for IIRC 3 patents and one worldwide trade mark (later dropped for just USA, UK and parts of EU).

I wonder if those wanting a Cycliq unit will actually buy an Aldi one. I reckon Aldi units will be bought by ppl who like the real brand but can't / won't spend £100.

jlloyd

Has anyone else had any problems with the Aldi moon clones?

I bought a set last year and and the front is still going strong (it's very impressive). However the back light (intially equally as impressive) gave up after a month or so (looks like it's charging but will not turn on). On further inspection the charging port looks water damaged. Both lights had been caught in a couple of downpours, but looks like only the back was affected.

As the front is still going strong am minded to buy another back light, but wondered if anyone has had similar problems?

kingstongraham

JLloyd wrote:

Has anyone else had any problems with the Aldi moon clones?

I bought a set last year and and the front is still going strong (it's very impressive). However the back light (intially equally as impressive) gave up after a month or so (looks like it's charging but will not turn on). On further inspection the charging port looks water damaged. Both lights had been caught in a couple of downpours, but looks like only the back was affected.

As the front is still going strong am minded to buy another back light, but wondered if anyone has had similar problems?

Yes, my rear light gave up after not very long.

lancew

Mine are going strong, and I will be buying some more if they come up.

I just hope that Moon haven't filed against them.... otherwise I will have shot myself in the foot with my comments above. (I have a moon rear unit as well as the pair of copies) I had assumed that they bought old stock.

tangled_metal

I've had good Aldi lights and bad ones that failed very quickly. Just got to be lucky I guess.

jlloyd

KingstonGraham wrote:

JLloyd wrote:

Has anyone else had any problems with the Aldi moon clones?

I bought a set last year and and the front is still going strong (it's very impressive). However the back light (intially equally as impressive) gave up after a month or so (looks like it's charging but will not turn on). On further inspection the charging port looks water damaged. Both lights had been caught in a couple of downpours, but looks like only the back was affected.

As the front is still going strong am minded to buy another back light, but wondered if anyone has had similar problems?

Yes, my rear light gave up after not very long.

Was it water damaged?

Thinking about it (or over thinking it!) My front light is mounted horizontally and the rear was mounted vertically, with the charging point at the bottom - Am thinking the rain could have run down the body of the light, breached the seal and collected in the charging point.

kingstongraham

JLloyd wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

JLloyd wrote:

Has anyone else had any problems with the Aldi moon clones?

I bought a set last year and and the front is still going strong (it's very impressive). However the back light (intially equally as impressive) gave up after a month or so (looks like it's charging but will not turn on). On further inspection the charging port looks water damaged. Both lights had been caught in a couple of downpours, but looks like only the back was affected.

As the front is still going strong am minded to buy another back light, but wondered if anyone has had similar problems?

Yes, my rear light gave up after not very long.

Was it water damaged?

Thinking about it (or over thinking it!) My front light is mounted horizontally and the rear was mounted vertically, with the charging point at the bottom - Am thinking the rain could have run down the body of the light, breached the seal and collected in the charging point.

Could have been, it was used in the wet. For the price it was, I didn't look too hard, just wrote it off as substandard and won't buy again.

I've got a CatEye rear light that is still going strong after several years of being on the bike with no mudguards in all weathers.

6wheels

Not sure if applies to all Aldi cycling products , but three year warranty applies generally.

bigmat

My Aldi rear died too, the bowl of rice trick revived it though. My Cateye more reliable though.

tangled_metal

My cateye only comes off the bike to charge it at work but even that's not very often. It's the excellent X2 light with a spacerx to attach it to a rear pannier rack. Just need a front light that's as good. My volt 300 was good but I've lost it. They don't do that one anymore but at 300 lumens it was just right for seeing by.

bendip

6wheels wrote:

Not sure if applies to all Aldi cycling products , but three year warranty applies generally.

yes a 3 year warranty applies, it would be interesting to hear if anyone's returned a failed/faulty light..i assume a refund would apply as i doubt they would stock replacements to go that route, the nebula clones/knock offs i bought last year have been excellent lights and i'd buy aldi lights again.

bendip

tredz usually have a £5 code/voucher that may get this a little cheaper

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Blackburn-Cent ... _85296.htm

pblakeney

I am sure there was a sentence in there somewhere.

wolfsbane2k

bendip wrote:

6wheels wrote:

Not sure if applies to all Aldi cycling products , but three year warranty applies generally.

yes a 3 year warranty applies, it would be interesting to hear if anyone's returned a failed/faulty light..i assume a refund would apply as i doubt they would stock replacements to go that route, the nebula clones/knock offs i bought last year have been excellent lights and i'd buy aldi lights again.

I've returned aldi lights after 8 months, got a refund rather than a replacement, not what I wanted, but was no surprise.
The bathutub curve is very applicable to these cheap lights

jason78

And so the price falls begin...

https://www.vanillabikes.com/collection ... 6b8ae03b03

dinyull

bendip wrote:

tredz usually have a £5 code/voucher that may get this a little cheaper

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Blackburn-Cent ... _85296.htm

Liked the look of that, but a shame about the mount reviews.

luv2ride

jason78 wrote:

And so the price falls begin...

https://www.vanillabikes.com/collection ... 6b8ae03b03

I only want the 6800 chain set but they now seem to have gone up in price as in individual item, compared with the cost you could pick them up at a few months ago.

gaijintendo

Dinyull wrote:

bendip wrote:

tredz usually have a £5 code/voucher that may get this a little cheaper

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Blackburn-Cent ... _85296.htm

Liked the look of that, but a shame about the mount reviews.

I have that light, and yeah... the mount was annoying at first, but it seemed to bed-in a little. I tried a cheap go-pro mount, which turned out to be utter bobbins.
Make sure it is as tight as possible (which is tough as the lamp moves when you are applying pressure) and have the lamp leaning to the forward-most point, resting on the mount. If your bar has a change in diameter, then you might have issues - or you might have two chances to get to that next perfect level of tightness.

For the money, it is a fair proposition. It might be that price because of the clamp. There are, I think, three levels of brightness, a party flash and a strobey on mode which I usually opt for.

adder4

Any bargain spotters seen any good deals on 25mm tyres or even 28mm?

daniel_b

Another Evans Castelli bargain - this time a nice thick jersey for 60 notes in medium only:

https://www.evanscycles.com/castelli-secondostrato-reflex-thermal-jersey-EV247529

Moonbiker

https://www.merlincycles.com/lusso-aqua ... gK1QPD_BwE