Thread to tell everyone what bargains you've spotted!

keef66

Rhodrich wrote:

It's the time of year when nights are closing in. Need a new front light. The one I've got works fine, is German StVZO approved (and therefore legal for UK roads), but....
It takes normal batteries, which only seem to last a week
It's only 30 lux on full power, and not bright enough for me to avoid badgers that jump out in front of me in Richmond Park when it's pitch dark out there.

So, I'm after one that's :
Minimum 60 lux
Rechargeable (USB ideally), with a sensible charge indicator
Has a proper shaped beam that does not dazzle, and is ideally StVZO approved

Going by what I see coming the other way in Richmond Park, most bike lights out there are dreadful, with far too much light pointing straight ahead.

This sort of thing looks like it would do the trick, if it was available....
https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/tre ... aid:470889

Any other suggestions?

B&M Ixon IQ Premium? 80 Lux, shaped beam, German road legal, 4-5 hours on 4 x AA rechargeables.

Or they do 70 Lux dynamo powered Luxos ones which you can double up if required

Or if you go the dynamo route, Supernova are also pretty good and a fave of the Audax crowd

tangled_metal

I've looked at the raveman lights, they look very well made with a diffraction lens on them to direct the light. Solid build in metal body. Up to 300 lumens it's one led, above that two. I'm considering the CR300 one at £49.99. Expensive for a 300 lumens but I'm guessing bright enough with the beam spread. Not sure if it's actually legal with regards regulations though. Don't they need something on the lens of they are? Couldn't see anything.

adder4

Rhodrich wrote:

This sort of thing looks like it would do the trick, if it was available....
https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/tre ... aid:470889

It is available so get on with buying it

rhodrich

I've got a Philips Saferide dynamo light on my touring bike, and it's fantastic, but I'd rather have one for my commuting bike that I can swap between bikes (as I have got rather a lot of them!)

Raveman look interesting, but they don't appear to conform to any standards, and being Chinese probably wouldn't have any sort of useable warranty if things went wrong.

adder4 - you're right. I'll probably go for the Trelock one, as it ticks all the boxes. Here's hoping that it comes back in stock soon.....

keef66

https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/b-- ... aid:703620

B&M rechargeable; 10 hours at 90 Lux and you can pair it with a second unit to get twice that. Not cheap though...

slowbike

Slowbike wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

Anyone been to Aldi yet?

my boss has ... and got me a camera light and socks ... (actually - I do need replacement socks - these ones are getting a bit thin )
Apparently loads of cameras there ...

and dropped off to me at work ...

First off

The Unit
Wow - that's bigger than I expected - although tbh, not looked into the details before getting it. - Height wise - it's ~1.5times the height of a Smart R2 and just under double the depth. Width wise, it's marginally larger.
Mounting is via a velcro strap - you're provided with 2 - the short one is pretty much too long to go round my standard seat post. You're also provided with a couple of rubber bits to pad out what you're clamping to - I'll have to have a play with those.
Don't get one of these intending to mount on your seatpost unless you've got a fair amount showing. I have 3" between the clamp and the bottom of my saddle bag - that is just enough to mount this unit in (before I'd get a Smart R2 and Knog Blinder in that spot.)

Camera operation - it's possible to run the camera without the light on - but it flashes red LEDs around the outside whilst recording - so if you're intending on forward mounting it you should be aware of this.
Camera quality - I'm trying to get the 100Mb file off the card via the camera - it's not working. I'll probably have to use an external card reader.

bendertherobot

What concerns me about it is whether the light is decent enough to warrant moving my See Sense Icon from it's seatpost mount. I could probably bodge that onto the mudguard somewhere. But if the cam is crap and the light pish then I see no reason to get it, even at that price. At the moment I'm thinking that the See Sense is more likely to get me seen than protect me from not being seen.

slowbike

I'm just charging mine and it makes a horrendus beep everytime you turn it on/off or plug the cable in - so I'll wait till this evening to update you on the light output - I can compare against the Smart R2 which is what i usually run (and will continue to do so)

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Apparently, the Aldi cam light comes with an 8GB card, which will be filled in ~60mins. Same user supposed to be reporting back to STW forum about if the recording loops or not.

But ~60mins recording time is a bit of a let down. That would just cover my direct route commuting in and back, no chance if I do an extended route home like I often do. Plus I normally do 1-3 rides per week of 2+ hours in the South Downs.

Yep, could buy a larger SD card, but more expense on top of the £40 per cam light cost.

Plus velcro straps to keep it secure sounds poor, I was hoping for a solid mount or two, like you get with the Moon Nebula and the Aldi knock-offs.

Really not sure now about these, about to get ready to pop down there, not just for me (1 or 2) and I was thinking about perhaps one for a family Xmas gift...

bendertherobot

I'll probably hold off till the morning so would be interesting to see everyone's view.

One thing I would say, and I am sure this affects the Fly6 as well, is that surely it must be rubbish in the dark and the flashing must interfere?

Which means that these things are pretty much lights OR cameras for the day.

bendertherobot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IWWGwu3v1g

That's how a Fly6 looks. OK ish, but pretty much next to useless unless to show that the big blurry thing coming behind did in fact hit you.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

bendertherobot wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IWWGwu3v1g

That's how a Fly6 looks. OK ish, but pretty much next to useless unless to show that the big blurry thing coming behind did in fact hit you.

No chance of making out a reg plate at night!

In daytime, reg plates are easy enough to see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzKoVl0ebUM

UndercoverElephant

I popped to Aldi this morning, bought a replacement front light for the foldy (the last one I had was nicked). Less Moon like than the older one, but still very bright. Also bought Muc-Off degreaser and Toffeefe - so much Toffeefe.

slowbike

Ok - just flashed mine up - against the R2 - there's no competion - the R2 beats it hands down for brightness.
Video quality for the day seems ok ish - even backlit I could see my ugly mug... No idea what it's like on the bike yet - I'll give that a go later.
I don't think Night time footage is going to be any good - really need an IR camera for that (we use one for Little sb in his room - it's excellent) - this isn't one.

MrSweary

bendertherobot wrote:

One thing I would say, and I am sure this affects the Fly6 as well, is that surely it must be rubbish in the dark and the flashing must interfere?

Not in my experience. Flashing isn't an issue that I've noticed. Also mine seems to pick up number plates pretty well even in the dark. Obviously effective range is reduced at night but having looked over a fair bit of footage I think it stands a very good chance of doing what I bought it for, that is record the number plate of the next person who tries to kill me.

bendertherobot

That's good to hear. Right, forumites, get out there and record some near death experiences tonight please!

londoncommuter

On the other Aldi bits and bobs, has anyone got comments on the mini bike stand

viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=13085352

fenix

NitrousOxide wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IWWGwu3v1g

That's how a Fly6 looks. OK ish, but pretty much next to useless unless to show that the big blurry thing coming behind did in fact hit you.

No chance of making out a reg plate at night!

In daytime, reg plates are easy enough to see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzKoVl0ebUM

Same poster has night videos - presumably from the same camera - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGAoRBKKsVg

It's going to be harder at night to get good pictures - but not impossible. If I was running a bike with no mudguards though I doubt you'd get much of value on any wet days....

wolfsbane2k

NitrousOxide wrote:

Apparently, the Aldi cam light comes with an 8GB card, which will be filled in ~60mins. Same user supposed to be reporting back to STW forum about if the recording loops or not.

But ~60mins recording time is a bit of a let down. That would just cover my direct route commuting in and back, no chance if I do an extended route home like I often do. Plus I normally do 1-3 rides per week of 2+ hours in the South Downs.

Yep, could buy a larger SD card, but more expense on top of the £40 per cam light cost.

Plus velcro straps to keep it secure sounds poor, I was hoping for a solid mount or two, like you get with the Moon Nebula and the Aldi knock-offs.

Really not sure now about these, about to get ready to pop down there, not just for me (1 or 2) and I was thinking about perhaps one for a family Xmas gift...

Oh. I thought it had 8gb build it, and then had the SD card as expansion. Arse. And then it's limited to a 32gb card, which I don't have any spare off - loads of 64gb on hand though.
Cheers for the write up, mines supposedly on the bookshelf at home. With it on, I'd have about 5 light options on the back (probably going to go to a pannier rack upright if I can, but Velcro only sounds pretty shoddy. Time for a bodgejob...

slowbike

bendertherobot wrote:

That's good to hear. Right, forumites, get out there and record some near death experiences tonight please!

I'll do my best ...

daniel_b

My order has been despatched, the 5 lights and some socks, expect I won't get it until Monday now, unless I get lucky :-(

By then there should be some good feedback on the camera light, so might just end up returning that - opinions seem somewhat mixed so far, and £40 is not an insubstantial sum of cash.

londoncommuter wrote:

On the other Aldi bits and bobs, has anyone got comments on the mini bike stand

viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=13085352

I have ordered one, on the premise it might be useful for holding the bike up whilst washing it, or basic non gear maintenance in the garden - apreading was familiar with the design, so not sure if he has any input?

essexian

Ignore me.... I have just tried to fit the light/camera thingy using the long strap and after a couple of dozen attempts, its now on sufficiently tightly not to wobble just because I am looking at it. Still not sure its going to hold during an off road ride however.

The picture quality seems okay and according to the instructions (yes, I read them.....!!!!) an 8gb thingy should be enough for two hours.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Going off at a slight tangent, I've just remembered that I have a Veho Muvi cam from ~8 years ago, gathering dust in my "not currently in use tech gadgets box!"

slowbike

I added the small wedge and it straps reasonably tightly ... the camera has to be mounted firmly against the frame to avoid as much camera wobble as possible - that said - the Fly6 has a removable mount which is probably a better design - but then it is a tad more expensive.
Just to confirm - the microSD card is removable - there is no inbuilt memory. a 64Gb MicroSD is sub£20 now - so 8Gb is giveaway money.

thistle_

I popped to Aldi for one of the camera lights at lunchtime. I didn't get to try it out this evening because it didn't come charged.
My neighbours are going to love that beeping first thing in the morning when I turn it on!
Camera was OK messing about at home, although there's a ridiculous 50hz hum on the video when it's plugged into the charger.

apreading

Daniel B wrote:

londoncommuter wrote:

On the other Aldi bits and bobs, has anyone got comments on the mini bike stand

viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=13085352

I have ordered one, on the premise it might be useful for holding the bike up whilst washing it, or basic non gear maintenance in the garden - apreading was familiar with the design, so not sure if he has any input?

Its the best bike stand I have found - I replaced all of my old ones that were just twin prongs to go around the wheel axle. My old ones didnt work with the new road bike that has direct mount disc caliper, so I went searching and found the bike shop use these (Feedback Rakk). In fact, many bike shops use them - as well as my LBS, all Cycle Republic use them.

They are really useful in my garage as it now stands because they link together side by side, allow bikes to be staggered back/forward slightly and the bike just pushes in with no lifting or maneuvering required - grips front or rear wheel happily.

A bike stand doesnt exacly have a tough job to do though.

The Feedback ones are £30-£35 so this is a bargain if its as good.

Read the reviews on wiggle etc - they seem to be loved.

redvee

The poor quality footage might be down to a cheap memory card, try it with a class 10 and report back. Unlikely the supplied card is a Class 10.

bunter

I bought a buff and socks and a merino base layer in Aldi yesterday. Tried on the softshell jackets (labelled slim fit) - what a totally weird cut! The XL would have been a snug fit on me (I am normally L in the Aldi stuff), but it was super tight across the shoulders and the arms were so short that they were nowhere near reaching my wrists. It's a shame, because the materials and construction is usually very good for the price...

tangled_metal

No xl in anything at my store plus no camera light. A poor showing of you ask me. A few lights they've sold before that stuck on the shelves until they halved the price, track pumps that's been in store since the spring sale and clothes in limited sizes/not very good design. I'm sorry but pockets that small aren't safe to hold anything IMHO.

Poor products this time indeed.

BTW I'm not in the market for bike stands, got a turbo and don't rate half the mucoff products. The only thing I got was the £15 light, the mucoff cleaner and some milk. The hp moon style light with a slight shape change looked good but I've got them from last year. Half of them wouldn't charge properly or ran out of charge when turned off.

I might go back for some merino stuff later. The performance base layer had been in store since spring / summer. I was hoping they would reduce them they've been selling them that long.

Where has the Aldi quality and value gone this year?

sloppyschleckonds

bunter wrote:

I bought a buff and socks and a merino base layer in Aldi yesterday. Tried on the softshell jackets (labelled slim fit) - what a totally weird cut! The XL would have been a snug fit on me (I am normally L in the Aldi stuff), but it was super tight across the shoulders and the arms were so short that they were nowhere near reaching my wrists. It's a shame, because the materials and construction is usually very good for the price...

Did you spot any bargains?