Even more Lidl cycling gear

SamWise1972

BSO?

cycling_snapper

SamWise1972 wrote:

BSO?

Bike Shaped Object: Looks like a bike but is in essence just some £50 piece of junk.

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/bbc-watchdog-to-probe-bicycle-shaped-objects-23838

SamWise1972

Ah! Gotcha. I have a £80 double boinger mountain bike from Halfords hung up in the garage that meets the description.

EKE_38BPM

Cheap, weighs a ton, no fun to ride? Yep, that'll be a BSO.

cycling_snapper

SamWise1972 wrote:

Ah! Gotcha. I have a £80 double boinger mountain bike from Halfords hung up in the garage that meets the description.

I started out on a Falcon pretend MTB last year, was as heavy as a tank and ended up with the cranks falling off when I went out training... had it's use at the time though (even if friends sound it humorous).

SamWise1972

Mine now has motorcycle MX handlebars on it, which look like the cowhorns all the cool kids had when I was little, and will eventually get a set of white Fat Frank tyres, and become a silly cruiser. It's not nice, but it works, and for a short commute, it would have done the job for a while (and indeed, it served me well for a while 7 years ago, and then my housemate for a long time)

cycling_snapper

SamWise1972 wrote:

Mine now has motorcycle MX handlebars on it, which look like the cowhorns all the cool kids had when I was little

Have you also put a playing card in the spokes so it makes a motorbike noise?

SamWise1972

cycling_snapper wrote:

SamWise1972 wrote:

Mine now has motorcycle MX handlebars on it, which look like the cowhorns all the cool kids had when I was little

Have you also put a playing card in the spokes so it makes a motorbike noise?

Not yet, but now you've got me thinking.....

cycling_snapper

Well if you had a Raleigh Grifter or Boxer you could bend the back of the front mudguard up and use that... (till it wore out).

Steer clear of Spokey Dokeys though!

bigflangesmallsprocket

back to that workstand....is it just me or does it look like any attempt to spin the cranks will result in the pedal bashing the stand? If that's the case, it's not especially good for checking gears

wombar

I would imagine the clamp will pivot so you can angle the bike accordingly. I'm going to take a punt on the stand because I have nothing at the moment. If nothing else, it give me an introduction to workstands.

freakybacon

Money saving tip!!

Buy the Daily Star newspaper today or one day next week- there is a voucher for £5 off a £30 shop- you could put this towards your lidl cycling purchases. The star is usually 20p- this is a profit of £4.80p! Or a free pair of gloves/underseat toolkit with your bike stand!

Or a free bottle of wine even!!

Hope this helps.

Zombie_donkey

freakybacon wrote:

Money saving tip!!

Buy the Daily Star newspaper today or one day next week- there is a voucher for £5 off a £30 shop- you could put this towards your lidl cycling purchases. The star is usually 20p- this is a profit of £4.80p! Or a free pair of gloves/underseat toolkit with your bike stand!

Or a free bottle of wine even!!

Hope this helps.

Free wine always helps.

ketsbaia

Got the workstand, computer and a couple of pairs of socks this morning. Socks are great, haven't tried the computer yet, but the workstand has a slight design issue which means I won't be able to use it for a couple of weeks at least.

Everything is pretty solid, so full marks on that score, although it does jiggle about under pressure. The only issue I could find initially was the clamp kept slipping if you had it anything other than horizontal. And even then, any pressure on the bike would mean the clamp moved on its axis. There is a bolt you can tighten to ensure that doesn't happen, so I duly tightened it, only for the bolt to shear right through the plastic. Now it's useless. And it'll be another two weeks before a replacement part arrives, with no guarantee it will perform as intended. Shame really, because apart from the jiggling, it looks a good piece of kit.

bails87

freakybacon wrote:

Buy the Daily Star newspaper

Uuuggh....

Is that really worth the £5 saving though?

ketsbaia

bigflangesmallsprocket wrote:

back to that workstand....is it just me or does it look like any attempt to spin the cranks will result in the pedal bashing the stand? If that's the case, it's not especially good for checking gears

The clamp comes far enough out so you can spin the cranks without fear of bashing the stand with the pedals.

russboy

Got mine this morn (with a bar of chocolate to push it over the £30 barrier) with the £5 voucher from the Express for just over £25

Then went back in to get some socks & gloves, and more shopping to push it over the £30 again and with the voucher from yesterdays Express I got another £5 off

There only 2 stand left at 11am in Leatherhead but a friend was in earlier in the morn & said they only had 10 at that point

bracknelldave

Crowthorne, Berkshire sold out at 9.05 had 7 instock lucky for me the store was open at 8.00 and i dont think anyone knew they opened then.

did not know about the voucher never mind

SamWise72

I can't get there til tomorrow; really hoping there'll still be stuff. Would like stand, socks and panniers, but we'll see what's there early tomorrow afternoon.

Mike Healey

Fancied the stand but am at home with the dreaded lurgy. I assume that they wil all be gone by the time I'm up and about

bigflangesmallsprocket

I was unable to pick a stand up, both Ipswich branches had sold out.

The little saddle toolkit does look interesting though. If anyone has one of these, is there enough extra room to stuff a 26' inner tube in with the tools?

EKE_38BPM

I bought one of the saddle-bag tool kit thingys.

The spanners look a little flimsy, but at the price I don't think you can complain too much. They look a little thicker than higher priced tools (lower grade steel?), but something tells me they are only good for one emergency use, then the ends will be rounded off and only fit for the bin.
This is pure prejudice. I've never used them and I will not test them. I'm saving that one use for when I need it!

With everything in place there is still a bit of room. I tested it with a 700C innertube and it fits fine. A MTB innertube is wider so may be a tighter squeeze, but I still think it will fit.
You're not going to make me hunt in the garage for an old MTB innertube are you?

Teddy Westside

There wasn't a lot on show in my nearest branch this afternoon (toolkit, socks, gloves, panniers - I think that's it). I just bought a workstand recently so not too bothered it wasn't available.

I figured the panniers were worth a punt. They're not going to be the hardest-wearing and I think they'd be best for the occasional light shopping trip or a day trip with a picnic perhaps. Maybe ok for a commute but they may not last long if you use them in all weathers or fully-laden. The top case is every bit as big as it looks in the photograph but doesn't interfere with movement on the saddle. Don't buy it if you want to be aerodynamic though!

It was reasonably easy to fit the panniers securely enough to my rack outside the store within a couple of minutes (but then I wasn't carrying anything inside. Getting the inserts fitted properly inside the panniers and case once home was a different matter altogether! They're not exactly the right size ( too long) and you may need to trim them at the end to get a perfect fit.

All in all, fine for the money and the top case will only get very occasional use so will hopefully last a fair while. And they come with a big "shower cap" to keep the rain off.

I spent too long looking at the panniers and forgot to pick up some socks. :roll: I didn't bother with the tool kit - felt very heavy and besides it would prevent the use of a regular seatpack (which I have on all my bikes). Not sure I'd expect very good tools anyway. Still, it might be worth getting one to use the case as a sturdy container for a camera or other fragile items.

EKE_38BPM

Teddy Westside wrote:

. Still, it might be worth getting one to use the case as a sturdy container for a camera or other fragile items.

A damned fine idea. But where would I put my tools and puncture kit?

Teddy Westside

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Teddy Westside wrote:

. Still, it might be worth getting one to use the case as a sturdy container for a camera or other fragile items.

A damned fine idea. But where would I put my tools and puncture kit?

Thanks.
And that's where it's fitting system falls down. :? I keep my tools in my seatpack(s). It would be handy if you could also attach the container to frame or handlebars. No problem if you're using panniers but not so great for the road bike!

But it's churlish to complain about a £4.99 case and toolkit.

bigflangesmallsprocket

Thanks for the response. The spanners do look a bit flimsy, though I was hoping the allen keys might fare a tad better. I was thinking the toolbox would be a good holder for the basics, with other options, pockets/pannier/rucksack for longer runs. But all this talk of cameras, makes me wonder about taking mine out now, and then there's my mobile, and my mini binocs...

SamWise1972

ketsbaia wrote:

Got the workstand, There is a bolt you can tighten to ensure that doesn't happen, so I duly tightened it, only for the bolt to shear right through the plastic.

If I manage to pick one of these up today, could I reinforced the plastic with a big wide washer, or is the bolt not long enough? Could I put in a longer bolt? If such a problem can be solved with 50p worth of B and Q hardware, I'll want to do that.

tlw1

meant to go yesterday - but didn't

Hopefully they will still have some stands in later

ketsbaia

SamWise1972 wrote:

ketsbaia wrote:

Got the workstand, There is a bolt you can tighten to ensure that doesn't happen, so I duly tightened it, only for the bolt to shear right through the plastic.

If I manage to pick one of these up today, could I reinforced the plastic with a big wide washer, or is the bolt not long enough? Could I put in a longer bolt? If such a problem can be solved with 50p worth of B and Q hardware, I'll want to do that.

I don't think a washer would have helped, tbh.

It just needs something to stop the clamp slipping round the pole, so if the next one is the same, I'm drilling a hole right through and sticking a bolt in it. Not pretty, but it'll do the trick, I reckon.

Butterd2

Went to Lidl Charlton last night. They had sold out of workstands which was what I had really gone for (dragging 2 kids with me) so never mind I'll grab a computer as the wife wants one I thought. Only to find no computers left and a guy who I'd seen locking his bike up and going into the shop just ahead of me walking around with 4 of them.

We had a conversation that went something like this:

Me: Excuse me, where did you find the computers?
Selfish cnut: Just over there
Me: Where exactly, I can't see any?
Selfish cnut: Erm, there may not be any left
Me: Are you sure you have enough?
Selfish cnut: <walk away quickly to the veg section>

As you may be able to tell I was a little p!ssed off so whilst the socks did look good I refused to buy anything - that 'll teach 'em (not).