Aldi - Any Good?
Churchill123
Posts: 341
Just seen an advert on TV tonight saying they have their cycling stuff in their stores from tomorrow.. Anyone had any experience with their stuff? Any good for winter riding? - gloves jerseys etc.. worth a punt?
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Thanks bud!
Looks like it would be worth me having a look during my lunch hour tomorrow then and see what the quality is like0 -
Make sure you keep any receipt0
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Don't buy a pump!When i die I just hope the wife doesn't sell my stuff for what I told her I paid for it other wise someone will be getting a mega deal!!!
De rosa superking 888 di20 -
Gloves are V good.0
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Gloves are extremely good, simply the best Winter gloves I've ever had (reserved for the coldest/wetest days). Their base layers are also very good, as good as Craft ones costing twice-three times as much.“Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.”0
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Glad to hear the gloves are good as that was one of the main reasons for having a look! - Winter coming up and didn't fancy possibly trashing better kit in the shit weather and it's always nice to have a few of everything for rotation purposes0
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jordan_217 wrote:Gloves are extremely good, simply the best Winter gloves I've ever had (reserved for the coldest/wetest days). Their base layers are also very good, as good as Craft ones costing twice-three times as much.
A bit excessive... Aldi stuff is cheap and cheerful, often not worse than the bottom end of the more expensive market... don't expect zips to last very long or clothes to be well designed or to fit well...
That said, if you are on a budget, you can find some very decent stuff.
Personally I would spend less on the frame and more on cycling clothes, as that's where the real innovation has been over the past 20 years.
When they asked Gimondi (famous cyclist of the 1960s) what they didn't have at the time that PROs have today, he said:
"We did have light bikes and fast wheels and tyres and all that stuff, we didn't have waterproof clothes, or the chamois they have today... we were either too cold or too hot".
Merino, Gore-tex, this is where the big money should go, in my viewleft the forum March 20230 -
ugo.santalucia wrote:A bit excessive... Aldi stuff is cheap and cheerful, often not worse than the bottom end of the more expensive market... don't expect zips to last very long or clothes to be well designed or to fit well...
That said, if you are on a budget, you can find some very decent stuff.
The zips are usually fine - it's Lidl IME that can't be trusted on zips.
Actually the design is generally pretty good and they learn quickly too - if there is an obvious flaw with a design, the next version tends to fix it. Fit depends on your shape as well though sometimes they do go a bit random on occasion and I never came close to fitting the bibs. But tops have mostly been fine. I find them a bit long in the body but probably most wouldn't. I'd say the main weaknesses are occasional dodgy stiching and a tendency for the softshells to bobble quickly. But I've covered thousands of miles in them on the daily commute and they do a perfectly good job.Faster than a tent.......0 -
What about the Aldi bike stand (just for storage not repairs)? Anyone got one?Sensa Giulia 1050
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Rolf F wrote:ugo.santalucia wrote:A bit excessive... Aldi stuff is cheap and cheerful, often not worse than the bottom end of the more expensive market... don't expect zips to last very long or clothes to be well designed or to fit well...
That said, if you are on a budget, you can find some very decent stuff.
The zips are usually fine - it's Lidl IME that can't be trusted on zips.
Actually the design is generally pretty good and they learn quickly too - if there is an obvious flaw with a design, the next version tends to fix it. Fit depends on your shape as well though sometimes they do go a bit random on occasion and I never came close to fitting the bibs. But tops have mostly been fine. I find them a bit long in the body but probably most wouldn't. I'd say the main weaknesses are occasional dodgy stiching and a tendency for the softshells to bobble quickly. But I've covered thousands of miles in them on the daily commute and they do a perfectly good job.
I started with Aldi stuff, moved to more decent clothes (Pearl izumi, castelli) and now I pretty much only buy Assos or Rapha... it's snobbery, I know, but the quality is there... while one spends a grand on a set of carbon wheels which are junk, a jacket worth two hundred pounds is generally amazing and once you try one, you don't want to go back to anything cheaper. A pair of Rapha bibs give you the feeling of being sitting on a sofa.
Clothes are the best upgrade, the one that makes the biggest impact, followed by tyres. When clothes don't get in the way, you also end up being faster and enjoy riding for longer... with a crap chamois, you can't wait to be under the shower.left the forum March 20230 -
I just picked up a couple of the base layer tops and they appear to be of excellent quality, certainly as good as some from the more popular brand names I have looked at. I also grabbed a pair of the winter socks as I walked away, also good quality.
The cycling area of the store was very busy and there didn't appear to be many of the tops left which I am taking as a good sign.0 -
well you dont expect top quality at these prices but for me as an enthusiastic beginner I got a jacket, under shirt and gloves and i think its really good value. Will be keeping an eye out for all the other newbie cyclists round our way sporting the red or blue aldi jacket over the next few weeks! Really hard to go wrong at these prices for a bit of cheap winter gear.0
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Had a look at today's bike bits sale. The winter gloves looked OK but the liner was a bit loose, everytime you remove them, you have to re-adjust the liner to fit, much like sealskin gloves. Also I nned XL for my finger length but the volume was too much. Fat fingered friends may find that they fit.
The only thing I picked up were the elasticated LED light set (2 of them), as backup lights.0 -
ugo.santalucia wrote:jordan_217 wrote:Gloves are extremely good, simply the best Winter gloves I've ever had (reserved for the coldest/wetest days). Their base layers are also very good, as good as Craft ones costing twice-three times as much.
A bit excessive... Aldi stuff is cheap and cheerful, often not worse than the bottom end of the more expensive market... don't expect zips to last very long or clothes to be well designed or to fit well...
That said, if you are on a budget, you can find some very decent stuff.
Personally I would spend less on the frame and more on cycling clothes, as that's where the real innovation has been over the past 20 years.
When they asked Gimondi (famous cyclist of the 1960s) what they didn't have at the time that PROs have today, he said:
"We did have light bikes and fast wheels and tyres and all that stuff, we didn't have waterproof clothes, or the chamois they have today... we were either too cold or too hot".
Merino, Gore-tex, this is where the big money should go, in my view
I agree that with regards to clothing - you usually get what you pay for. I've 'invested' in some nice high end Mavic stuff over the last year; softshell and a Goretex Paclite jacket. Both amazing and I don't think I will find better. It's taken me a few years to justify spending lots on clothing but I now feel it's been money well spent.
But but but, there are a few little gems out there and IME some of the Aldi kit is very good and not just for the money. I prefer wearing the base layers to the Craft Zero ones that cost twice as much and the gloves are better than anything by Castelli, Altura, Endura and Mavic that I've previously had and, spent lots of money on. The Planet X Winter gloves I've just bought for £5 are another example that there's a few exceptions to the rule of more money=better.“Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.”0 -
I have bought Aldi gear for the last few years, I have more expensive clothing, but at the price I pick up a few Aldi items in case I need them at some point and the stock normally sells out fairly quickly.
I bought some socks, which last well and a hi viz jersey. The jersey is not the usual quality and has already snagged a couple of times.
I also picked up the £20 tool kit, just seemed worth having around at that price?0 -
porker33 wrote:I also picked up the £20 tool kit, just seemed worth having around at that price?
I thought that too. Got it home and opened it then realised I don't know how to use half the tools!
Is it sad I'm excited about the spoke reflectors for my commuter?0 -
shamrock134 wrote:porker33 wrote:I also picked up the £20 tool kit, just seemed worth having around at that price?
I thought that too. Got it home and opened it then realised I don't know how to use half the tools!
Best way, leave them in the box....I took the chainset off of the MTB, just to try the tool out...then put it back on!
Didn't want to take any chances messing the road bike up, now did I ! 0 -
I picked up some Aldi cycling clothes about 4 years ago and the gloves ( blue/black) are still the best by a mile and I've gone through some brands as well.
the blue jacket still looks as good as new and the baselayers I got for my sons winter football are superb in the winter.
True, you do get what you pay for and the same goes when you spend a fortune all just because it might have a squiggly red "S"on the arm , and I don't mean Superman .
each to their own i say.0 -
bing gordon wrote:I picked up some Aldi cycling clothes about 4 years ago and the gloves ( blue/black) are still the best by a mile and I've gone through some brands as well.
the blue jacket still looks as good as new and the baselayers I got for my sons winter football are superb in the winter.
True, you do get what you pay for and the same goes when you spend a fortune all just because it might have a squiggly red "S"on the arm , and I don't mean Superman .
each to their own i say.
Spot on. I have a wardrobe stuffed full of extremely expensive outdoor/mountaineering/climbing gear, some of it the best you can get: Phd, Rab, arcteryx, Patagonia and several 300 note softshells (had more money than sense when I did a lot of climbing) and I have to say the aldi softshell jackets fit and perform just as well as any of them and I've used them all in some pretty extreme circumstances. I spent my money on my bikes and decent shorts and I would have done on jackets too had the aldi ones been substandard but they haven't been in the least. I'm as big a snob as anyone as my ridiculous outdoor gear fetish will testify too but in a blind test some of the aldi gear, though not all for sure, would compete very well and is really very good indeed.0 -
Brought the arm & leg wanmers in various sizes to check ok and they fit very well, gloves are good too.
Only thing I did buy which I wont be keeping are the overshoes, there awful. Even the size small than I thought I'd need looked like ill-fitting Uggs!
I too have some of the blue & red cycling tops and winter bottoms and still going strong.
I always buy a load of all sizes as they can vary and take back what I dont want [arm wanmers, I kept the small/medium, leg warmers I kept the large/xl legs]Kuota Kharma Race [Dry/Sunny]
Raleigh Airlite 100 [Wet/Horrible]0 -
I bought the triathlon full bib shorts for winter as an extra baselayer. I'm 6tf ...34 "waist... 42" chest, and they fit perfect. The padding might not be the best cause their for triathlon but with padded bill grundies or , shorts they'll do me fine for £15 .
I also got the leg L/XLwarmers and there bang on for £7, snob ? ....far from it , , , warm ?... like toast.0
