Interesting... Aldi "Crane Pro" gear, 21st November

UndercoverElephant

To be fair to them, they took them back no problem...

rolf_f

Odd how excellent their top half stuff generally is yet they just can't do shorts or tights! That said, I have some Aldi base layer leggings which are really pretty good so it's not all bad for the lower half.

pete54

Just had a look at the remains of this in the local Aldi and was distinctly unimpressed. £30 for a horrible jacket? You could get something decent in the sale for that amount. And scratchy socks.

rolf_f

pete54 wrote:

Just had a look at the remains of this in the local Aldi and was distinctly unimpressed. £30 for a horrible jacket? You could get something decent in the sale for that amount. And scratchy socks.

The standard cycling socks are the best I've ever found so I'd be inclined to wash and wear these ones before blindly condemning them.

pete54

Rolf F wrote:

The standard cycling socks are the best I've ever found so I'd be inclined to wash and wear these ones before blindly condemning them

Hmmm, hard to believe they are better than Woolie Boolies or Rapha merino socks but I'll take your word for it. I bought a pair of the (23%) 'wool' socks to get free parking and can always use them for scouring pots if they are too uncomfortable to wear. Those jackets can't be worth more than a tenner though, can they?

rolf_f

pete54 wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

The standard cycling socks are the best I've ever found so I'd be inclined to wash and wear these ones before blindly condemning them

Hmmm, hard to believe they are better than Woolie Boolies or Rapha merino socks but I'll take your word for it. I bought a pair of the (23%) 'wool' socks to get free parking and can always use them for scouring pots if they are too uncomfortable to wear. Those jackets can't be worth more than a tenner though, can they?

The standard ones aren't thick winter socks like Woollie Boolies so they aren't exactly comparable. They are extremely durable, comfortable and warm for the thickness of them. Don't know about the jackets. The normal softshells they sell are I think about £15-£20 and again, excellent. Warm and very long lasting. The problem with the pro stuff is it doesn't seem to be convincingly superior to the normal kit. I probably should have looked more closely but I couldn't be bothered with the over complicated packaging!

Teddy Westside

Took the bike out in the cold late afternoon yesterday to test the jacket, bib longs and socks. It was around 2-3°C so with wind chill it was below freezing. I wore a pair of Endura mid-weight socks over the Aldi ones as i didn't trust them to be enough on their own - bit of a squeeze in the road shoes but I avoided numb toes (my Pearl Izumi Barrier Lite overshoes blocked the cold out too).

I found the bib longs comfortable for the 8.5 miles I rode. I thought the pad was fine, and better than I would have predicted. Personally, I think I could still comfortably wear any of my thicker pad shorts underneath. But as expected, the crotch area did fold up and move differently due to the thicker material. Then again, if anyone other than me noticed, they are probably not paying attention where they should! I agree they do grip the knee a bit but after a couple of minutes I didn't notice it.

The jacket was surprisingly good. Under it, I wore an Aldi merino base layer with am Under armour Heat Gear baselayer over that, followed by the jacket and my Altura Night Vision Flite on top to act as the windproof layer as well as being better for visibility than the black jacket. The fit of the jacket is good and it stretches well with your movement.

I got home comfortably warm and may have been fine without the Under Armour, but it was good for its wicking properties as the jacket sleeves were just a little damp. That could have been condensation from coming indoors though - that can happen with the Altura.

Only a short outing but no significant complaints with any of the 3 items. I maintained a decent temperature and stayed comfortable throughout. I could feel it was cold through the longs but I didn't actually feel cold if that makes sense. I could probably even use leg warmers underneath if I really needed the insulation, but if it were that cold I would more likely be on one of my mountain bikes and wearing overtrousers on top of longs. The jacket kept me warm without causing excess perspiration, my base layers remaining almost totally dry (it's normally my mid-back area that would get damp first when I get too hot).

There are times I don't want to wear my premium gear and these items will do just fine in those conditions. Not cheap from a bargain bucket brand but cheap enough. Minor niggles with the fit of the longs but they'll most likely only get use on shorter trips where it won't be an issue. I suppose you may get comparable items from the big brands in special offers but that means shopping around.

Verdict: Decent performance for the money; nothing flashy; slight fit issues with the longs, but products work well together. The speckled nature of the front reflective might make you feel like you're wearing a mesh-lined item inside out though!

marklean1972

Just purchased the Pro Cycling Shirt and socks. Wore them on a ride today and overall was very pleased. The sizing of the shirt is slightly small and I had to go a size up. Nice fit with good length in the arms but some baggyness over the shoulders. The length is excellent with the nice addition of the storm flap that can be untucked to cover your bum in the wet. The 3 back pockets are of a good size and easy to access whilst riding, zip is a good quality YKK and easy to do up/undo when moving. The shirt has a nice addition of wind proof material on the front and on today's ride (+4 slight winds in Northern Scotland) my core was kept warm and only a slight chill felt on the arms. The shirt has a nice high comfy collar to keep the cold out and reflective material on the forearms, shoulders and back. This is my first purchase from Aldi and wasn't to sure what to expect, but, overall I am impressed with this shirt that only cost £17.99 as it performed as well as some of my "expensive" kit.

The socks set me back £3.99 and are easily worth that. They have good padding and kept my feet warmer than I expected.

I kept an open mind when I purchased this kit and going on my first impressions I will be back to Aldi soon.

leodis75

£30 for Aldi bib tights... The looked pretty cheap in the store at the weeknd, and what was that material on the front of the legs? Better to get DHB stuff at that price.

fossyant

Anyone else noticed the seat area bubbling up on the bibs. Mine have gone really bad after 4 rides, and can't see them lasting another week as the lycra is starting to run - not my saddles as I have other bibs that this has not happened to. Will take them back to my local store tonight as I've got to get home in them first !

benleicester

Took my bibs back and got refund. They just looked / fitted wrong.

Teddy Westside

leodis75 wrote:

what was that material on the front of the legs?

Reflective material, as mentioned previously.

leodis75 wrote:

Better to get DHB stuff at that price.

Well you could, but you'd currently be paying £54 for padded bib longs with a seat pad and reflectives. The quality may well be better but the price is higher for the most direct replacement in terms of features.

Teddy Westside

fossyant wrote:

Anyone else noticed the seat area bubbling up on the bibs.

Only worn mine for the one ride I mentioned above so no experience of that, no. When you say "bubbling up" do you mean pilling? The only examples of that I've had are from abrasion caused by 1) the velcro strap on my seat pack and 2) the zip on a jersey rubbing on the waist area. Certainly unusual you'd get that so quickly from your saddle if you've never suffered from it with other shorts or longs.

littleprawn

Teddy Westside wrote:

littleprawn wrote:

I am 5ft8 and got the medium (bib longs)...tried in the office and would say they are for for someone who is at least 5ft 10 or more and slightly baggy

I'm 5' 10" but I object to being called baggy! :P

(Eats shoots and leaves )

I did get their small size at local store as M was 'baggy'.

Wore them this morning on commute to work and agree with UndercoverElephant. Front material is inflexible and dealbreaker for me too. I was thinking this morning if after some washes.... the material might loosen up...then climbing aa hill this morning on my 13 mile commute I decided this needs to be returned (I would struggle to ride comfortably for over 30 + miles in a stretch in these) and reinvest the £30 in a decent pair of cycling tights.

2 pairs to return - one M and one S...

Shame really...is it worth trying out their performance trousers?

bigmat

I'd leave the trousers alone. This thread really not a good advert for Aldi! Planet X unpadded bib longs do the job perfectly well for less than £30 last time I looked.

The socks are good though - bit long in the long, my bright red ones have been making a bit of a statement but they are comfortable and warm and fit well.

Teddy Westside

I'm going to keep my longs unless I experience any breakdown in the lycra. I don't really do a lot of riding that requires longs, more likely shorts and leg warmers, and what I do in longs is more likely to be no more than 10-15 miles tops. So I can put up with the slightly inflexible frontal area and I expect I'll get used to the "inside-out" appearance.

But it has put me off Aldi's "Pro" ethos. Even the Pro jacket, which I kind of like, is fairly ordinary by regular cycling manufacturers' standards and is more of a thin thermal jersey than a true jacket. Maybe they'll tweak things for future offers or just go back to their budget roots, we'll see.

littleprawn

BigMat wrote:

I'd leave the trousers alone. This thread really not a good advert for Aldi! Planet X unpadded bib longs do the job perfectly well for less than £30 last time I looked.

The socks are good though - bit long in the long, my bright red ones have been making a bit of a statement but they are comfortable and warm and fit well.

BigMat wrote:

I'd leave the trousers alone. This thread really not a good advert for Aldi! Planet X unpadded bib longs do the job perfectly well for less than £30 last time I looked.

The socks are good though - bit long in the long, my bright red ones have been making a bit of a statement but they are comfortable and warm and fit well.

Okay...will leave trousers alone. I wonder Aldi did any testing (i.e. got guys to critique them after rides) on these bib longs. Real shame and forgot to add the pad is very average...

Teddy Westside wrote:

But it has put me off Aldi's "Pro" ethos. Even the Pro jacket, which I kind of like, is fairly ordinary by regular cycling manufacturers' standards and is more of a thin thermal jersey than a true jacket. Maybe they'll tweak things for future offers or just go back to their budget roots, we'll see.

Fingers crossed for next year...have got some decent cycling jackets from them...

other funny thing happened to me on route to work... is that i was slightly shunted (felt pressure on wheel from behind) this morning by a Mini cooper (turned round and gave drive a glaring stare) as I was stopping on the A5 for a turning lorry and also a car passed me closely as I was cycling up Golders Green Road. Wonder if it had to do with the big rear reflective stripe on the tights....

Teddy Westside

Dazzled by the reflectives or dazzled by your abilities?

Glad it wasn't more serious though. No excuse for running into you, even gently.

littleprawn

Teddy Westside wrote:

Dazzled by the reflectives or dazzled by your abilities?

Glad it wasn't more serious though. No excuse for running into you, even gently.

I know...really dozy drivers...like all people...cyclists alike...good and bad eggs....

bunter

Bib longs are being returned tomorrow. Comfort is not good, although I like the windproofing the softshell bits offer in very cold weather. Also, the reflective patches started to peel off after one ride.
I like the jacket though. I wore it today with a long sleeve base layer underneath & found fit and comfort very good.

sswiss

I went in last week to check the pro stuff out before reading this thread and decided against the bib longs....they just didn't seem "right" in the hand.....glad I did now, with the reviews on here. I picked up the base layer tights though and they have been good this week, paired with some decent bib shorts they have been fine in this temperature.

andyrr

I got a pair of the 'pants', aka bib longs, on Christmas eve in the local store - reduced from 29.99 to 21.99 and in size Small so I thought I can't lose especially as now almost all of my existing longs a hole or tear in them.
Opinions : a strange fit, lower lycra section is quite thin and baggy, upper section also doesn't fit too well, the zipper (what is the point of such a short zip) opens at the slightest provocation. Pad is thin - maybe that's a good thing as I'd much prefer unpadded longs to wear over shorts so they get washed after each ride.
All-in-all they're pretty rubbish but as I got them for a little over £20 I'll keep them but only worth 4/10 from me.