Aldi Cycling offers Thursday 24 Sept

Hunterbiker

I got the OH kitted out with some basic stuff and a few things for the commute. Both shops in Ballincollig were more or less cleared out of the Premium clothing and the Turbos by the afternoon.
No sign of a Garmin at one of them when I popped in at about 9:45 Thursday morning.
Didn't really look at the waterproof socks - Are they worth a go? I have Seal Skinz and find them too thick.

Alanstrainor

Wore the jacket last ngiht and this morning for my 11km commute. It was nice, had the sleeves rolled up and open half way, as it is warm, but it's comfy. There's a lot of coughs and colds around the office lately, have to try and keep warm when cycling to make sure I don't fall victim!

jon1981

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Wore the jacket last ngiht and this morning for my 11km commute. It was nice, had the sleeves rolled up and open half way, as it is warm, but it's comfy. There's a lot of coughs and colds around the office lately, have to try and keep warm when cycling to make sure I don't fall victim!

The performance jacket?

I bought both the performance and the normal one for 19.99. Wore the 19.99 jacket on the cycle home, it must have been about 10 degrees at 7pm, was pretty sweaty inside by the time i got home, 20 mins later. So this is probably only going to be used on commutes on really cold days.

Looking forward to trying the performance jacket to see how breathable it is. I don't think it's cold enough yet though.

Alanstrainor

jon1981 wrote: »

The performance jacket?

I bought both the performance and the normal one for 19.99. Wore the 19.99 jacket on the cycle home, it must have been about 10 degrees at 7pm, was pretty sweaty inside by the time i got home, 20 mins later. So this is probably only going to be used on commutes on really cold days.

Looking forward to trying the performance jacket to see how breathable it is. I don't think it's cold enough yet though.

Sorry, yeah the performance jacket. Tbh, you're right it is too warm for conditions now. Another month and it will be good. Don't set your hopes too high for it. I found it fine, but also had it fairly open.

I'd have my doubts as to how it would fair in a shower too, might give it a wash in Nikwax to help it out.

jon1981

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Sorry, yeah the performance jacket. Tbh, you're right it is too warm for conditions now. Another month and it will be good. Don't set your hopes too high for it. I found it fine, but also had it fairly open.

I'd have my doubts as to how it would fair in a shower too, might give it a wash in Nikwax to help it out.

Yeah, I'm not sure the back panel is waterproof? So it didn't breathe too well for you then. It's probably a 0c-8c range jacket at a guess. I don't have an expensive Castelli jacket to compare by so wondering how breathable a jacket can be.

Alanstrainor

jon1981 wrote: »

Yeah, I'm not sure the back panel is waterproof? So it didn't breathe too well for you then. It's probably a 0c-8c range jacket at a guess. I don't have an expensive Castelli jacket to compare by so wondering how breathable a jacket can be.

I have a Gabba, and bought this as a more muck about jacket. The Gabba is great, but mine lost it's waterproof pretty quick. Going to try washing it with Nikwax to help get it back. Obviously the Aldi performance jacket isn't the same quality. But it is good. Certainly a good buy I'd say. But largely too warm for our weather. It'll probably be more of a November -> Jan jacket.

mrcheez

So the Garmin is pretty fantastic. Like the fact it comes with two mounts as I have two bikes that I use interchangeably. Very high quality gear.

Was surprised I was hitting 35kph on my way into work, always thought I maxed out around 25kph, especially with coastal wind in your face.

Regarding taking it on-off, is there any risk of the plastic wearing down over time? It does seem like quite a tight fit as it's rotated on the mount.

Alanstrainor

mrcheez wrote: »

So the Garmin is pretty fantastic. Like the fact it comes with two mounts as I have two bikes that I use interchangeably. Very high quality gear.

Was surprised I was hitting 35kph on my way into work, always thought I maxed out around 25kph, especially with coastal wind in your face.

Regarding taking it on-off, is there any risk of the plastic wearing down over time? It does seem like quite a tight fit as it's rotated on the mount.

I've had my garmin for years. Still using the same mount I got with it. never had any issues. You can buy more robust mounts on ebay if you wish.

darka78

mrcheez wrote: »

So the Garmin is pretty fantastic. Like the fact it comes with two mounts as I have two bikes that I use interchangeably. Very high quality gear.

Was surprised I was hitting 35kph on my way into work, always thought I maxed out around 25kph, especially with coastal wind in your face.

Regarding taking it on-off, is there any risk of the plastic wearing down over time? It does seem like quite a tight fit as it's rotated on the mount.

does it show accurate speed without cadense/speed sensor GSC 10?

seamus

darka78 wrote: »

does it show accurate speed without cadense/speed sensor GSC 10?

It's accurate enough. You will find it blipping a bit (over or under reading speed) if you go under dense tree cover or into a tunnel, but Garmin Connect and Strava tend to correct these errors when you do the upload.

In normal conditions it's accurate to within 2m, so the accuracy difference between the GSC 10 and the GPS unit above 20km/h, is +/- 3%.

Mec-a-nic

mrcheez wrote: »

Regarding taking it on-off, is there any risk of the plastic wearing down over time? It does seem like quite a tight fit as it's rotated on the mount.

it is a well known weakness - one person even created his own after-market, Garmin mount in aluminium to cater for this: http://www.dogearsgps.com/

mrcheez

Mec-a-nic wrote: »

it is a well known weakness - one person even created his own after-market, Garmin mount in aluminium to cater for this: http://www.dogearsgps.com/

Right, well I'll minimise the number of times I take it off, and these replacements might be even cheaper when I finally need them.

mrcheez

seamus wrote: »

It's accurate enough. You will find it blipping a bit (over or under reading speed)

I did notice it read 0.65kph while stationary before my initial trip this morning, but perhaps that was because it was freshly connected to a satellite.

Perhaps a firmware update is something I should do today.

cython

Mec-a-nic wrote: »

it is a well known weakness - one person even created his own after-market, Garmin mount in aluminium to cater for this: http://www.dogearsgps.com/

Just to add balance to this, there was a poster on here a while back who had a tab wear/break off his Garmin edge, and after a bit of back and forth (potentially confusion over the actual issue) Garmin replaced the casing free of charge, as they accepted this should not happen. Worth bearing in mind should you have issues.

seamus

cython wrote: »

Just to add balance to this, there was a poster on here a while back who had a tab wear/break off his Garmin edge, and after a bit of back and forth (potentially confusion over the actual issue) Garmin replaced the casing free of charge, as they accepted this should not happen. Worth bearing in mind should you have issues.

Yeah, it's a "known issue", but probably depends on the individual item and the person using it. I use mine on my commuter and have done for 4.5 years. So that's twice a day, five days a week, plus the rest of the time I've used it. So mine's been attached/removed at least 2,000 times, and is showing no signs of breaking.

The mount is probably more flexible than people give it credit for. So if you have it sitting on an oddly-shaped or narrow bar/stem, or you're not using the rubber backing, then the mount itself will be warped, which could cause the tabs on the casing to bend and weaken.

StevieGriff

cython wrote: »

Just to add balance to this, there was a poster on here a while back who had a tab wear/break off his Garmin edge, and after a bit of back and forth (potentially confusion over the actual issue) Garmin replaced the casing free of charge, as they accepted this should not happen. Worth bearing in mind should you have issues.

Also worth bearing in mind, anytime I've heard of tabs breaking of usually seem to be in conjunction with a K-Edge Mount. Use Barfly myself on both road bikes and mtb. Probably swap around 2-3 times a week for the last year and no problem.

jon1981

Regarding the premium light, i presume when the light stops blinking, it's fully charged?

Alanstrainor

jon1981 wrote: »

Regarding the premium light, i presume when the light stops blinking, it's fully charged?

Aye. Constant light means it is charged.

cajonlardo

Got a pair of the 3 strap (blue) shoes.
Comfort, stiff sole and that elusive snug enough for really secure to pedal feel.

I had a pair from aldi for nearly 10 years and even though I had good roadshoes I preferred those. Only drawback was they weighed a lot. I wore the old ones racing and sportives and commuting 6 days a week and was sad to see them go.They never actually wore out, just got too tatty. Any that were on sale since weren't the same quality imo.
The latest pair are much improved. Stiff light sole and weigh a lot less. Out the road this morning and they were comfortable and stiff enough for me over some some hills. So, the Carnacs and Diadoras can have another rest.

Darkglasses

Few of everything except the Garmins left in the Aldi on Trinity St., Wexford

Hunterbiker

cajonlardo wrote: »

Got a pair of the 3 strap (blue) shoes.
Comfort, stiff sole and that elusive snug enough for really secure to pedal feel.

I had a pair from aldi for nearly 10 years and even though I had good roadshoes I preferred those. Only drawback was they weighed a lot. I wore the old ones racing and sportives and commuting 6 days a week and was sad to see them go.They never actually wore out, just got too tatty. Any that were on sale since weren't the same quality imo.
The latest pair are much improved. Stiff light sole and weigh a lot less. Out the road this morning and they were comfortable and stiff enough for me over some some hills. So, the Carnacs and Diadoras can have another rest.

Do these take 3 bolt cleats or 2?
What is the sizing like akin to normal shoes?

oceanclub

I bought the cycling shows think they would work fine with traditional pedals as well (I commute a hybrid); mistaken assumption on my part, I guess. Now not sure whether to go to whole hog and change my pedals or just sell the shoes and buy something more suitable. Given most of my cycling is commuting in traffic I'm thinking I'm probably better off sticking with traditional pedals.

EDIT: If do, what do people think of this combination pedals & multi-release cleats combo?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-spd-mtb-cleats/ (Shimano SPD MTB Cleats)
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-m324-combination-pedals/ (Shimano M324 Combination Pedals)

P.

cajonlardo

Hunterbiker wrote: »

Do these take 3 bolt cleats or 2?
What is the sizing like akin to normal shoes?

2 bolt spd

Sizing is bang on , mine say size 8 / 42 and that is what I normally wear in
"Street" shoes or runners or indeed cycling shoes

Fian

oceanclub wrote: »

I bought the cycling shows think they would work fine with traditional pedals as well (I commute a hybrid); mistaken assumption on my part, I guess. Now not sure whether to go to whole hog and change my pedals or just sell the shoes and buy something more suitable. Given most of my cycling is commuting in traffic I'm thinking I'm probably better off sticking with traditional pedals.

EDIT: If do, what do people think of this combination pedals & multi-release cleats combo?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-spd-mtb-cleats/ (Shimano SPD MTB Cleats)
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-m324-combination-pedals/ (Shimano M324 Combination Pedals)

P.

Mountain bike cleats would be the way to go for traffic imo, easier to clip in and out. Are the cleats recessed in those shoes? Otherwise you will still be slippy when walking into office/upstairs or whatever. Do the shoes take 2 bolt cleats?

I use a platform pedal on my commute bike but i keep thinking to myself i must get around to sticking spd pedals on it.

Darkglasses

SPDs are a great upgrade on normal flat pedals, well worth a good try. Might take a few goes to get used to, but comes second nature in no time. Have used them for years and never had any incidents on the road. Any pedal set you buy on wiggle or CRC will include cleats.

oceanclub

Fian wrote: »

Mountain bike cleats would be the way to go for traffic imo, easier to clip in and out.

Would they be even easier than the combination above (the cleats allow you to unclip in any direction, plus the pedals, quote, are "Ideal as a first clipless pedal due to the adjustable cleat tension, this means you can start off with loose tension for extra easy engagement & release".

Are the cleats recessed in those shoes? Otherwise you will still be slippy when walking into office/upstairs or whatever. Do the shoes take 2 bolt cleats?

Yup to both these questions.

P.

Fian

oceanclub wrote: »

Would they be even easier than the combination above (the cleats allow you to unclip in any direction, plus the pedals, quote, are "Ideal as a first clipless pedal due to the adjustable cleat tension, this means you can start off with loose tension for extra easy engagement & release".



P.

By MTB cleats I meant these ones.

I am suggesting these are the best type of clipless pedals to get and the ones I am thinking of swapping on to my hybrid for commute. Either that or just starting to commute on my road bike and leaving the hybrid at home.

Even so it is probably worth practicing for a while before you venture into city traffic. Most people have a slow motion fall before the need to unclip at traffic lights gets burned into the brain, I know I did. Loose tension is great for this because if you panic/start to fall you can normally just rip your leg out on time anyway. On a commute you are very unlikely to unclip accidentally because of low tension, that is normally a concern for people sprinting to a finish line as I understand it.

HivemindXX

Macy0161 wrote: »

They seem alright, fit wise. Haven't tested them on the bike yet, or in the cold obviously. I have the winter gloves from previous years, and they seem more padded than those and claim to be waterproof which the standard ones aren't.

Regarding the lobster gloves, I had to go to three places before I found some in stock. Long Mile Road in Dublin still has some. They seem ok, perhaps a bit large but I'd probably be wearing liners under them anyway.

One problem I noticed when I got home is that they make it pretty awkward to change gears down on my MTB style changers. This is usually achieved with a flick of the index finger, which no longer wants to move without dragging the middle finger along for the ride. I may get used to it, or I may just use them on my road bike where this won't be an issue.

Unknown Soldier

Hunterbiker wrote: »

I got the OH kitted out with some basic stuff and a few things for the commute.<snip>

Same. Ended up buying stuff for my OH too. Bright yellow winter jacket and bib tights!

I have a lot of the "pro" Aldi stuff from 2 years ago and last year. Bought at "sale" prices.

Looking forward to wearing it as the weather get colder. Very good & comfy gear IMO.

Bought a sh1t load of those small battery powered elasticated lights. They are for nothing really and I'd rather not have my back broken.

Also treated myself to some leg and arm warmers. Very nice considering the price.

Unfortunately for us, Aldi seem to have streamlined their "pro cycling gear" strategy by realising that less stock with a good margin is better than what they did in the past.

Macy0161

Macy0161 wrote: »

The review of the King Goblin is what I am really waiting for tbh.

King Goblin is dangerously nice at 6.6% anyway.