Aldi Specials

[Ross]

My local Aldi still have one of each size road bike. As I mentioned previously the sticker on the box says reduced to $369 but the shelf label say $349...

[ironhanglider]

626km in 18 days has confirmed to me that the Aldi bike is an excellent commuter. Mind you I have fitted pedals, guards, a rack and a dynohub. It looks like an easy mod to get internal cabling for a rear light if I get one.

Cheers,

Cameron

[jasonc]

It looks like an easy mod to get internal cabling for a rear light if I get one.

hmmm. reckon you could get di2 in there?

[ironhanglider]

It looks like an easy mod to get internal cabling for a rear light if I get one.

hmmm. reckon you could get di2 in there?

That would seem to be overcapitalising a bit, and I don't know enough about this electrickery stuff to change gears.

The internal cabling for the deraillers is pretty unsophisticated. It runs the full housing down which exits the down tube near the BB and then around the outside of the BB shell up to cable stops on the seat tube and chain stay. The rear derailler cable has a short section of exposed cable under the chainstay before another cable stop for the final loop to the derailler. Since the front derailler cable housing points upwards I'll keep an eye on it because water might get in and cause problems.

I would have thought that running a full length cable to the rear would have been a better design since it would open up more options for equipment choices including electric or hydraulic gears, as well as eliminating contamination problems with a conventional cable, and it would only be a change in the design of the cable stops/guides.

As for the lighting I was thinking that I'd make the holes in the rubber grommets a little bigger and running the light wiring alongside the rear brake cable and along the rack from there.

Cheers,

Cameron

[Ross]

One of the Aldi stores near me has MTBs.
Not sure the exact specs except they are 27.5" with (I think) 21 speed Shimano gears - $80

[uart]

I've been using a $25 Aldi helmet solely for 2 years. Just took it on a long trip to the USA.
It's been absolutely fine, and weighs as little as $200+ helmets.

On the other hand, my Aldi floor pump is rubbish,

Yeah the helmet is fine. I've used mine a few time now.

Actually the floor pump I got (just a few weeks ago) seems pretty good. It clips on the valve without leaking any air, the pressure gauge is fairly accurate, and it feels nice and solid.

Just wondering, what aspects did you find bad about the pump you got CKinnard?

[Arbuckle23]

Happy with my floor pump. Works well.
Reasonably accurate compared to a known good gauge.

[Mike Ayling]

I've been using a $25 Aldi helmet solely for 2 years. Just took it on a long trip to the USA.
It's been absolutely fine, and weighs as little as $200+ helmets.

On the other hand, my Aldi floor pump is rubbish,

Yeah the helmet is fine. I've used mine a few time now.

Actually the floor pump I got (just a few weeks ago) seems pretty good. It clips on the valve without leaking any air, the pressure gauge is fairly accurate, and it feels nice and solid.

Just wondering, what aspects did you find bad about the pump you got CKinnard?

Mary and I have had no issues with our Aldi helmets.

Mike

[Calvin27]

https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/265723

On paper, it looks not bad.

[Abby]

Heads up!

Next round of Aldi cycling specials are this Saturday...

https://www.aldi.com.au/en/special-buys ... september/

[find_bruce]

As well as the soft roader, Aldi have a bunch of other bike stuff onSat 24 Sep tool kit, stand, floor pump, solarstorm2 clone light, 500g Bucket of Maltesers

[outnabike]

I notice there is a base ball thrower on special at aldi Sat/24/Sept. I don't know if it comes with handle bar clamps.....

[Calvin27]

I notice there is a base ball thrower on special at aldi Sat/24/Sept. I don't know if it comes with handle bar clamps.....

Well spotted, getting one for the dog!

[find_bruce]

Well spotted, getting one for the dog!

Your dog or someone elses?

[find_bruce]

A novel item at my local Aldi was a 25 l dry bag backpack for $69.99. Maybe from a previous week's catalogue but stumbled on it while checking out this week's cycling specials. Quite a bit cheaper than dry-bag panniers, although carrying weight on your back isn't
as comfortable.

Nevertheless, looks a great solution for all-weather riders or commuters --- previously my practice has been to use a cyclindrical dry bag inside a draw string bag. Can't wait for a serious downpour to give it a workout

Just an update of the dry bag's performance... it did the job very effectively. Everthing inside dry as a bone after riding in steady rain for 2 hours. The bag is nice and light too ... just 750 grams unloaded, and the large side pockets can securely hold a 750 ml water bottles securely. Saw some "straggler stock" in my local Aldi today, so it might still be possible to pick one up.

I have one and can vouch for its waterproofness at least initially. Only concern however is how durable it will be as (1) the fabric seems lighter than the dry bags & (2) lots of stitching points etc that are a common source of water ingress.

How is your dry bag holding up WombatK?

Mine developed holes fairly quickly, which sort of detracts from the whole dry bit. Went to return it today & was surprised at how rude & offensive the Store Manager was. Firstly tried to tell that I had to return it within 60 days (today was day 78). When I insisted that under the Australian Consumer Law goods come with a guarantee that they are fit for purpose, he tried to tell me that I should have returned it the next day. I asked him to show me the sign in the store that said goods were only fit to use for 60 days. He started to look, but couldn't find it. I then pointed out the big sign that confirmed I have rights under the Australian Consumer Law - I have some professional experience with this particular law & do not take well to BS excuses.

It took a fair bit of argument before he reluctantly agreed to give me a refund.

Funnily enough when I got to work I checked the Aldi returns policy. You will be shocked to hear that it properly reflects section 54 of the Australian Consumer Law that guarantee's that goods must be fit for all the purposes for which goods of that kind are commonly supplied & that they are durable.

Annoyed me enough to fire off a complaint to Aldi customer service, so will see what happens.

[TheShadow]

Mine developed holes fairly quickly, which sort of detracts from the whole dry bit. Went to return it today & was surprised at how rude & offensive the Store Manager was. Firstly tried to tell that I had to return it within 60 days (today was day 78). When I insisted that under the Australian Consumer Law goods come with a guarantee that they are fit for purpose, he tried to tell me that I should have returned it the next day. I asked him to show me the sign in the store that said goods were only fit to use for 60 days. He started to look, but couldn't find it. I then pointed out the big sign that confirmed I have rights under the Australian Consumer Law - I have some professional experience with this particular law & do not take well to BS excuses.

It took a fair bit of argument before he reluctantly agreed to give me a refund.

Funnily enough when I got to work I checked the Aldi returns policy. You will be shocked to hear that it properly reflects section 54 of the Australian Consumer Law that guarantee's that goods must be fit for all the purposes for which goods of that kind are commonly supplied & that they are durable.

This is not related to Aldi, but I think is a relevent story about what you're facing as a consumer in Australia now.

I just bought a new ceiling fan with integrated light from a local shop. Had it installed using their rec/licensed electrician. Control unit failed when he first turned it on, and he wrote that on the job sheet that he signed off on. It is a DC fan - they ONLY work using remotes - neither fan or light can be used.

I phone the shop and get told to contact the manufacturer to make a warranty claim. I'm not super happy about this,and note that is NOT what the 2010 consumer act says >> it says I should be able to get an exchange/refund from the shop...immediately?

Instead I'm waiting for the maufacturer's repair agent to call and confirm it was not an installation issue, which would invalidate the warranty. It's almost two weeks since this happened...7 full working days since I sent the third document for the warranty claim and got a acknowledgement email from the manufacturer. There's no working ceiling light. It's not a cheap fan/light...about average for a DC fan. The control unit 'kit' costs $155. The installation was about the same. Sparky warned me this big Aust Co has a bad reputation for warranty issues.
IMHO, I should't have to be even thinking about this.

[warthog1]

I think I'm getting a mountain bike if I get there on time.

http://flowmountainbike.com/tests/flows ... ance-29er/

Had a look on ebay and bike exchange and nothing comes close even second hand from my quick look

[Calvin27]

I think I'm getting a mountain bike if I get there on time.

http://flowmountainbike.com/tests/flows ... ance-29er/

Had a look on ebay and bike exchange and nothing comes close even second hand from my quick look

I've been through a few mountain bikes and if I can get to it, this will make for a fine ebike conversion for extended 300km+ rides in a day. It has internal cable routing so the plan is to remove the FD and use the routing for electronics.

[ironhanglider]

I think I'm getting a mountain bike if I get there on time.

http://flowmountainbike.com/tests/flows ... ance-29er/

Had a look on ebay and bike exchange and nothing comes close even second hand from my quick look

I've been through a few mountain bikes and if I can get to it, this will make for a fine ebike conversion for extended 300km+ rides in a day. It has internal cable routing so the plan is to remove the FD and use the routing for electronics.

If it is anything like the road bike it will be ideal for this. The unsophisticated cabling makes these mods relatively easy.

ps. 1380km on the road bike. So far it meets all expectations comfortably.

Cheers,

Cameron

[ironhanglider]

damn double post.

[richard.allan]

I bought a couple of pairs of socks which seem pretty good for the price but the store I went to didn't have most of what was advertised as far as I could see. The only other thing I was interested in was the stand.

[Ross]

Aldi UK have some good specials coming up soon with online ordering available (don't think o/s orders are accepted) - https://www.aldi.co.uk/specialbuys/date ... ing&page=0

[uart]

Arh, I missed out on the chain lube again!

Just stopped by the local Aldi tonight to pick up a few groceries and I noticed the wd40 related products are back. As per last time, tons of cleaner and degreaser still left, but no sign of any chain lube.

[rodneycc]

Lots of bike stuff at my local Aldi (Kilsyth Vic).
2x med road bikes discounted
2x large 29ers
Lots of lube and degreaser both (got the lube because of its spray head).
bike stands
Jerseys and knicks (not that good this time around).
Pumps (the crappy ones the silver wooden handled ones were better).
Toolkits

Not much up take this time around by the looks.

[ironhanglider]

Arh, I missed out on the chain lube again!

Just stopped by the local Aldi tonight to pick up a few groceries and I noticed the wd40 related products are back. As per last time, tons of cleaner and degreaser still left, but no sign of any chain lube.

There were a dozen cans of chain lube in Brandon Park Aldi, no cleaner or degreaser though. Some clothing that didn't inspire me and the pumps likewise.

However there were also several work stands and 2 large 29'rs.

Cheers,

Cameron