$349 Aldi mountain bike

[warthog1]

^^That was well worth it

[warthog1]

Could not believe my luck today.
Droning along in Aldi, grabbing some grocery shopping, I was visually sifting through the specials. As I was cruising past I noticed 3 bike boxes. Aldi road bikes on the first couple I read.
I did a second take on the 3rd box as I was walking away.
Was that 29er I saw?
Couldn't be, I rang them a couple of weeks back and they were sold out state-wide.
I did a quick U turn and headed over.
Black and white premium 29er.
What size?
Large
You beauty! That was the end of the grocery shopping as I dragged it and the trolley to the checkout.
Got it home and there was probably only a 15minute explosion from my wife
Showed my son and we put it together this arvo.
Again the non-drive side rear spokes were as loose as a goose and the rear cones a bit tight.
A few loose spokes on the front wheel but other than that all good.
We are off on them to shoot hoops at his school stadium in a few minutes.

Go the Aldi!!

[Mulger bill]

Nice! Have a ball

[warthog1]

Thanks Shaun.
We got there and he loved it but he's a work in progress, prob similar to my basketball skills
All the stuff you do unconsciously on a bike isn't there. Weight distribution, planning ahead, looking through the corner, gear selection and operation, feel for traction etc.
Clipless pedals are a ways off.
That's without road craft. We'll get the mechanical skills before tackling that. Anyway we enjoyed it

[elfoam]

My father bought the 2015 27.5" wheeled version. Bloody good handling mtb . I rate it. I guess the 29er is just as good.

[warthog1]

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

I kinda think the White look better then the red

Got a white one for my son in large too.
So one of each.
My preference is definitely with the red if that helps.

[warthog1]

My father bought the 2015 27.5" wheeled version. Bloody good handling mtb . I rate it. I guess the 29er is just as good.

I've got no idea what a good handling mtb is. I'm not too far off on a couple of downhill strava segments and have taken a lesser known (obscure is a term you could use) uphill kom so it can't be that bad

[AUbicycles]

An update on the disc brake rubbing on the Aldi MTB , apparently an issue with the wheels / bearings which were too tight and once adjusted, the alignment for the brakes was better.

[warthog1]

An update on the disc brake rubbing on the Aldi MTB , apparently an issue with the wheels / bearings which were too tight and once adjusted, the alignment for the brakes was better.

The rear on my son's one does that thanks.

Mine had another issue on the weekend, bottom bracket creaking badly.
It wasn't done up very tight though there was a bit of grease on the threads.
I pulled it all apart and liberally greased the threads as well as the non driveside cup. All good.
Crashed at low speed on some rocks on the weekend and tore the seat. The vinyl is pretty thin/weak.
I had a spare fizik tundra 2 sitting at home so put that on.
I hadn't realized how bad the std seat is til I swapped it out. The padding is too thick and soft though the shape works for me. The tundra 2 is much better.

I've done about 600km on mine now. The issues in summary;
Loose spokes (badly)
Creaking bb.
Soft seat.
Over tight wheel bearings.

All in all I'm really happy though, It got me and my son out on the trails and I now know why people rave about single track.
How good is it?!

[Mulger bill]

...I now know why people rave about single track.
How good is it?!

Better even than that!
When you get a midweek day off (less traffic), head south to the Wombat Forest trails just south of Woodend. Trailhead is off Fingerpost Road.

[warthog1]

Better even than that!
When you get a midweek day off (less traffic), head south to the Wombat Forest trails just south of Woodend. Trailhead is off Fingerpost Road.

Thanks Shaun
It just so happens I have hols in 3 weeks time. So I'll be checking that area out. Cheers!

I'm still exploring the trails around spring gully in Bendigo. The local club has done a heap of work. There are miles of as yet unridden ones.
I might need to join up so I can do my bit.

[Milar]

I'd procrastinated on buying one of these when they came out, so there were none left when I decided to do it. That was until I was doing a work supplies run last night and in the goodies isle there's a bike box, a quick check of the size confirms it's a large and bless Aldi, they'd dropped the price to $279 to compensate me for missing out the first time. I've made it less box-shaped and more bike-shaped but this thread looks to have a good checklist of things to adjust before I show off my mountain biking pedigree.

[warthog1]

What a score!

[Willstar44]

there 3 left in my local shop , they have moved it to the "clearance " area next to the unsold BBQ and TV -

I am waiting for a 30% yellow sticker to go on the side .

[warthog1]

I'm guessing people can pm you if they need to know where that is.
2 of them may find the answer

[warthog1]

Better even than that!
When you get a midweek day off (less traffic), head south to the Wombat Forest trails just south of Woodend. Trailhead is off Fingerpost Road.

Haven't got there yet but it looks good if this is it?

[Calvin27]

IT'S BACK!

https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/326762

[paul85]

I grabbed one today, bike 5 for me... Not sure my fiancee thought I would actually buy it after finding a large and deciding to go up the road to a second Aldi, she looked a bit shocked when I walked out of the store with it, t but it was 1/10th what I normally spend on a bike at least.

Good bike easy to assemble and for the money $299 cannot complain. Just needed to centre the brakes and it was all good. Tyres need replacing

[Comedian]

Once I clear a few underutilised bikes from home I reckon these could be good for other family members to do some rail trail rides.

[JPB]

mmm. My 12 year old clunker MTB was pinched last night, might be worth watching Aldi.

The sad part is that I think I had the go ahead from the Minister for Finances for a wheelset upgrade on the road bike but there is no way I could get a new MTB and a wheel upgrade. Oh well, I will just need to get fitter and maybe wait till my birthday for the wheels.

[RobertL]

mmm. My 12 year old clunker MTB was pinched last night, might be worth watching Aldi.

The sad part is that I think I had the go ahead from the Minister for Finances for a wheelset upgrade on the road bike but there is no way I could get a new MTB and a wheel upgrade. Oh well, I will just need to get fitter and maybe wait till my birthday for the wheels.

If I wanted to replace a 12 y.o. MTB, I'd probably go 2nd hand.

Check out gumtree and ebay - there are heaps of decent 2nd hand bikes on there, often with little use. You can pick up a bargain if you are prepared to wade through dozens of generic ads for a "bike" where the owner clearly doesn't know how to advertise it properly. Their loss = your gain.

[JPB]

mmm. My 12 year old clunker MTB was pinched last night, might be worth watching Aldi.

The sad part is that I think I had the go ahead from the Minister for Finances for a wheelset upgrade on the road bike but there is no way I could get a new MTB and a wheel upgrade. Oh well, I will just need to get fitter and maybe wait till my birthday for the wheels.

If I wanted to replace a 12 y.o. MTB, I'd probably go 2nd hand.

Check out gumtree and ebay - there are heaps of decent 2nd hand bikes on there, often with little use. You can pick up a bargain if you are prepared to wade through dozens of generic ads for a "bike" where the owner clearly doesn't know how to advertise it properly. Their loss = your gain.

Thanks, yes I will look on both of these and see what my $$$ will get in comparison.
I had been umming and ahhing about replacing it for a couple of years but could never quite justify it to myself. I guess now I have the motivation, just a pity I have lost a good set of SPD pedals in the process.

[Comedian]

There is a $79 one today!

[bychosis]

There is a $79 one today!

and it's probably 22% the value of the $349 one!

[Newcastle Dave]

Hey bychosis,

That wasn't you riding the fatbike I saw at the start of the Loop the lake on Sunday was it (AKA "Skirt the Lake")