Grab an Aldi bargain this Thursday

I bought a pair of the shoes last year, so I had a spare pair in case my usual clogs got soaked. In my experience buy the shoes with care unless you like to have one cleat 10mm further forward than the other and only attached by one bolt because the other hole wasn't threaded. Took mine back and got a refund.

+1 for the ultralight jackets though - great value.

I have 2 softshell jackets (& various other bits) from previous years. Ideal for use on the mtb or commuting but perhaps not a serious club run or when racing !
The problem with some of their stuff is that it's too easily identifiable as being from Aldi for label snobs (myself inc !)

Got an Aldi just a short walk up the road. Went up this morning and bagged a softshell for £15.99 and indeed two tubs of geraniums.

Just worn the jacket for a 27 mile bright but breezy spin around the north Wirral coast and it's pretty good. I had just a Helly Hansen base layer under it and it was fine. I'm a 38" chest so went for a medium which has plenty of room for extra layers underneath.

I own a couple of things by Rapha and although this is not exactly in the same league it's still damned fine and doesn't cost poncey London prices either. I recommend it without hesitation.

Got in one of the central Manchester ones early doors - nothing like the traumatic free-for-all I experienced last time there was a cycling offer in the Didsbury branch whihc I can only compare to an NCT nearly-new sale *shudder*.

Bit underwhelmed with the stock TBH - some of the kit quite clearly a bit crappy (in the sense of 'cheap' as opposed to 'good value'). The casual shorts looked OK, but they're cut a bit high for my liking; to my mind shorts should reach the top of the knee (at least!) to be acceptable for men to wear in public outside of an explicit sporting context.

I did spend fifteen quid on a pair of (curiously small) panniers though - hardly 'expedition-ready', but can't argue with that price and they'll do nicely for my commute and the weekly shop.

Always thought there was a bit of gap in the market there with panniers anyway - a lot of people will never use them for anything more intensive than the fifteen minutes to shops and back, and yet the market is dominated by mid-range products that are over-specced for this purpose and are therefore more expensive than is necessary. £15 is about right for a pair of relatively robust clip-on bags that are going to be hauled to Tesco, not the Taklamakan.

why has no one complained about a black jacket yet?

Got into Newbury at 8am - already lots of cyclist-types fossicking about. Got me a few Ultralight jackets and a Softshell in black too. Both are great bits of kit IMHO, feel much nicer than their price or origin suggest. The zip-off arms on the jacket aren't a gimmick - it makes a good gilet, and has 3 pockets too, so you can pop the arms away. Much lighter even with the arms on than the Lidl gilet from last month. The Ultralight jacket packs down *tiny*, weighs 100g in Large and will be a great caught-out option. Oh, and the £2.99 glasses are good too.

the size of the Lidl shops has always baffled me.

Geordies must be perpetually confused that "Aldi" is not open 24 hours a day.

The panniers look alright too. As does the foot pump.
Twiglets at 99p too. Better than those poncey gels you lot all eat.

Seems like the same stuff on sale four weeks in southern Germany. Shorts were reasonable. The softshell was poorly made in respect to stiching, and so was returned the very next day.