More or less whatever sort of cycle clothing we try out on the Bike Blog, the cry comes up within the first few comments: “What about Aldi?” The German discount supermarket, the reader generally goes on to say, sold them a pair of winter gloves for 79p which have since withstood five winters and an Arctic expedition. I exaggerate, but only a bit.
The main reason we haven’t been able to feature Aldi before is that their cycling stock is sporadic and often short-lived, generally sold as one of the chain’s temporary “events”.
While these themed sales can be occasionally eccentric – a few years ago I was surprised to be handed a leaflet saying a local store in Peckham, south-east London, was having a promotional sale of horse riding equipment – I’m all in favour of a major supermarket stocking decent, well-priced cycle gear.
So I was very happy when Aldi’s press team offered to send us some samples ahead of their latest cycling “event”, which begins today (ie get to a store quickly if you want to buy). My colleague Helen Pidd was sent some of the women’s range, and will be writing up her impressions in a few days.
Two of the three things I’ve tested out are from Aldi’s so-called “performance” range. Rather than competing largely on price (as with the £5 bike lock, £17 winter jacket and £5 gloves, also newly on sale) the long-sleeve jersey and winter bib tights I was sent cost a penny under £30 each.
This places Aldi more in competition with respected specialist dealers in lower-cost cycle clothes, such as dhb and Btwin, respectively the house brands of online giant Wiggle and French sports hypermarket chain Decathlon.
Do they measure up? With the jersey, certainly, it’s close enough to come down to a matter of personal taste.
It’s nicely made and well fitted with a pleasingly retro look, the red fabric and contrasting white zip reminiscent of the sort of tracksuit top likely to be seen on the flagbearer for a minor ex-Soviet state at an Olympic opening ceremony.
The slightly fleecy artificial fabric is certainly warm. Riding in the current 10C or so of an early London morning got somewhat sweaty quite quickly, so this is very much a winter top.
There’s three good-sized rear pockets and one zipped compartment, though these hang a bit low for my taste, part of a slightly dropped tail to the jacket. Overall the cut is more relaxed than you’d get from a more cycle-specific manufacturer, again a matter of taste.
But for £30 it’s a perfectly decent winter top, with a series of reflective patches and a mesh section in the back to aid cooling.
The bib tights, also sold under the Crane brand name (one I’d not encountered before but which does seem to exist separately to Aldi) are a slightly different matter.
First, the good news: they’re warm. Very warm, in fact, so much so that I didn’t ride in them as much as I’d have liked for fear of overheating. The leg fabric is slightly fleecy, and lined on the front with slightly crinkly-feeling windstopping fabric (don’t venture near any open fires in these).
Then there’s some decent design touches, like comfy bib loops, and a high, zipped front for even more toasty-ness.
But pull them on and things go slightly awry. The fit is slightly odd. The front area felt a bit baggy; wear these in the traditional, pant-free manner for bike shorts and tights and, let’s just say it leaves even less to the imagination than most such garments.
Meanwhile the padded section at the rear is simply vast, and reaches a considerable way up your back. I queried this with Aldi and they said it was intended to suit a range of riding positions. Fair enough, but to use most of this padding you’d need to be on a recumbent, or at least a Chopper.
The overall effect on the bike is just not hugely comfortable, with crinkles, snags and tugs in all sorts of places. I wouldn’t want to wear these on a long – or even medium-sized – ride.
Is it fair to be so picky with some £30 bike tights? I’d argue it is when the fantastically warm and hugely well-fitted pair I’ve used for the last two winters, from dhb, cost just £15 more. Overall, if there’s one area of bike clothing where skimping on price is a false economy, it’s shorts and tights.
Finally, I was sent some overshoes, which cost just under £8. For longer, wintry and wet rides, a pair of neoprene overshoes can be the difference between enjoyment and limping home with numb toes.
The Aldi versions, a much longer style made from a very crinkly waterproof material are perhaps more gaiter than overshoe, a calf-length attachment designed to be worn with ordinary footwear. This is a variant I’m slightly less convinced by. For me, if you’re riding to work on a bike with mudguards then it has to be either an extremely wet day or a very long commute to make anything more than a waterproof jacket worthwhile.
But if you do feel the need, these are strong-looking and functional, even if the look is 50% Magic Mike, 50% clean-up-at-Fukushima.
I wonder if I was sent the best samples from the range. My feeling is Aldi’s strength might be more in the less complex items, for example the keenly-priced merino base layers and gloves, or one-off bargains like a Garmin Edge 500 bike computer for a measly £80.
But everything I tried was robust, well made, and had a lot of thought in the design. And now at least I know what everyone is on about.
