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TECH NEWS

Bargain hunter red alert! Lidl launch spring clothing range this week

Form an orderly queue! New range of keenly priced clothing available from this Thursday

Like the ying to Rapha's yang and hot on the heels of the top end brand's City Range launch comes news that this Thursday 21 March supermarket chain Lidl will launch a new spring range of cycle clothing, including an £11.99 waterproof jacket. Lidl have built up a reputation for their very affordable cycle clothing, but it isn’t always available so unless you shop there regularly you could easily miss out. And there’s some bargains to be had, as the highlights below show. You won’t get cycle clothing much cheaper than this.

The men’s waterproof jacket (£11.99) is made from a lightweight material finished with a Bionic Finish Eco that gives it water repellency and wind resistance. All seams are sealed so there’s nowhere for water to seep in. There’s a hood that can be rolled up and out of the way, the cuffs are adjustable, the rear is dropped and there’s several pockets. It’s sold with a small storage pouch.

The Men’s Performance Gilet (£9.99) is made from a lightweight and breathable fabric with a wind resistant front panel. There’s reflective details, a dropped tail and several zipped pockets. Gilets are very useful for changeable weather, allowing you to quickly adapt to whatever the weather is doing. They’re also useful for early morning rides or later evening commutes.

The Cycling Shorts and Trousers - actually three quarter shorts - (£7.99) are made from Lycra Sport with a freshFX chamois, with an antimicrobial and odour-inhibiting Coolmax finish. The leg seams are elasticated with silicone gripper details to keep them in place. There’s a small pocket on the inside front for keeping spare change.

Both the shorts and three quarters are finished with reflective details. Available in men and women’s sizes.

The Base Layer Cycling Top (£6.99) features a H2Port Performance fabric designed to keep you dry, at the ideal body temperature and minimise pongs during hard exercise and long rides. They’re made with a seamless construction and there’s cool zones - a more breathable fabric - under the arms and around the back, while a warmer fabric is used over the kidney.

See the full range at www.lidl.co.uk

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

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43 comments

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Philbert | 11 years ago
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Well, I popped in to buy the gillet (body warmer in old money) but they only had size massive. So I spent £6.99 on a set of glasses.

Now, they're not Oakley etc, etc, but they came with three sets of lenses which all seem ok. Orange, dark and sort of bluey, iridiumy. Best of all, you can pop the arms off and clip in an elasticated headband so you've got cheap-as-chips ski goggles as well as cheap-as-chips sunglasses. And there's this sort of spongy plate that fits behind the lenses to stop them rattling against your face.

I've tried running up and down the stair in them and they didn't move a millimetre. But my knees hurt a bit. Could that be connected?

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robert_obrien | 11 years ago
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OK, despite myself I am now the not-so-proud owner of a base layer and a gilet. I also got a bottle of prosecco so I can try a Guinness / prosecco / gin concoction which was in last week's paper. That way I won't care when the zip breaks on the gilet.

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carlosjenno | 11 years ago
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Two lots of base layers for me, one for the missus, a gilet and waterproof for myself. The sizings are rubbish. XL base layer tops but M shorts. Got an XL waterproof and gilet. Gilet fits nice, but the waterproof was HUGE. Exchanged it for the last L in the shop!  4 Also picked up a workstand. Been after one for a while. Seems sturdy enough.

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chokofingrz | 11 years ago
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Nothing but L and XL in my local store. Lidl run by idiots.

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Noelieboy | 11 years ago
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I bought some of the vest & Short base layers this morning on the commute in, on 1st inspection they are very good & seem very warm.
The gilet however is reacting to me like some sort of static making machine! I'm worried that this might be a lightning conductor when out & about...
Oh & the socks are very nice aswell...
I'm happy to wear these as they're going under shirts & shorts anyway so will only get wet & smelly...

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timb27 | 11 years ago
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Popped in early and grabbed a base layer set - seems like an improvement on my last ones, so well worth the £13 for vest and shorts. Coupla pairs of socks as well. Not much else to recommend though. I remember falling for the £5 track pump one year - it exploded the second time I used it!

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Grizzerly | 11 years ago
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I have long & short sleeved Lidl base layer tops & a couple of big brand long sleeved tops. The Lidl ones are superior in every way! I've had various other items which are OK, but the base layers are excellent.

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rich22222 | 11 years ago
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I wear the aldi/lidl base layers every day. Also have a softshell from one/other, which I wear to commute on all but the wettest days, all good stuff.
Getting someone to pick me up some 3/4 shorts tomorrow....

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tommy2p | 11 years ago
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I have bought a few cycle cloting bits from Aldi, and Lidl. I can't remember which was which, but I bought a waterproof jacket for £9.99 which turned out to be anything but, and a jersey, which the zip broke on the third or fourth time I used it. Now, I know many people will say,"silly fool" You get what you pay for, but I thought it would at least be OK in a light shower for a few minutes, even if it was just five or ten minutes, you would expect some degree of water proofing at least. I was not expecting Gore, or Berghaus levels of performance. I left my Berghaus jacket in London and this would do me unitl I got back to London. It started leaking water pretty much as soon as started raining. It said water proof jacket. it wasn't and I felt I had been lied to and that the Purchasing person hadn't checked wether it was or not. The padded shorts I bought were actually quite good, not much padding but ok with under shorts.

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daviddb | 11 years ago
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BlackblackblackblackBLACK and , oh, & black.
*sighs and hopes drivers are keeping a good lookout*

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John_the_Monkey replied to daviddb | 11 years ago
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daviddb wrote:

BlackblackblackblackBLACK and , oh, & black.
*sighs and hopes drivers are keeping a good lookout*

It actually shows up pretty well (I was thinking as much following a chap with a black jacket on into work today).

As I've said before, if the jacket was a sort of light, greenish grey, with a small stone chip pattern, you'd have a point.

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WolfieSmith | 11 years ago
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Plebs! I only wear the base layers. The rest is either Vermarc club kit or Rapha.  4

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pmr | 11 years ago
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I wouldnt use the shorts for anything but turbo sess or the shortest of rides, but the gilet for £10 is interesting.
The jackets might be worthwhile for some too. Also I got the base layer compression tops last time they had the offers and they've been ok, done the job.

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robert_obrien | 11 years ago
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I have bought so much Lidl stuff in the past. The best items were the jackets but the zips ALWAYS break. I have never worn / used about a third of the other stuff. My advice would be to save up and buy something you like. Did anyone know anyone who bought one of their Ultegra-groupset road bikes (a few years ago)?
http://www.bikeradar.com/gallery/article/lidl-to-sell-ultegra-equipped-r...

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Myriadgreen | 11 years ago
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Girls, have you seen all the pink there is for the ladies range? BLEAUGH!  31 It's cheap but it's not attractive.

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Cooks | 11 years ago
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It's all good untl you want a small.....

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giff77 | 11 years ago
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Will now only get socks and base layers from either aldi or lidl as the quality of their kit seems to have deteriated over the last few seasons. I suppose you get what you pay for. Any way. Spring? Has anyone seen the weather out there? Still thawing out from yesterday.

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jollygoodvelo | 11 years ago
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I've been wearing my softshell to ride all winter. Looks like new.

Must see if I can get over there on Thursday...

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Some Fella | 11 years ago
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The ALDI stuff ive had in the past is made by Craft so its quality stuff. Cant vouch for Lidl stuff but it all looks about the level of quality one would expect at this price.

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pwake replied to Some Fella | 11 years ago
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Some Fella wrote:

The ALDI stuff ive had in the past is made by Craft so its quality stuff. Cant vouch for Lidl stuff but it all looks about the level of quality one would expect at this price.

I thought Aldi's 'in-house' brand was Crane? Is it really made by Craft?

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Some Fella replied to pwake | 11 years ago
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pwake wrote:
Some Fella wrote:

The ALDI stuff ive had in the past is made by Craft so its quality stuff. Cant vouch for Lidl stuff but it all looks about the level of quality one would expect at this price.

I thought Aldi's 'in-house' brand was Crane? Is it really made by Craft?

Of course. My mistake. Thought it was too good to be true!

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mrchrispy | 11 years ago
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had 2 Gillets from them and both zips lasted about a week.
probably okay for things without moving parts but

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BigDummy | 11 years ago
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Quote:

Oh. Wait. 50% of the population is female ...

And just adores a nice £9.99 pink bin-bag.  3

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farrell | 11 years ago
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Are BTwin actually providing the kit for FDJ? From what I have seen they are sponsoring them but the kit I've seen for sale appears to be MOA.

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badback replied to farrell | 11 years ago
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"Are BTwin actually providing the kit for FDJ? From what I have seen they are sponsoring them but the kit I've seen for sale appears to be MOA."

It was MOA last year. Now it's B'Twin: http://www.equipecyclistefdj.fr/partenaires/

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farrell replied to badback | 11 years ago
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badback wrote:

"Are BTwin actually providing the kit for FDJ? From what I have seen they are sponsoring them but the kit I've seen for sale appears to be MOA."

It was MOA last year. Now it's B'Twin: http://www.equipecyclistefdj.fr/partenaires/

On that link, when you scroll on from the bike it still references Moa although it does have a link to btwin underneath it in the suppliers bit.

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Steven_L | 11 years ago
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I've the baselayer in retina-melting lime and can attest to it's warmth. Very good bargain pick.

I would also go with everyone else and say that Decathlon's gear is tops. If you go for their 7 or 9 lines, you're getting some very good quality items, in particular bib shorts and jerseys (which are being used by FDJ this year).

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PJ McNally | 11 years ago
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Aldi stuff seems good and hard wearing, bonkers sizes though. I'm never in there often enough, but sometimes get lucky with e.g. £1.99 clearance legwarmers.

They also have a £9.99 "motorcycle" chain lock at the moment, which I'll be leaving attached to the bike stands at work  1

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mick intherain | 11 years ago
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Looks great for the price especially base layers and gilet. Jacket looks ok as well but not as good as the guy in castelli thermo suit I saw this morning - very very nice! And I would challenge anyone to find a genuine ethical company - they all manufacture in these places because the labour is dirt cheap.

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Simon E replied to mick intherain | 11 years ago
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mick intherain wrote:

I would challenge anyone to find a genuine ethical company - they all manufacture in these places because the labour is dirt cheap.

There are some, Patagonia is a well known example, but your comment suggests you don't really want to know.

Lidl prices are very likely to mean sweatshop conditions and an absence of even basic safety precautions for the people who make the garments. Equally, you can pay a lot more and still have no idea whether any of the premium means the workers benefit from it. Nike, Adidas and many others have charged top prices yet exploit workers all around the world.

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