# Caution - Aldi cycle shoes (MTB type)



## Garz (29 Jul 2012)

This may of course just be a coincidence and bad luck but I had a horrible experience on my recent commute that I would like to share to highlight any concerns.

I have only used them on a handful of occasions, a few runs to the supermarket and back or round the block up until last week when I finally got round to commuting to work.

This is 16.5 miles each way, so maybe not the average commute but I shall continue...

The pictures below show what happened on the return home journey. I was thinking the unclipping action at traffic lights was becoming awkward, maybe I was just losing the edge and becoming un-coordinated:























As I approaced a busy crossroads about 1.5 miles from home I realised I could not unclip <panic>. Luckily I managed to creep to a set of railings and lean just in the nick of time. To my horror I realised both cleats/shoe plates had come away so it was nigh on impossible to clip out!

After this event I got home and studied the shoes, one was still attached to the pedal which I would address later this weekend. It seems the construction of the shoe sole is extremely weak and allows when some force is applied to move unlosening the bolts.

I have now ordered a proper pair of shimano branded MTB shoes to hopefully reinstate my faith in the technology. I hope nobody else has had such a similar incident on the cheap shoes, but if you have.. please share!


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## jayonabike (29 Jul 2012)

I'd be wary of anything bought from Aldi. Buy cheap buy twice.


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## oldfatfool (29 Jul 2012)

I have done probably 1000 miles in mine no problems.


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## Christopher (29 Jul 2012)

Oy! Glad you weren't hurt. I have a pair of those whcih I intend to ride fixed. No flowers for my funeral please. (Seriously I will keep a close eye on them...)


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## cyberknight (29 Jul 2012)

I had those exact shoes, mine lasted over 2 years with at least 7-8000 miles and i only binned them when the sole cracked .
Looks to me like the bolts were loose.


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## mark c (29 Jul 2012)

Ive done over 1200 miles and no problem with them.


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## top-tube (29 Jul 2012)

I had a similar problem with my Lidl sourced shoes recently. I bought some Shimano cleat plates as replacements for the radged ones supplied with the shoees, and they have performed just fine since.


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## black'n'yellow (29 Jul 2012)

oldfatfool said:


> I have done probably 1000 miles in mine no problems.


 
the distance ridden in them is irrelevant - the issue seems to be with how many unclips they can sustain before failure...


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## HLaB (29 Jul 2012)

I done thousands of miles no problem in my last Lidl pair and quite a few in my current pair no problem either. The only time I've seen a problem like that was a shimano shoe I think.


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## Norm (29 Jul 2012)

black'n'yellow said:


> the distance ridden in them is irrelevant - the issue seems to be with how many unclips they can sustain before failure...


Having had a similar incident with my Shimano shoes, I'd say the issue is making sure that your bolts are done up tightly before setting off, as CyberKnight suggests.


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## Garz (29 Jul 2012)

cyberknight said:


> I had those exact shoes, mine lasted over 2 years with at least 7-8000 miles and i only binned them when the sole cracked .
> Looks to me like the bolts were loose.


 
I have a pair of northwave winter boots that are SPD, and three SPD-SL road shoes all have not had issues regarding tightness in the past three years using clipless systems. If it occurred on one shoe I may have been swayed to believe that, however as this happened on both shoes Im not convinced.


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## wisdom (29 Jul 2012)

You could try taking them back just in case it was a faulty pair.Had someone possibly had them and taken them back.Its worth a try(with a letter of explanation)


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## Garz (29 Jul 2012)

Just done a quick search and bikeradar thread noticed: http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=15613785



> The shoes have been withdrawn by Aldi "due to quality issues". So they told me at the Selsdon, Surrey branch anyway. The jackets looked good though.


 
Another bad experience from this user: http://treadly.net/2009/11/08/cheap-shoes-bad-shoes/

If anything I hope it raises awareness as I wouldn't want someone else to experience that or get hurt. I have learnt from this and will double check the tightness to rule out it being user error in future (not that I think I loosened them or left them loose in the first place). Will see if the reasonably priced Shimano I have ordered will fare the same...


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## cyberknight (29 Jul 2012)

black'n'yellow said:


> the distance ridden in them is irrelevant - the issue seems to be with how many unclips they can sustain before failure...


Given that the OP had ridden a few miles ,O:FF had done over a thousand and i had done many thousands would show that they can sustain many unclips so i find your post a bit confusing unless of course you are suggesting we have left the shoes attatched to the bike and track stand at junctions?


Garz said:


> Just done a quick search and bikeradar thread noticed: http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=15613785
> 
> 
> 
> ...


So we have 3 against and 2 for so far, i would say hardly compelling evidence.
Looking at your piccies i would say they were not tightened up enough to start with but in your defence if you used the original bolts provided with the shoes rather than ones with the cleats they have a small hex head so it could have lead to your issues.
Espcially as i can see no marks where the cleats have dug into the sole plate as mine do on the various spd shoes i have used including a good spec lake pair.


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## Berties (29 Jul 2012)

I buy from my lbs they adjust as required as well as fit,it's a too risky thing to buy cheap on this occasion


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## screenman (29 Jul 2012)

Seems to me that you did not tighten to the correct torque nor did you use any Loctite, poor maintenance not poor shoes. Mine by the way have done about 5,000 miles without problems, in fact the only problem I have is that they are more comfortable than my m236 shoes.


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## Garz (29 Jul 2012)

cyberknight said:


> So we have 3 against and 2 for so far, i would say hardly compelling evidence.


 
This incident was more of a scare and dangerous so I am sharing the experience than trying to rubbish the shoes. I'm willing to give all gear a go as I'm not a bike snob, however from this experience I am just saying that the value shoes are now a no go area for me.



screenman said:


> Seems to me that you did not tighten to the correct torque nor did you use any Loctite, poor maintenance not poor shoes. Mine by the way have done about 5,000 miles without problems, in fact the only problem I have is that they are more comfortable than my m236 shoes.


 
That my friend is bollocks. You should not have to loctite any equipment otherwise you have no confidence in it in the first place! Then there's that word you mentioned.. "Maintenance" - you cannot maintain them if you have super-glued them


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## black'n'yellow (29 Jul 2012)

cyberknight said:


> Given that the OP had ridden a few miles ,O:FF had done over a thousand and i had done many thousands would show that they can sustain many unclips so i find your post a bit confusing unless of course you are suggesting we have left the shoes attatched to the bike and track stand at junctions?


 
I thought I was being clear enough. If you ride 100 miles in a single ride, you may only unclip once per ride. If you commute 10 miles each way, every day, stopping at junctions, lights, etc, you will unclip many more times for the same distance. That is why I said that the actual distance ridden is irrelevant, because it is.


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## Norm (29 Jul 2012)

black'n'yellow said:


> I thought I was being clear enough. If you ride 100 miles in a single ride, you may only unclip once per ride. If you commute 10 miles each way, every day, stopping at junctions, lights, etc, you will unclip many more times for the same distance. That is why I said that the actual distance ridden is irrelevant, because it is.


And I thought that CK was being clear enough. Whilst it is possible that people have different trip lengths, it is pretty much irrelevant to raise that as a potential factor when considering one pair of shoes which has done a handful of journeys and another which has done over 7,000 miles.


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## black'n'yellow (29 Jul 2012)

Norm said:


> And I thought that CK was being clear enough. Whilst it is possible that people have different trip lengths, it is pretty much irrelevant to raise that as a potential factor when considering one pair of shoes which has done a handful of journeys and another which has done over 7,000 miles.


 
I didn't raise the issue of distance - someone else did. I merely pointed out that distance is (in this context, at least) irrelevant. Which it is.


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## Norm (29 Jul 2012)

Oh dear, I am really going to have to make this simple, aren't I?

Do you have a counter on your computer which tells you how many times you have unclipped?
Do you know the average distance between unclips for Garz, oldfatfool or Cyberknight?
Do you think there is any chance that Garz has unclipped more frequently in his "handful of rides" than oldfatfool did over 1,000 miles or Cyberknight did in his 7 - 8,000 miles?
Do you have a history of popping up just to take cheap shots and stir crap?

I would suggest that you can only answer "Yes" to one of the above questions.


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## black'n'yellow (29 Jul 2012)

look, I'm happy to argue with you - but first I need to know which of my comments on this thread you are disagreeing with? Go back and have a look, then let me know....


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## Hector (29 Jul 2012)

Garz said:


> This incident was more of a scare and dangerous so I am sharing the experience than trying to rubbish the shoes. I'm willing to give all gear a go as I'm not a bike snob, however from this experience I am just saying that the value shoes are now a no go area for me.
> 
> 
> 
> That my friend is bollocks.* You should not have to loctite any equipment otherwise you have no confidence in it in the first place!* Then there's that word you mentioned.. "Maintenance" - you cannot maintain them if you have super-glued them


 
Using blue loctite is pretty much standard when torqueing up components on a bike.


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## black'n'yellow (29 Jul 2012)

Hector said:


> Using blue loctite is pretty much standard when torqueing up components on a bike.


 
I'm happy to say that I don't have blue (or any other colour) loctite on any of my bikes, or shoes. Never have...


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## Hector (29 Jul 2012)

Seeing as how the twisting action on a shoe is what causes it to fail, I'd say it is fairly relevent in how may times you've clipped and unclipped. Although having said that the cleats do need to have the correct amount of torque applied.


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## ColinJ (29 Jul 2012)

I've probably done 7,000+ miles in my ALDI 'Crane' type SPD shoes and have had no problems so far. The soles are starting to wear though so the cleats are now barely recessed but I reckon I will probably get about another 3,000 miles out of them.


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## guitarpete247 (29 Jul 2012)

I unclip most with the left foot and have only ever had a problem with a left cleat which lost a bolt. With SPD cleats losing a bolt is serious. I now loctite (TM) cleat bolts in. They don't have washers so are only as tight as you can get them. I don't think over-tightening is a good idea (stripping threads) on shoes, but loctite (R) (similar products maybe available) is. 

I use loctite (C) wherever I don't have the option of putting washers.


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## lordloveaduck (30 Jul 2012)

Excuse me happy people, but isn't this just a case of S**t happens. Some people are lucky with the products they buy and some aren't.
I would never ever, no matter if i was hung by my nipples and spanked with a haddock, would i ever purchase a Dawes, whilst others would and have a problem free experiece with them.

Just Saying


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## oldfatfool (30 Jul 2012)

Just to say I use mine when commuting to work so 4 sets of lights and half a dozen junctions. Been on a few forum rides in them which are fairly stop start affairs. Usually check the tightness of the bolts every week or so or every couple of long rides, and usually they will accept a 1/16 th of a turn or so, but the came can be said of my speedplay cleats on both PI and Spesh shoes.


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## fossyant (30 Jul 2012)

Bolts not tight enough !


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## The Jogger (30 Jul 2012)

This happened to my Lil shoes, I had to take the cleats out of the pedal with a screw driver, I am going to fit new cleats, I thought the problem was in the quality of the cleats so I have some shimano ones, somewhere.


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## cyberknight (30 Jul 2012)

On a non related note i lost the little pad out of one of my shoes, the bit that goes under the sole over the hole for the cleat plate ages ago and made one but its never been 100 % so if anyone has one from a dead pair of shoes i would be grateful as i cant seem to find where you would get a replacement one unless somones google fu is better than mine ?


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## 400bhp (30 Jul 2012)

fossyant said:


> Bolts not tight enough !


 
^^this^^

clearly

User error.


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## 400bhp (30 Jul 2012)

jayonabike said:


> I'd be wary of anything bought from Aldi. Buy cheap buy twice.


 
A fool and his money.


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## potsy (30 Jul 2012)

jayonabike said:


> I'd be wary of anything bought from Aldi. Buy cheap buy twice.


The jaffa cakes are quite decent


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## black'n'yellow (30 Jul 2012)

potsy said:


> The jaffa cakes are quite decent


 
and their base layers are truly excellent. And I don't mean the jaffa cakes....


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## potsy (30 Jul 2012)

I was very sceptical about the Aldi gear before I tried it, some of it is quite decent though.
Not tried the shoes as I don't think they look all that good, and I already have some Shimano's, but base layers, windproof jackets, showerproof jackets, and mitts are definitely worth getting, especially for commuting


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## rodgy-dodge (31 Jul 2012)

If you contact Aldi with the photographs I'm sure you'll get your money back. Have to say though the Husband has used Aldi shoes for years with no problems, you just may be unlucky. The husband also bought a drill from Aldi which broke before the 12 month waranty ran out they replaced it toot sweet with a much better model. Might be worth giving them a call you can get the HQ number from your local store.


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## Jdratcliffe (3 Aug 2012)

i had the same but from a DHB pair its not the shoe walking around you can loosen the cleat always check your cleat blots regularly.


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## Christopher (3 Aug 2012)

I have ridden them on fixed. The sole is lacks a little stiffness and the shoe is a bit bulky but no issues as such.


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## Garz (3 Aug 2012)

Jdratcliffe said:


> i had the same but from a DHB pair its not the shoe walking around you can loosen the cleat always check your cleat blots regularly.


 
Yeah I think this is what happened. I am not the type to finger tight bolts but it has made me now check stuff over all the time.



Christopher said:


> I have ridden them on fixed. The sole is lacks a little stiffness and the shoe is a bit bulky but no issues as such.


 
I have used my shimano pair bought off CRC for a couple of commutes now and all seems well. If others have had no bother with lots of mileage then as long as it has prompted someone to check and saved an incident it will have highlighted what can happen.


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