Like a lot of us, I grew up loving a discount. I mean, who doesn't love to feel like they're getting a bargain on things, whether it's stuff you use every day or more specialized items? For the most part, a lot of us want the best price we can possibly get, even before prices for everything got as out of control as they've been recently.
(Less money spent on groceries is more money for bike parts, right? Right.)
Anyway, if you know your discount grocery store lore, you can skip this part, but I'll do the kind thing and catch everyone else up. Lots of ancient internet lore will tell you that the two German discount grocery store chains, Aldi and Lidl, came from the same family (the Albrechts) back in the day. They'll also tell you that Trader Joe's is also owned by one branch of the family.
However, although all three stores sell discounted items to customers through a similar structure, the truth is actually a bit more complicated. Since this isn't German Discount GroceryApart, I won't write you a thesis about the differences; instead, I'll tell you to go here and here if you want to learn more. Long story short: Aldi and Lidl are not now and never have been owned by the same family. Aldi Nord owns Trader Joe's, while Aldi Sud owns and operates all the stores known by the simple name "Aldi" in the US.
Still, one thing that shoppers at any of these three chains is probably familiar with are the occasional hard goods that make their way into these stores. AldiFinds, or whatever your store calls them, are usually limited-time items, and can be something simple like pots and pans, or something more complex, like an Aldi Baby Stroller. Your mileage will vary as to how you end up liking the quality of those items; you can trawl Reddit threads for reviews and find all kinds of thumbs-up and thumbs-down for most of these items.
But still, even though I'm actually wearing a pair of socks I got from Aldi right now (seriously, I'm not making this up; they're pretty comfortable, too), I never really expected to find out that Lidl sells motorcycle gear in some markets. Nor that some of that gear includes modular motorcycle helmets; nor, indeed, that they are allegedly ECE 22.06 homologated.
What's the pricing like? €69.99 including VAT, which works out to around US $82 at the time of writing. Although there are some Lidl locations in the US, they do not appear to be sold in this market. The shell is polycarb, they're pretty no-frills on features (although they do apparently come with a helmet bag and different cheek pads in different thicknesses so you can customize your fit a bit), but there are probably worse ways to spend your 70 Euros.
There are a few other motorcycle items listed on the Lidl website as well; from a cell phone mount to universal bike covers to unisex gloves with Thinsulate but no CE rating. There's also a motorcycle stand, which triggers an important question: If you feel fine using Harbor Freight stands, why would or wouldn't you feel comfortable with a Lidl stand?
Would you try any of Lidl's motorcycle collection, or have you already done so in the past? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
