THEYYYY AREEEEE CYCLINGGGGGG SHOESSSSS

Depends how stiff the sole unit is, the ones I've seen in lidl/aldi have looked more like a hiking shoe with spd clips, and so will weigth more and have a flexible sole, the giro have the ratchet system fastener to keep the foot steady, simple straps don't work as well, as with all things in life if you enjoy an activity spend money on it, if you asked the difference between these and a £200 pair then maybe the weight advantage and carbon sole may make little difference to the amateur .. I will happily pay for branded sports/activity wear (upto a limit) as these companies are setup to create the best and test spend money on R&D. Etc

a chinese g0ret3x maybe cheap but if I got lost in fog on moorland I'd prefer to have on a UK branded/designed mountaineering jacket made of goretex.

Is it worth spending £25 more on a pair of shoes that have lasted 4 years of daily commuting?
The £25 difference being around the same as 4 days of commuting on public transport.

Yeah, I'd say it's worth buying a decent pair of shoes.

It's not like we're comparing Aldi to a pair of £300 Rapha shoes made from the finest yak leather, hand crafted by virgins and blah blah etc.
At £40 then the Giro shoes are pretty much on a par with the cheapest of any known brand shoe.

Aldi MTB shoes were quite good until about 5 years ago when the quality went right down. The last pair I bought cracked and split completely in half across the sole after a few weeks. Got a refund. I always inspect them when they are on specials in the hope they are decent again but the quality is just not there any more I'm afraid. Shame.

I've had two pairs of the Lidl bike shoes. Nice shoes for walking but the SPD cleats were hard to keep tight. They loosened and moved, so the shoes were hard to unclip, which is exciting/dangerous. Eventually stripped the threads in the sole clips and bought other shoes.
Buy cheap, buy twice as they say ...