Think this thread actually started on a slightly different topic, but seems to have descended into a rant against Halfords. Was looking to buy a GT Zum from my local store - all they would let me do was sit on the bike in-store - no chance of a ride anywhere, even after I offered to leave a deposit, Credit card proof of ID, etc. I could continue to catalogue the lack of service and errors endured by various branches of Halfords, but let's save that for when I;m having a really bad day!!
My LBS, from where I eventually purchased a Mongoose Crossway 350 also wouldn't let me ride it round their car park - they said their insurance was invalid after some kid whacked a car with a test ride bike! Truth or not, it is very frustrating when you're trying to spend not to be able to test ride a machine.
Evans do a test ride scheme for cc imprint and photo ID plus a few other bits of security, but they frequently don't have the actual model you want in stock/ I know they can't keep every model ins otck, but out of six bikes I was interested in, my local store (Birmingham) had nothing in stock to trial, although they were happy to let me test ride others.
Biffosbats