Bike buying and test riding.

[Funkweasel]

^^^ I think you've been going to the wrong stores. I've been to a few myself, but fortunately I seem to have found a few local (within 50 miles local) ones that never let me down.

 

[Crackle]

I was lucky as a newbie that I ended up at Decathlon for my entry level bike. No sales pressure as is their business model, lots of genres, models and sizes to try out. Helpful staff and a workshop to set things right.

But that dream of a brick and mortar bike shop/store evaporated when it came to higher models and performance bikes. Limited model, sizes and options. And the staff telling me that the particular size and model suits me when they do not. And this notion of building and maintaining a relationship with your LBS is rather misplaced in this day and age. I stopped having relationships with my butcher, fishmonger, baker etc a long time ago. The World has changed.

I then discovered that online stores that offer loads of options and many also offer free trials and ready returns. And amazingly they are cheaper and delivered the very next day if ordered the morning before.

So now with my desired geometry for the bike and the base specs, I do a spreadsheet of options that are on offer online. A decent comparison can be automatically calculated for geometry deviations and the costs.

There is still a place for stores. Giant and Specialised are probably the models for the future of brick and mortar stores. Great service, lots of sizes, quality products, warranty integrity albeit limited to their brand. The other are high end servicing bike shops to handle the difficult diagnostic, fixes and custom jobs. No cheap but money well spent. And then you have hypermarkets vendors like Decathlon who serve the masses well with great choice for entry and intermediate grades.

That's pretty much as far away from my thoughts as I could imagine and I still do have a relationship with my butcher etc... You are right though, the world has changed.

 

[Sixmile]

I'm currently on the hunt for a road bike and fortunately have found a decent one on Gumtree very close to me, which I can't envisage there being much problem with a test ride.

The other bike I'm looking at is new and in Chain Reaction, which is a 5 minute walk from me. CRC don't have the bike assembled that I want. Do you think it is unreasonable to ask to see the bike assembled and take it for a test ride before committing to buy or not? I mean, what kind of test ride is ok to on a new bike? I'm sure they wouldn't be keen on a 10 minute loop around the countryside. I'm just not sure a 60 second scoot around the adjoining car park will tell me much.

 

[Drago]

Not unreasonable at all.

 

[Drago]

Ribble dont offer test rides.

I know, and that very nearly bit me quite badly.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I was lucky as a newbie that I ended up at Decathlon for my entry level bike. No sales pressure as is their business model, lots of genres, models and sizes to try out. Helpful staff and a workshop to set things right.

But that dream of a brick and mortar bike shop/store evaporated when it came to higher models and performance bikes. Limited model, sizes and options. And the staff telling me that the particular size and model suits me when they do not. And this notion of building and maintaining a relationship with your LBS is rather misplaced in this day and age. I stopped having relationships with my butcher, fishmonger, baker etc a long time ago. The World has changed.

.

@Arrowfoot

This is my experience 100% during my current endeavour to part with a fair bit of money for a new bike (up to £1500 will do me). Based on visits to 5 stores to look at my little shortlist of bikes this is what I have found:

Bikes advertised as 'in stock' but aren't as they are on indeterminate length back order.

Bikes advertised as 'new in' but are a couple of months away from actually being remotely near the store.

Bikes advertised as 'in stock' but that have now sold out (2016 models).

Bikes advertised as 'in stock' simply because to show them as 'out of stock' screws up the internal pre-order system.

Test rides of as little as a 'spin round the yard' or around the external perimeter of the unit. In the interests of fairness one shop let me take a couple of bikes for a mile or so.

Some utter rollocks advice on sizing in desperation to shift a bike that I had no interest in from the sales floor.

A desperate attempt to get me to buy a CAAD12, which is pretty race focussed, when I had gone to great lengths to explain that as a 60 year old recreational roadie covering around 2000 and a bit miles a year I wanted either a comfy endurance bike with room for 32mm tyres or another CX bike.

Failure to follow up with promised emails re lead times on a couple of models I was very interested in - despite an email prompt from me.

***

I'm sure there must be wonderful LBS's out there where this dark ages retailing isn't the norm; but my experiences above reflect badly on the industry imo.

I don't expect an LBS to have every size of every model that they stock actually in stock. But I do expect them to have each frame size across the model line that they purport to sell. It would also be wonderful if websites were 100% truthful and accurate - not much to ask for really. And it would be nice to have decent test ride facilities available too - after all, the general mantra is ride it before you buy it. And please, LBS, don't try to sell me something I don't want simply because it's something you want to sell.

No wonder the damn things (LBS's) are going down the tubes vs online - it's not all about price. Bricks & mortar should be about service but it seems that, at least from my little sample, they fail to deliver.

 

[Arrowfoot]

That's pretty much as far away from my thoughts as I could imagine and I still do have a relationship with my butcher etc... You are right though, the world has changed.

I do however recall the good times that we had with the various people in these vocations. They always had time for a chat, knew their stuff very well and the family regarded them as friends. Gone are the days.

 

[Arrowfoot]

Theses things resonate with me and I share your pain. The CAAD12 scenario is bad. The other is size which really gets to me and I have seen this been done to customers who have little or no background on bikes. When the play around with size it is no more poor service it is bordering on misrepresentation.

@Arrowfoot

This is my experience 100% during my current endeavour to part with a fair bit of money for a new bike (up to £1500 will do me). Based on visits to 5 stores to look at my little shortlist of bikes this is what I have found:

Bikes advertised as 'in stock' but aren't as they are on indeterminate length back order.

Bikes advertised as 'new in' but are a couple of months away from actually being remotely near the store.

Bikes advertised as 'in stock' but that have now sold out (2016 models).

Bikes advertised as 'in stock' simply because to show them as 'out of stock' screws up the internal pre-order system.

Test rides of as little as a 'spin round the yard' or around the external perimeter of the unit. In the interests of fairness one shop let me take a couple of bikes for a mile or so.

Some utter rollocks advice on sizing in desperation to shift a bike that I had no interest in from the sales floor.

A desperate attempt to get me to buy a CAAD12, which is pretty race focussed, when I had gone to great lengths to explain that as a 60 year old recreational roadie covering around 2000 and a bit miles a year I wanted either a comfy endurance bike with room for 32mm tyres or another CX bike.

Failure to follow up with promised emails re lead times on a couple of models I was very interested in - despite an email prompt from me.

***

I'm sure there must be wonderful LBS's out there where this dark ages retailing isn't the norm; but my experiences above reflect badly on the industry imo.

I don't expect an LBS to have every size of every model that they stock actually in stock. But I do expect them to have each frame size across the model line that they purport to sell. It would also be wonderful if websites were 100% truthful and accurate - not much to ask for really. And it would be nice to have decent test ride facilities available too - after all, the general mantra is ride it before you buy it. And please, LBS, don't try to sell me something I don't want simply because it's something you want to sell.

No wonder the damn things (LBS's) are going down the tubes vs online - it's not all about price. Bricks & mortar should be about service but it seems that, at least from my little sample, they fail to deliver.

 

[Sixmile]

I called CRC to see if they'd the bike built up in either store. They don't but the one near me said they could have it built and there in 3 days. A test ride was confirmed as a ride around the car park but if it's wet, you can only have a spin on a turbo.

 

[Funkweasel]

Do tell? I was very near to getting a Sportive Racing recently.

My gf's dad bought a winter training bike from Ribble. It was a medium but it's actually tiny. And horrible.

 

[Fnaar]

I bought my first proper roadie* off the internet, sight unseen. I was lucky it was a good fit, and I still have it a decade or so later (will be riding it tomorrow, in fact)

(*i.e. about 12 years ago, when I took up cycling again... had various bikes as a younger man)

 

[gbb]

It'd be interesting to see exactly what constitutes a test ride for most folks here, and that depends almost exclusively on what the shops policy is, not your requirements...or am I wrong and should I have requested a better option to see if it was available.
My first serious roadbike,a Bianchi, I test rode it but only up and down the road for 5 or 10 minutes...which quite clearly means next to nothing. It was fine....but equally it may not have been.
My Ribble, no test ride at all but I did do heaps of geometry co parisons to try to make sure it matched my existing bike in as many areas as possible.
Unless you have done some homework, buying unridden can undoubtedly be a gamble I suppose...but equally, I suspect many bikes are brought untested.

 

[gbb]

Do tell? I was very near to getting a Sportive Racing recently.

I have what was then the New Sportive Racing and love It.
Super stiff, ive never detected any frame flex in it, particually at the BB. I used to like to hammer up inclines and flex shows in some of my previous bikes, but not on the Ribble. But smooth as well, its a very comfortable bike.
Crikey, its 4 years old already..I just realised.

 

[Drago]

Do tell? I was very near to getting a Sportive Racing recently.

As aforementioned, I was able to borrow one from a colleague for a morning and was alarmed at the frame flexing visibly by the BB when laying on the grunt in the higher gears. OK it was the large size frame and therefore probably least stiff, and I'm heavier than average and more powerful (for short periods at least!) than may be the norm, but notwithstanding all that it was a bloody poor show for 700 quid bike. My 1978 Elswick made from plain Hi Ten steel doesn't do that.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

It'd be interesting to see exactly what constitutes a test ride for most folks here[/B], and that depends almost exclusively on what the shops policy is, not your requirements...or am I wrong and should I have requested a better option to see if it was available.
My first serious roadbike,a Bianchi, I test rode it but only up and down the road for 5 or 10 minutes...which quite clearly means next to nothing. It was fine....but equally it may not have been.
My Ribble, no test ride at all but I did do heaps of geometry co parisons to try to make sure it matched my existing bike in as many areas as possible.
Unless you have done some homework, buying unridden can undoubtedly be a gamble I suppose...but equally, I suspect many bikes are brought untested.

@gbb

Yes, it would be interesting to find out.

As soon as anyone posts a 'what do you think of this bike' (or similar) thread there will be virtually guaranteed 'make sure you ride it first' replies - and nothing wrong with that either.

The reality appears to be that meaningful test rides appear to be pretty hard to come by.