Obviously, the LBS, or “JSG” would love it if you simply bowed to their superior knowledge and advice, because they wouldn’t have to carry inventory (which is, in most cases, the biggest drag on the economic performance of any merchandise vendor).
But the deal is that you are a customer, about to make a $3,000 purchase (which has ~ a $1000 of profit) from that vendor. There are few other types of transactions where a $1,000 profit would yield you so little up-front customer support. It is really “take it or leave it” as the bikesport test ride page says.
If you read enough of this forum, you will see that plenty of people have opinions on bikes. And that it should be pretty easy for a person to quickly (within 2 miles) figure out the basic suitability of a bike.
But given the economics of bike shops (not making a ton of money and trying to cut down on both inventory and the service/sales labor that would be required to be able to offer a test ride policy) and the structure of the bike business (mostly small shops with narrowor/small inventories and lots of different vendors and aftermarket parts and hence a valid test ride process would take you to another shop) the bike shops have to resist test rides - it is pure economics…of the supplier
However, the consumer’s economics would really cause you to do much more investigation than is usually available. Not only are you paying big $, buy you are “investing” lots of time into the sport, and you are also expecting some results as part of the bargain. The bike vendor should really give you more for $1000 profit, but then again you should be thinking more for a couple hundred hours invested in a result!
When I look at purchases like this, I am reminded of two classic “consumer mistakes” that I made. My own semi-poor/lazy/ill informed choice of buying a bike from “JSG” who was 100 miles from my house. I paid too much for something I never rode before it was delivered and the service was non-existant, which was important as I developed as arider with my new bike set up. Several years ago, my first child went to a pre-school with an “excellent reputation”. We were enamored by it and totally bought into the idea that the place was exceptional. (of course we naturally wanted to believe that, right?) Then we moved and our next child went to a different pre-school. Suddenly, we were able to judge the first place in a whole new light. Yes, it was fine, but we never had anything to compare it to and we saw it in a whole new light. It was still a fine place, but we sort of felt like idiots for accepting the rap so unjudgementally.
The sport - from a consumer’s point of view - would be better off if there was more comparison and a more open buying process. The economics make it difficult to do, but the bike industry is shooting itself in the foot to some extent keeping it such a “closed” process. Consumers would be more satisfied with their purchase, and their increased knowledge would get them to buy into the sport more if they had something other than a take it or leave it sales process.
