Should I give up on trying to test ride a bike?

Triathlon Forum
1

After much delay, I have decided to get a new tri bike. I live near Philadelphia so I assumed that being able to test ride the few bikes on my short list would not be an issue. If I were interested in Trek or Cervello, it would not be an issue (but my wife has a Cervelo and other training partners ride Treks so…). I would like to try the Blue Triad and Argon 18 (and maybe the Shiv). However, I have found that although there are few shops that carry these brands, none are willing or able to let me ride it beyond their parking lot. No bike feels right on the trainer or on a short spin but I think I could get a good feel if I just took it out for an hour or so.

Should I just give up on insisting on a test ride? I don’t think fit will be a significant issue as I’m not an unusual build and can get a reasonable fit by changing out the stem. I really hate shopping but don’t want to rush the decision.

2

I think a higher level question may be about the test ride as an evaluative process.

People test ride bikes mainly for two reasons:

  1. “To see what it ‘feels’ like”.

  2. “I sure wouldn’t buy a car without test driving it first.”

While both arguments make sense outwardly, neither argument makes sense ultimately.

Test rides don’t hold enough factors in constant to produce a truly tangible, comparable or “measureable” result. The stimuli that causes one bike to flush out as “best” include factors that don’t have much to do with the long term ownership experience. Simply put: What you experience on a test ride won’t tell you much about how the bike will work in the long run.

A better set of protocols are in place for a buying a bike, but since they require two difficult to source things this process is far from universal. A better protocol for buying a bike would include:

  1. Acceptance on the part of the rider that fit and position are the primary determining factors in the quality of the ownership experience.

  2. An experienced, formally trained, F.I.S.T. Certified fitter who has done triathlons themselves and knows what it is like to run off a bike and ride in the aero posture.

A big issue is, many of the biggest retailers don’t even those protocols in place; experienced F.I.S.T. Certified triathlon fitters. Add to that a fairly common reluctance on the part of the consumership to accept a fit-based approach as the defacto best process and it becomes a bit of an uphill battle. Most dealers- and customers- are content with handing the customer a test-ride helmet, maybe making them sign a waiver, pumping up the tires, taking a stab at a saddle height, scooting them out the door and saying, “Good luck, see what that one feels like…”

After some duration of trying seemingly comparable bikes a mysterious soup of stimulus, be it fatigue from shopping, a looming race date, a great “deal”, pressure from spouse, the looks of the bike, the approval of forum pundits or local heroes, or some complex combination of those stimuli and more converge to create the “tipping point” and a purchase is consummated. Few consumers are candit enough to admit their process is as random or analog, but most are.

A more systematic approach that begins with fit and comfort in a controlled setting is likely to produce a better long term result. I’ll suggest the dealer that provides that is providing better service than a loaner helmet and a spin around the block to “see what it feels like”.

3

I agree with 99% of what you indicate (the most important being that I admit that past decisions were largely based on non-relevant info). A fit done on a trainer will not give me a sense of how the bike will handle on the road. However, I am able to get a feel for a bike if it is set up to approximate my current fit (based on contact points of seat, pedal & aerobar pad). Is it just not practical/reasonable to have a shop set up one of these high-end bikes to approximate my current fit and take it out for a ride? I would be happy to spend $5-6 on a new bike if I could ride it. Otherwise, I am leaning towards going with a used, older model in case I don’t like how it handles.

4

I have to say that test riding a bike is very important. I am currently on the market for a new road bike and I simply could not find a shop that had my #1 pick in stock or would let me take it out for an extended ride. Tooling around in a parking lot simply does not translate well into a long ride. By pure luck, one of the mechanics at a shop had the bike I wanted in my size. We have transferred the fit coordinates from my current bike to his bike and I even put my wheels and saddle on to make sure I was comparing apples to apples. I got to ride the bike for 4 days: I did 2 long-ish solo rides and 2 “rocket” group rides that I normally do 4x per week. I absolutely hated how the frame felt, every time I’d get off the bike feeling absolutely beat up. Apparently there’s such thing as too stiff. Should I have bought this frame I’d have a major case of buyer’s regret.

Considering the pricing of modern bikes I am baffled by the fact that vendors can not provide a demo bike. I understand that it might hard to keep all sizes in stock but the most common sizes 52-56 should be available, at least 1 per region. When I was shopping for a MTB I was able to test ride every bike I had on my list within a month and actually take them all out on a trail and give them a good workout. I had to drive as far as an hour to test ride the bike I wanted, but boy was it worth it! The only road bike I was able to test ride recently was a Specialized as they were the only vendor that had a demo day. On the same subject, I was able to take a $13,000 Ducati Superbike home for the weekend to help me make up my mind…

5

I agree with everything Tom said, but… I’d still argue that the opportunity to test ride a bike shouldn’t be a big “ask”. You’re about to spend several thousand dollars. It would appear to me that (event with Tom’s suggested parameters in place) that asking to spend 20-30 minutes on board the thing should be reasonable. Even if it serves no purpose other than to make the customer feel more comfortable with their choice.

Assuming you’ve offered the usual assurances (driver’s license, leaving your car keys, providing a credit card number, etc) then I personally would avoid a shop that flatly refuses to let you ride the bike.

6

I agree with everything Tom said, but… I’d still argue that the opportunity to test ride a bike shouldn’t be a big “ask”. You’re about to spend several thousand dollars. It would appear to me that (event with Tom’s suggested parameters in place) that asking to spend 20-30 minutes on board the thing should be reasonable. Even if it serves no purpose other than to make the customer feel more comfortable with their choice.

Assuming you’ve offered the usual assurances (driver’s license, leaving your car keys, providing a credit card number, etc) then I personally would avoid a shop that flatly refuses to let you ride the bike.

It’s a big ask, likely.

Unless the LBS has the bike of interest in your specific size in stock, they would have to order it for you.

Even in the tri-crazy Socal area, I could not find an LBS that carried a Cervelo in my size (I’m short) in stock even after calling 6 different LBSs.

They were all happy to let me ride the bike once they ordered it for me, but you and I know full well that there’s a big unspoken expectation of purchase if they go through all that trouble for you. You can ignore that expectation, but expect to be considered 1) rude/ungrateful and 2) testing a bike with a HEAVY bias knowing that the bike shop has gone the extra mile to acquire this bike for you to test, and that turning it down without purchasing something to compensate for their time is unfair.

It’s not the LBS fault here - it’s just the reality of supply/demand for these expensive bikes and cost of carrying inventory.

If I were in the market for a high-end bike now, I would:

  1. Visit or call LBSes just to see if there’s anything in my size that they already have and that is compatible with what I truly want
  2. Order a bike online and deal with the hassle of returns myself. At least this way, I wouldn’t get stuck with riding a bike that I wasn’t completely satisfied with just because I felt pressure to purchase from an LBS who may have gone through a lot of time to order, set up the bike for my testing.
7

It’s a big ask, likely.

Unless the LBS has the bike of interest in your specific size in stock, they would have to order it for you.

Even in the tri-crazy Socal area, I could not find an LBS that carried a Cervelo in my size (I’m short) in stock even after calling 6 different LBSs.

They were all happy to let me ride the bike once they ordered it for me, but you and I know full well that there’s a big unspoken expectation of purchase if they go through all that trouble for you. You can ignore that expectation, but expect to be considered 1) rude/ungrateful and 2) testing a bike with a HEAVY bias knowing that the bike shop has gone the extra mile to acquire this bike for you to test, and that turning it down without purchasing something to compensate for their time is unfair.

It’s not the LBS fault here - it’s just the reality of supply/demand for these expensive bikes and cost of carrying inventory.

We agree on this point. I was assuming based on the OP that he/she was asking to ride a bike they already had in the shop.

8

It’s a big ask, likely.

Unless the LBS has the bike of interest in your specific size in stock, they would have to order it for you.

Even in the tri-crazy Socal area, I could not find an LBS that carried a Cervelo in my size (I’m short) in stock even after calling 6 different LBSs.

They were all happy to let me ride the bike once they ordered it for me, but you and I know full well that there’s a big unspoken expectation of purchase if they go through all that trouble for you. You can ignore that expectation, but expect to be considered 1) rude/ungrateful and 2) testing a bike with a HEAVY bias knowing that the bike shop has gone the extra mile to acquire this bike for you to test, and that turning it down without purchasing something to compensate for their time is unfair.

It’s not the LBS fault here - it’s just the reality of supply/demand for these expensive bikes and cost of carrying inventory.

If I were in the market for a high-end bike now, I would:

  1. Visit or call LBSes just to see if there’s anything in my size that they already have and that is compatible with what I truly want
  2. Order a bike online and deal with the hassle of returns myself. At least this way, I wouldn’t get stuck with riding a bike that I wasn’t completely satisfied with just because I felt pressure to purchase from an LBS who may have gone through a lot of time to order, set up the bike for my testing.

It seems that this is a “big ask” but it shouldn’t be. I don’t see that it is unreasonable with sufficient notice. If they don’t have it in stock then the rep should be able to provide it (thereby not forcing the shop to keep an expensive inventory). Just make some quick stem changes, put on cheap shop wheels (or I can use my own wheels), collect a credit card and off you go. I got lucky last time in that my LBS had a demo Guru that just happened to fit me.

In the SoCal region, Nytro seemed to offer something like that (at least they did years ago). I don’t know of any shop in my area that caries high-end bikes that also has such a policy. R&A Cycles in NYC really wasn’t open to this but I am still checking out a few others.