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how did you.....?

ram038ram038 Posts: 187
edited January 2009 in Road beginners
Manage to test ride any road bike you were looking to buy.

I have a shortlist of 4 bikes

cannondale CAAD9
cannot find a dealer in London who has one in stock

Ridley Compact
Was told by LBS that they would not be able to get one in for a test ride but they did offer me a test on a the model up which is Carbon and too large a frame

Dolan Mythos
Told by halfords that they cannot get one in for a test ride

Boardman team Carbon
Arranged with Halfords to test one next Saturday.but they cannot gaurantee that they will get it in phone day before to confirm.

Have you found testing your choice of bikes to be near impossible and what did you do in the end?

PS my preference is for the CAAD9 but not too sure of the size 52cm or 54cm.

Posts

  • padonbikepadonbike Posts: 46
    The Bicycle Repairman in Prudhoe, Northumberland ... is a long way from London.
    But is run by nice people who stock Giant and Ridley and would be sure to advise you and help you out.
    aspra nella virtu', dolce nel sacrificio
  • STEFANOS4784STEFANOS4784 Posts: 4,109
    Didn't test ride any, wasn't offered exept by one bloke who sold cube bikes down in Devon but wasn't stopping long so just bought one, seemed to work out ok :D
    winter beast: http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr34 ... uff016.jpg
    Summer beast; http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr34 ... uff015.jpg
  • nferrarnferrar Posts: 2,511
    I test rode my Spesh Roubaix and figured if I liked it I'd buy it (rather than testing any of the other myriad of similar bikes at the same price that are available). I live in Bristol which has a concept store so they got hold of one of the size I wanted in a few days.

    For the big brands most LBS should be able to get hold of demo bikes in a variety of sizes as the distributor will have them available but it could take a while depending on demands from other shops. For the more niche brands I guess it could be tricky as there's unlikely to be many demo bikes so you might end up with the right model in the wrong size or the wrong model in the right size.
  • CiBCiB Posts: 6,098
    My LBS invited me to take it out for a spin, taking car keys as a deposit. Did a 20 minute ride around town and out on quieter country roads before coming back and deciding that it was just a tad small, and the next size up would be better. Well worth it. Placed the order and had the correct size within 3 days.

    Bikes are the sort of thing that you really should try before you buy.
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