lbs - test ride??

mcowan77

will your lbs let you test ride any bike before buying???

cjcp

Think so. If not, ask why not. If it's still now, turn around and walk out the door.

merkin

would you buy any bike from a lbs without test riding? :?:

Fireblade96

Some LBSs are very reluctant to offer test rides. For them, unless they maintain a fleet of test bikes or can borrow these from the manufacturer, they'll have to build up and prepare a bike for you that you may not buy and this takes time, which may be in short supply now that new bike buying season is upon them.

I had this issue last year. However, I pointed out that I had no intention of buying a £1k bike I had never ridden, test rode two, chose one and I'm very happy with it.

rf6

No test ride, no sale. Simples.

angry_bird

No they (my lbs) don't, but I believe they let you have a go on a turbo to get an idea of the fit of the bike

mcowan77

cheers folks

will go in and try a few

rubbercolin

+ 1

No test ride -- find another shop

D

mudcovered

rubbercolin wrote:

+ 1

No test ride -- find another shop

Too right. If you can't test ride you might as well shop around on the internet. Test rides and fitting are the LBS edge over internet sellers. Some places will want a credit card imprint before you go so they can charge the bike to it if you don't return.

Mike

andy83

I test rode a few, even went out with a member of the shop on a little pootle

If a shop doesnt trust you to have a ride then what else are they going to assume about you.

I remember when the lbs got a trek district and they had waited ages, I love the look of this bike and asked to have a go, they let me without hesitation! I love shopping online but having a lbs that is good is invaluable. I travel 15 miles to mine, and there are about 5 nearer ones I could use but service not as good

rolf_f

andy83 wrote:

IIf a shop doesnt trust you to have a ride then what else are they going to assume about you.

As Fireblade said - it isn't about whether they trust you but whether they can afford to turn a new bike into a second hand bike just so you can test it. Depends on the shop but there is a very good local shop to me (Triangle in Horsforth) who can't give test rides because they have low turnover of expensive stock. I suppose most people buying high end have less need to test ride as they maybe know what to expect.

Still, buying my first serious road bike, in the end I couldn't use Triangle for that reason - hence long trips down to Epic. Epic have a large turnover of expensive stock so they can manage a couple of frames of a couple of models of each range as test bikes - but if each built up frame is 1.5-2.5k of bike, that could be 10k per brand just to give the customer a choice of two frames in two sizes to test.

kurako

I know its not very trendy to go with the big names but Evans will bring in any bike they stock, build it and let you take it for a spin. All you have to do is place a (refundable) deposit and there's no obligation to buy.

I tried 3 bikes before getting my roadie and very nice it is too!

daviesee

All these "no ride, no sale" posts really get me jealous

I don't know of any lbs that has the stock to allow test rides.
The closest I have ever got is on a turbo :evil:

Edinburgh/Fife/Aberdeen anyone? Anyone?

lardboy

Brixton Cycles policy:

Test rides
We don't just recommend a testride before you buy, we insist on it. It's only when you ride the bike that you can make decisions about the size and the setup. You'll have to leave us a deposit or security, then you can take any models you're interested in out for a spin. Make sure you have enough time to ride a selection of bikes. We can also try different saddles, stem lengths etc. to ensure the bike fits you really well.

I love my LBS.

kurako

daviesee wrote:

All these "no ride, no sale" posts really get me jealous

I don't know of any lbs that has the stock to allow test rides.
The closest I have ever got is on a turbo :evil:

Edinburgh/Fife/Aberdeen anyone? Anyone?

Nicholsons in Dundee? They certainly had loads of stock back in the day.

http://www.nicholsons-cycles.co.uk/

suzyb

daviesee wrote:

All these "no ride, no sale" posts really get me jealous

I don't know of any lbs that has the stock to allow test rides.
The closest I have ever got is on a turbo :evil:

Edinburgh/Fife/Aberdeen anyone? Anyone?

Know the feeling. Everyone is always saying to shop locally but when you do the place you shop at just doesn't have the turnover to serve you right.

daviesee

Kurako wrote:

daviesee wrote:

All these "no ride, no sale" posts really get me jealous

I don't know of any lbs that has the stock to allow test rides.
The closest I have ever got is on a turbo :evil:

Edinburgh/Fife/Aberdeen anyone? Anyone?

Nicholsons in Dundee? They certainly had loads of stock back in the day.

http://www.nicholsons-cycles.co.uk/

Thanks for that. No mention of test rides on their site but will be worth a call when the times comes.

weapons

Rolf F wrote:

andy83 wrote:

IIf a shop doesnt trust you to have a ride then what else are they going to assume about you.

Still, buying my first serious road bike, in the end I couldn't use Triangle for that reason - hence long trips down to Epic. Epic have a large turnover of expensive stock so they can manage a couple of frames of a couple of models of each range as test bikes - but if each built up frame is 1.5-2.5k of bike, that could be 10k per brand just to give the customer a choice of two frames in two sizes to test.

+1 for Epic cycles. They have an excellent setup for test rides - a huge fleet of test bikes and excellent roads. Was out there last weekend and took out an Orca out for 1 hour + or so. Was tipping down with rain but didn't mind one bit as I was enjoying it so much!

UndercoverElephant

Kurako wrote:

I know its not very trendy to go with the big names but Evans will bring in any bike they stock, build it and let you take it for a spin. All you have to do is place a (refundable) deposit and there's no obligation to buy.

I tried 3 bikes before getting my roadie and very nice it is too!

I had test rides from the Edinburgh Bike Co-op and Leith cycles when I was looking. Admittedly they didn't have a huge selection in the price-range I was looking in, but they were happy for me to give them a go.

kurako

daviesee wrote:

Kurako wrote:

daviesee wrote:

All these "no ride, no sale" posts really get me jealous

I don't know of any lbs that has the stock to allow test rides.
The closest I have ever got is on a turbo :evil:

Edinburgh/Fife/Aberdeen anyone? Anyone?

Nicholsons in Dundee? They certainly had loads of stock back in the day.

http://www.nicholsons-cycles.co.uk/

Thanks for that. No mention of test rides on their site but will be worth a call when the times comes.

You'd probably want to double check that. I haven't been back that way for about 10 years but they were great when it was a Raleigh specialist.

mcowan77

just back from lbs

no test ride!!!!!

pst88

My old LBS let you take a test ride only if you paid for the bike in full then promised to give you the money back if you brought the bike back. I suppose that's alright if you intend to buy the bike but if you decide not to and you paid by card it takes a few days to get the money back. You could pay by cash but who has that much cash to hand just to take a test ride. Plus you've got to trust them to actually give the money back. Got my last bike from Evans who let you test ride for free if it's in stock or a nominal refundable fee if they have to order it in.

tgotb

Depending on what you want to try, Evans have test bikes available for their sportives; good opportunity to try bike over a decent distance.

IIRC, they charge you a fair rental fee which is refundable if you make a purchase...