DH demo bikes

rockmonkeysc
rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
edited June 2012 in MTB general
Why don't manufacturers have demo downhill bikes?
I'm planning on spending up to £4000 on a new DH bike but I can't get a test ride anywher. Giant have demo bikes but I dn't want a Glory.
It's a lot of money to spend without knowing how a bike will ride. I can read magazine reviews but what a magazine tester thinks is great I might not like & I'm sure magazine reviews are influenced by manufacturer advertising budgets.
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Comments

  • estampida
    estampida Posts: 1,008
    some outdoor places will rent a dh for the day, and they tend to be newish models but the shops do the sales and stuff not the manufacturer

    the hub at glen t used to have a great range of demo / rental bikes.....

    but remember you brake it you pay for it........
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    Glentress is a very long drive from Somerset & at current prices the fuel to get there will cost more than the bike.
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  • estampida
    estampida Posts: 1,008
    well if there is no where local, and travelling is a dirty word (there is wales and other counties apart from zummerzet)

    I guess you really are up sh1t creek :roll:
  • DodgeT
    DodgeT Posts: 2,255
    Leisure lakes do demo days. They had one recently up here - lee quarry - and had all sorts of stuff with them. A few proper downhill bikes too.

    They also have a store at cheltenham, bit closer to you, may be worthwhile ringing see if they have anything planned?
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Pedal & Spoke round in the Surrey Hills demos SC V10s. If you're really serious about buying one that is.
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    A V10 is about double my budget. £4k absolute max.
    I don't mind driving a couple hundred miles, if I was buying a trail bike I could get demo's from local shops but none of them have DH bikes
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  • ilovedirt
    ilovedirt Posts: 5,798
    It's probably because downhill bikes get abused more than trail bikes, and cost a lot more... make friends with some downhillers and try theirs.
    Production Privee Shan

    B'Twin Triban 5
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 60,652
    A mate of mine had a lucky break at FoD last November - met a bloke who wrote for one of the mags (think it was Dirt?) who let him have a go on 'his' Commencal - though probably was a test bike as he didn't seem too worried about lending it out to some bloke he'd just met on the uplift bus.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]

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