Little pissed about getting sold a "demo"...

nicklouse

leodis75 wrote:

So in truth (as devil’s advocate) you could be buying a "new" bike with your hard earnt cash which has 500-1000 miles on it already for the same price as a brand new one?

no that would be the Demo bike that has that many miles on and would not be sold untill the next years bikes were in.

gabriel959

spasypaddy wrote:

leodis75 wrote:

So in truth (as devil’s advocate) you could be buying a "new" bike with your hard earnt cash which has 500-1000 miles on it already for the same price as a brand new one?

how long do you go on test rides for?

a friend of mine went on a 10 mile test ride! It was a Giant too

leodis75

spasypaddy wrote:

leodis75 wrote:

So in truth (as devil’s advocate) you could be buying a "new" bike with your hard earnt cash which has 500-1000 miles on it already for the same price as a brand new one?

how long do you go on test rides for?

Depends on the max allowed, i guess 500-1000 was a bit much say 250-400.

When you buy a new bike don't you just love than thing of metal and rubber (I am still talking of bikes btw), its your new toy, unsoiled to the world, then you find out its used goods, a bit like the love of your life telling you on your wedding night she has slept with 60 odd fells.

jordan_217

leodis75 wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

leodis75 wrote:

So in truth (as devil’s advocate) you could be buying a "new" bike with your hard earnt cash which has 500-1000 miles on it already for the same price as a brand new one?

how long do you go on test rides for?

Depends on the max allowed, i guess 500-1000 was a bit much say 250-400.

When you buy a new bike don't you just love than thing of metal and rubber (I am still talking of bikes btw), its your new toy, unsoiled to the world, then you find out its used goods, a bit like the love of your life telling you on your wedding night she has slept with 60 odd fells.

Did you get the marriage annulled?

leodis75

I did ask for a refund from her parents

drlodge

leodis75 wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

leodis75 wrote:

So in truth (as devil’s advocate) you could be buying a "new" bike with your hard earnt cash which has 500-1000 miles on it already for the same price as a brand new one?

how long do you go on test rides for?

Depends on the max allowed, i guess 500-1000 was a bit much say 250-400.

When you buy a new bike don't you just love than thing of metal and rubber (I am still talking of bikes btw), its your new toy, unsoiled to the world, then you find out its used goods, a bit like the love of your life telling you on your wedding night she has slept with 60 odd fells.

Stop complaining, she'll be nicely run in.

spasypaddy

gabriel959 wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

leodis75 wrote:

So in truth (as devil’s advocate) you could be buying a "new" bike with your hard earnt cash which has 500-1000 miles on it already for the same price as a brand new one?

how long do you go on test rides for?

a friend of mine went on a 10 mile test ride! It was a Giant too

thats quite a long test ride. i did less than that when i bought my BMC, used my own wheels as well

Tenacious Doug

leodis75 wrote:

So in truth (as devil’s advocate) you could be buying a "new" bike with your hard earnt cash which has 500-1000 miles on it already for the same price as a brand new one?

More like around the block a few times, totaling 3 or 4 miles, if that. This based on 7 years working in several large bike shops. Though I'm sure bike shops would love to be getting enough customers through the door to put 1000 miles of testing on each of their display bikes......

keef66

spasypaddy wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

leodis75 wrote:

So in truth (as devil’s advocate) you could be buying a "new" bike with your hard earnt cash which has 500-1000 miles on it already for the same price as a brand new one?

how long do you go on test rides for?

a friend of mine went on a 10 mile test ride! It was a Giant too

thats quite a long test ride. i did less than that when i bought my BMC, used my own wheels as well

When I bought my bike from Epic they seemed disappointed that I was only out for half an hour on a test ride. Got the impression I could've shown up with a packed lunch and gone out for half a day! In the end they concluded I'd need a smaller frame which they ordered in, so the one I'd test ridden would have gone back on display / demo. I know they shift their ex-demo bikes via an Ebay shop at attractive discounts

giant_man

... and thats how it should be imo, Epic are a good dealer ..

spasypaddy

keef66 wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

leodis75 wrote:

So in truth (as devil’s advocate) you could be buying a "new" bike with your hard earnt cash which has 500-1000 miles on it already for the same price as a brand new one?

how long do you go on test rides for?

a friend of mine went on a 10 mile test ride! It was a Giant too

thats quite a long test ride. i did less than that when i bought my BMC, used my own wheels as well

When I bought my bike from Epic they seemed disappointed that I was only out for half an hour on a test ride. Got the impression I could've shown up with a packed lunch and gone out for half a day! In the end they concluded I'd need a smaller frame which they ordered in, so the one I'd test ridden would have gone back on display / demo. I know they shift their ex-demo bikes via an Ebay shop at attractive discounts

but thats a real demo bike or they are so convinced they are good at what they do that they let you test ride extensively knowing you will buy it when you ride so no need for anyone else to ever ride it

markos1963

giant man wrote:

markos1963 wrote:

I bought an ex demo bike once and had no problems but I was lucky as the retailer was totally upfront about it, offered a big discount and a warranty. In the end I paid £750 for a £1400 bike.

You see the difference here, in your case, the retailer was upfront about it, this wasn't the case with the OP ..

The deal was even better than I described, the bike had been used for a magazine test and when returned they had put new tyres, chain, cassette and bar tape so I couldn't even tell it had been used!
Personally it wouldn't me off buying a demo bike but I wouldn't pay full price for it, ex display is a different matter, if it's unmarked and only been used for trying on then that's fine in my eyes.

rolf_f

spasypaddy wrote:

keef66 wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

leodis75 wrote:

So in truth (as devil’s advocate) you could be buying a "new" bike with your hard earnt cash which has 500-1000 miles on it already for the same price as a brand new one?

how long do you go on test rides for?

a friend of mine went on a 10 mile test ride! It was a Giant too

thats quite a long test ride. i did less than that when i bought my BMC, used my own wheels as well

When I bought my bike from Epic they seemed disappointed that I was only out for half an hour on a test ride. Got the impression I could've shown up with a packed lunch and gone out for half a day! In the end they concluded I'd need a smaller frame which they ordered in, so the one I'd test ridden would have gone back on display / demo. I know they shift their ex-demo bikes via an Ebay shop at attractive discounts

but thats a real demo bike or they are so convinced they are good at what they do that they let you test ride extensively knowing you will buy it when you ride so no need for anyone else to ever ride it

They are real demo bikes at Epic. They first measure you up (or ask for you to send the measurements in) - then they build the bike (or bikes) up to suit - correct crank lengths, stem, bar width (so no wonder they were disappointed when Keef spent 5 minutes on the ride ). Some components chosen to encourage a harsher ride so you get a better feel for how the bike would be after a longer distance. Then they send you out for a ride. At the old shop, the route was an undulating 15 mile round trip to Bromyard. I rode a Look 585, then a Scott CR1 and then the 585 again. 45 miles of testing did the job. It's all very thoroughly handled.

They wouldn't expect you to buy the test bike - most of the bikes Epic sell are built to order so the spec details would be worked out after the test ride anyway.

TBH, I knew pretty quickly I preferred the Look but the longer ride might have brought out problems with it. It did with the Scott - my knees knocking against the excessively wide top tube. Ironically, I will at some point have to work round that as I've now got one of those CR1 SL frames.......

nternal1

spasypaddy wrote:

so you expect a retailer to have possibly 2-300 bikes on the shop floor for people to sit on and test ride but aren't for sale. what a waste of stock.

im confused.

there are very few demo bikes in shops, the only two that spring to mind are the ones sent out by shimano and campag for people to try out di2/eps on.

Bikes on shop floors are there to be test ridden and bought.

Actually, now that you mention it...it was a Defy 0 Advanced that the guy had been test riding when I was in the shop. That is in fact a di2/2 eps bike. Anyway, one way or the other the deal is done. I was bringing this up for future reference and will be watching a little closer next time a buy a bike.

nternal1

nicklouse wrote:

jordan_217 wrote:

Have I missed something or do you categorically know your bike was used as a demo?

i think the OPs understanding of Demo is not the same as most other peoples.

This is why I posted. I don't really know the protocol with bike sales but... When I buy a car, while I don't necessarily expect it to have NEVER been test driven, I can see the history on the odometer and the price is negotiable. If a bike shop is going to charge me full MSRP I sort of damn well expect a brand spanking new bike. If they are going to use bikes for test riding (as they should) they should have one model of each that gets used for that purpose and then sell it, with full disclosure, a discount at the end of the season.

gozzy

The trouble with that is that cars are one size fits all, you simply can't do that with bikes or you'd end up discounting your entire stock.

rolf_f

nternal1 wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

jordan_217 wrote:

Have I missed something or do you categorically know your bike was used as a demo?

i think the OPs understanding of Demo is not the same as most other peoples.

This is why I posted. I don't really know the protocol with bike sales but... When I buy a car, while I don't necessarily expect it to have NEVER been test driven, I can see the history on the odometer and the price is negotiable. If a bike shop is going to charge me full MSRP I sort of damn well expect a brand spanking new bike. If they are going to use bikes for test riding (as they should) they should have one model of each that gets used for that purpose and then sell it, with full disclosure, a discount at the end of the season.

But you've given no reason whatsoever to justify why you think the bike might have been ridden other than that the shop gives test rides! It's very easy to tell if a bike has never been ridden before - but only before you have ridden it!

nternal1

Rolf F wrote:

But you've given no reason whatsoever to justify why you think the bike might have been ridden other than that the shop gives test rides! It's very easy to tell if a bike has never been ridden before - but only before you have ridden it!

That is my whole point. Being a newb I never even considered the bike I was buying may have been test ridden (god know's how many times). Had I realized this was the practice I would have told then flat out that, for full retail I expected a brand spanking new bike. I won't make that mistake again I can assure you. It seems like it would be sound business practice to have a full set of demos that get sold off at cost at the end of the season instead of expecting customers to pay top dollar for an item that may have already been repeatedly handled. And it still pisses me off that this is the practice.

smidsy

OP - You have still not answered the most basic of questions.

smidsy wrote:

OP - did you speak to the LBS? Have you raised your concerns with them? Do you know for a fact that it has been ridden?

From you initial post I believe you have a bike that was sat in the showroom.

Until you clarify the above, there is no point in this thread!

WindyG

Are you happy with the bike?

rolf_f

nternal1 wrote:

That is my whole point. Being a newb I never even considered the bike I was buying may have been test ridden (god know's how many times). Had I realized this was the practice I would have told then flat out that, for full retail I expected a brand spanking new bike. I won't make that mistake again I can assure you.

You still haven't explained why you think that the bike might have been ridden. It isn't the practice to sell demo bikes as new bikes. You don't have any reason to assume that your bike isn't 'brand spanking new'. You don't have any reason to assume you have made a mistake.

Are you always in the habit of making up circumstances to piss yourself off?

nternal1 wrote:

It seems like it would be sound business practice to have a full set of demos that get sold off at cost at the end of the season instead of expecting customers to pay top dollar for an item that may have already been repeatedly handled. And it still pisses me off that this is the practice.

In an ideal world yes - but lets assume a frame comes in 5 sizes. Looking at one online shops stock of Giants, without covering every single model variation, I counted about 18 different models you'd reasonably need to cover so that makes 90 demo Giants alone. And then there are going to be all the other brands the shop sells. That's a lot of money and space.

spasypaddy

nternal1 wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

so you expect a retailer to have possibly 2-300 bikes on the shop floor for people to sit on and test ride but aren't for sale. what a waste of stock.

im confused.

there are very few demo bikes in shops, the only two that spring to mind are the ones sent out by shimano and campag for people to try out di2/eps on.

Bikes on shop floors are there to be test ridden and bought.

Actually, now that you mention it...it was a Defy 0 Advanced that the guy had been test riding when I was in the shop. That is in fact a di2/2 eps bike. Anyway, one way or the other the deal is done. I was bringing this up for future reference and will be watching a little closer next time a buy a bike.

no shimano and campag themselves send their 'own' frames branded shimano/campag all over the shop with epc/di2 on it so that people can test ride it. nothing to do with giant/cannondale/trek/etc