Right I’m probably going to get flamed but I keep wanting a road bike.

I’ve never ridden one, only ever had MTBs but I want to go out for longer rides so keep thinking either about a Hybrid or ” racer ”

Only thing with a racer is the angle of posture on the bike, they look like you are constantly looking up with your neck and I’ve had neck problems in the past so am worried about getting aches.

I know that a short test ride won’t give a full indication but I’m thinking of taking a racer out from Evans on this test ride http://www.evanscycles.com/help/test-rides

Anyone used this from Evans eg how long do they let you go out for ? I could ring them in the morning but will probably get the apprentice who has a clue as normal.

In my lbs you tell them how long you want it for, so long as you aren’t taking the piss. Sat morn to sun aft is pretty normal.

The Specialized store in Brum do something similar as well so no doubt others will be around.

They Specialized one was a day when I enquired with them.

Check with the store.

Its likely this is a spin round the block test on a showroom bike, Which needs to be in a sell able condition after.

If its a proper demo bike then a long ride/day is normal.

When I worked at Evans there was no limit as such, but we’d start getting worried after about 30 minutes. Appreciate you can’t get a real feel for a bike in 30 minutes but hey, that’s life. You’ll struggle to find a ‘proper’ demo bike you can have for 24 hours in the right size and in the local vicinity, IMO.

Wiggle allow 30 days, you just pay for the bike on a credit card, test it for 30 days an dthen if you dont like it send it back and get another one or a refund.

Giant stores have a demo fleet. I test rode (and raced) a Giant Defy Advanced. Awesome bike, and I bought one! A Defy would be a good start for your neck, as would be a Specialized Roubaix.

I’ve not used the Evans test ride, but have taken one up and down the road.

You just need a photo ID and debit/credit card. They take a penny off the card and off you go. As Faz said its really a 30min Job but if you ask nicely you should be allowed out for longer if its a nice day.

Depending on what bike you are looking at they may be able to arrange a proper demo on a Hoy or Pinnacle road bike.

HTH

I test rode a bmc gran rondo. Evans got it in, I took it out for nearly an hour…didn’t buy, no cost to me. Great service!

I got a Norco Indie Drop from Evans – fantastic bike and fairly cheap, my first ever road bike so didn’t want a real racey model. And it’s steel, so I know it’s real. They were more than happy to let me out for a half hour ride, I just had to leave a credit card and photo I.d.

If you just want to try a road bike in general then maybe find somewhere that hire’s them for a week? Either that or get on Ebay NOW! Buy one this week and make a profit selling it in 3 weeks when TDF fever hit’s it’s annual peak.

They’re no less comfortable than a mountainbike, lose the peak off your helmet though as you do look ‘up’ more. Although saying that I prefer riding MTB without it too as you can see much further round corners without it!

I’d be more concerned about getting road bike that’s as upright as possible. A lightweight bike is no good on long rides if your neck is really hurting. Don’t think you need to get as low as possible for efficiency – being hunched over isn’t always the quickest position. Maybe consider a cyclocross or touring bike with faster tyres. And try to get a longish fork steerer so you can put plenty of spacers under the stem.

I ordered I a £5000 road bike for demo from Evans, when I turned up to test it they said I could only ride it on the car park so I packed up my stuff and went to a L(ish)BS and tested a few bikes all day on the local roads.

My experience was quite similar, got a £4500 bike in for demo and was allowed 5 minutes basically (even though I’ve bought another bike from them a couple of months before). Without the time to try and get my position right I just handed back after a quick spin and said no thanks, spent £5k elsewhere.
Wiggle’s 30 day test looks good to me, they even sort the courier out (assuming you don’t keep it) so minimal hassle.
Contradictory to a post above, my local Giant store has stopped doing road bike demos (apart from a 5 minute test) which is a bit shit as I thought they’d have access to a central demo fleet but apparently not and they can’t afford to fund demo road bikes as well as MTBs.

Evans were fine when I went off for a 45 minute test ride. Gave them a rough overview of where I was going ‘cos I didn’t have any spare tubes etc. No objection at all, and they promised to come and look for me if I didn’t return.

Biggest problem round Evans stores is the local yoofs, who are well aware that people are test riding expensive bikes. You can test ride one without ID, but they charge the full price of the bike to your credit card first.

They said I could get the bike muddy if I wanted but that there would be a £10 cleaning charge, which I think is fair enough.

I work at Evans at the NCC there isn’t a time limit on our test rides it just has to be within the velodrome grounds.

I’d be more concerned about getting road bike that’s as upright as possible. A lightweight bike is no good on long rides if your neck is really hurting. Don’t think you need to get as low as possible for efficiency – being hunched over isn’t always the quickest position. Maybe consider a cyclocross or touring bike with faster tyres. And try to get a longish fork steerer so you can put plenty of spacers under the stem.

I think it’s largely a perjudiced misconception that road bikes are uncomfortable, hence why I’d just throw myself in and get a cheep one that fits well enough and get out and do some miles and not worry too much about it.

There’s no reason why a touring or CX bike should be any more comfortable than a normal road bike, there’s some guys riding arround France right now proving that they’re comfortable enough to do long days in the saddle 😛 If you want a nippy sports car then buy a nippy sports car, a landrover V8 might be as quick and have plusher supension, but it won’t make you happy (unless you wanted a landrover V8, in which case the soprts car isn’t for you).

I tested a £2k road bike at Evans Crawley a few years ago and just gave credit card (can’t remember if they charged it or just verified it) and took the bike out for an hour – could have been longer. The car park only tests weren’t Evans policy then.

I nipped into Evans today to look at bikes as the Specilized Allez has caught my eye and they let me take one out.

Took it round the local car parks and, considering I’ve never been on a road bike before, felt comfy on it but it didn’t seem as fast as I expected.

Perhaps I’m thinking it will instantly turn me into Cav and expecting too much but it felt weird on the drops and standing up then felt like I was going to come off it.

It was a 52″ and felt fine ( I’m so little ) so I’m still debating as my mate who was with me said I looked like a clown on it 😳

Might take another out at some point to have another go as it just felt weird when on the drops