I’m in the market for a full suspension bike and have had a couple of test rides (Niner Jet 9, Orange 5, waiting for an ASR 5) but I’m open to other ideas. I’ve read loads of reviews and took myself of to Alf Jones in Wrexham this morning – great range of bikes including Zesty, RZ120 & 140, Trek Fuel. All contenders, but no test rides apart from “we’d let you ride it round the carpark if it wasn’t raining”. This isn’t just a moan about this shop, it seems to be normal to expect people to buy a £2k (or more) bike without a test ride. I wouldn’t buy a £1k car without driving it, so there’s no way I’m buying a bike without a ride. Presumably many of you are happy to buy from reviews, how do you bikes live up to your expectations ?

How about going back when it’s dry?

Built my bike up with parts, so obviously didn’t get to test ride it. Don’t think I’d ever even seen one in the flesh before I built it. Happy as can be with it.

only the last 10 or so times.

because being 6ft4 and 20 cough 2 stone not many bike shops are prepared to get a suitable bike in for you to try.

a few thoughts, there are very few bad bikes on the market.

A lot of comments you will read are from people, and i don’t mean this badly, justifying their purchase.

If you buy a Trek Fuel you’ll be happy that you bought it, if you buy a Zesty you will be happy with that.

Think of this from the shops point, they can’t stock a full range of demo bikes, it would mean locking up a huge amount of capital and probably making a lose when they have to sell them at the end of the year. The best solution is to find a demo day go along try a few then go back to the shop with your money. The other thing to think about is bikes do go wrong, it is nice to have back up and a decent bikeshop can be a godsend if the worst happens.

Everything wot he said /\.
You will have to redress the balance by saying something inflammatory and unsubstantiated now mrmo.

you mean like, if you buy a commencal it will snap…

I wouldn’t buy a £1k car without driving it, so there’s no way I’m buying…….

You test drive a used car to try and find out how many faults it has, not to determine it’s driving characteristics.

What you are asking to do is the equivalent of test driving a Caterham/Atom/KTM X-bow, but complaining that they won’t let you drive one on a track and in the process wreck the value of the test-car.

In your opinion, what would an extended test ride show, seeing as most £2k bikes sold today are extremely capable?

That’ll do….stw will carry on spinning (off axis) now.
The sensible/idiotic balance must be maintained you know.
I’ll add….a large number purchases are bought not on the basis of actual suitability/merit but on what colour it is and whether the purchasers mates think it is ‘cool’.

I bought my Boardman Pro without a test ride.

I sat on one in my local Halfords to check that it was the right size and that it “felt right”, then, by a stroke of luck, found one local to me on Ebay and bought it.

Not looked back (and that was 4 years ago).

What you are asking to do is the equivalent of test driving a Caterham/Atom/KTM X-bow, but complaining that they won’t let you drive one on a track and in the process wreck the value of the test-car.

Had a test drive of my Westfield Megabusa on track at Curbourgh before I bought it. Lots of car companies offer this sort of thing.

Bike shops are still stuck back in the day where bikes cost a few 100 quid. If they want to sell 3-5K toys they need learn that you can’t expect to do it like you used too.

Apart from my Cube road bike, all my other bikes have been built from the frame to my own specification. I’d repeat one of the comments above “there are no bad bikes these days” and I also reckon that there is too much black magic associated with bike sizing. Unless you are in the elite 1% of riders, any deficiency will be with you, not the bike and you’d be better off spending a couple of hundred quid on a skills course than worrying about which full suspension/fork/frame design is “better”.

bazzer – Member

Had a test drive of my Westfield Megabusa on track at Curbourgh before I bought it. Lots of car companies offer this sort of thing.How many car companies offer the same model in a range of sizes?

Not test ridden a bike before a purchase since 1995 and never bought a bike I have been unhappy with since. I think they all added something to my riding (mrmo’s point accepted).

In saying that my purchases have mainly been hardtails, and I have tended to go with reviews and conventional wisdom. If I was going full suss again I would probably test ride, based on the fact I have ridden a few bouncers which I would not wish to own.

Maybe it’s because I’m at the extreme end of the height/weight range but I can’t see the point of a test ride. I’d need to change stem, bars, cranks and set up the suspension before a test ride would be meaningful.

bazzer – Member

Had a test drive of my Westfield Megabusa on track at Curbourgh before I bought it. Lots of car companies offer this sort of thing.

Did you pay for the test drive or was it free for potential customers?

a few thoughts, there are very few bad bikes on the market

True, but there are bikes more suited to different body geometries and riding styles

If you buy a Trek Fuel you’ll be happy that you bought it, if you buy a Zesty you will be happy with that

Actually, if I buy one I will wonder if the other one would have been better.

Think of this from the shops point, they can’t stock a full range of demo bikes, it would mean locking up a huge amount of capital and probably making a lose when they have to sell them at the end of the year

I wouldn’t expect a full range to be stocked, but I think they would sell more bikes with at least some of the range on demo (or at least organise regular demo days with manufacturers).I don’t agree that they would make a loss, as I think the extra bikes sold would more than compensate them for the lower markup on one bike.

The best solution is to find a demo day go along try a few then go back to the shop with our money. The other thing to think about is bikes do go wrong, it is nice to have back up and a decent bikeshop can be a godsend if the worst happens. [/quote]

True.

Nearest I’ve ever come to a test ride was – I kid you not – riding a Kona Cindercone around the basement of Freewheel in Nottingham. Might be more of an issue with a susser but I’ve been happy with all my purchases. Trek 820, Cindercone, MTRAX Ti3000 thing, Merlin MALT and Cotic Soul. Also bought a roadrat without ever riding it

In your opinion, what would an extended test ride show, seeing as most £2k bikes sold today are extremely capable?

Well, I test rode a Sub 5 at Coed-y-Brenin and decided that I couldn’t get on with the head angle climbing slowly. I then tried a Superlight and decided it was too sketchy over rocks for me. Then I tried a Heckler, but my feet kept catching the rear chainstays. I went back and tried a Blur, which I bought. I could easily have bought one of the first three bikes based on reviews.

Oh, and I’d agree that it’s much less important for a hardtail or road bike.

Did you pay for the test drive or was it free for potential customers?

Free they arranged days where prospective customers could come and drive the cars.

I was invited for a test drive of a Radical SR3 afterwards the cheeky beggars tried to charge me a fee I told them where to go.

Why don’t the manufactures/importers do a touring road show of their bikes They should have a fleet and they should be out somewhere every weekend through the spring summer months. You can’t expect people to drop loads of cash without trying them.

I’d need to change … cranks … before a test ride would be meaningful.

Why..?

Why don’t the manufactures/importers do a touring road show of their bikes They should have a fleet and they should be out somewhere every weekend through the spring summer months.

They do…..

bazzer, can i ask who offered the test drive. Westfield themselves or was it a dealer.

Most shops, certainly not all, can not lock up the sums needed. I will use Trek as an example.

So which model do you pick, some people might want to test a EX someone else a top fuel, a session, or a scratch. On top of this the only way to properly test the bike is to have it in the right size. So that could 4 or 5 different versions of each bike.

So the best solution is for manufacturers, and trek are one, to offer demo days where potential customers can go and try a range of bikes.

bazzer – Member

Did you pay for the test drive or was it free for potential customers?

Free they arranged days where prospective customers could come and drive the cars.

That’s pretty good, isn’t it? How do you get an invite – just show an interest, or is it that you’ve bought cars through the dealer previously?

I got a testride on my Soul, I think every other bike I’ve had has been bought blind. Thing is, actually testing a mountain bike means taking it offroad, and not just for 5 minutes, which means turning a shop’s brand new bike instantly into a used bike that’s lost, let’s say 30% of its value. So I don’t think it’s reasonable or realistic to expect a shop to just take out part of their stock.

Why..?

I can’t change crank lengths without discomfort. Isn’t it the same for everyone?

most of mine have been purchased because they are a pretty colour and have sparkly bits

I’ve got 170s on the road bike, 175s on the mtb and the bmx, and I have a feeling on my crappy road bike they may be 180, and I don’t know what they are on my other bmx, but they look pretty short. Never bothers me at all. Didn’t even know they were different either – just measured them now.

The last 2 bikes I bought I ended up getting rid of after a few rides. Both were great bikes and a test ride would have told me such. My problem was that I bought the wrong type of bike – i.e. I overestimated the gnarrness of the riding I like to do. No test ride would have helped me with that – it took a couple of years of owning the wrong sort of bikes.

I would go to a demo day though – back to back different types of bike, even if they are just from one brand is good fun.

mrmo – Member

So which model do you pick, some people might want to test a EX someone else a top fuel, a session, or a scratch. On top of this the only way to properly test the bike is to have it in the right size. So that could 4 or 5 different versions of each bike.

So the best solution is for manufacturers, and trek are one, to offer demo days where potential customers can go and try a range of bikes.

And to pick up on that – if I was at a demo day trying out a Remedy vs an EX, I might decide that the Remedy had too much travel for me narrowing it down to the one bike. But the EX wouldn’t necessarily feel ‘right’ straight away because I don’t like the tyres, or the stem is too long, or the saddle is uncomfortable. All the little things that get changed or tweaked in the weeks/months after buying a new bike.

And of course, a demo day at a trail centre may not show how the bike rides on my local trails….

That’s pretty good, isn’t it? How do you get an invite – just show an interest, or is it that you’ve bought cars through the dealer previously?

I just rang them up and asked for a test drive and they said what did I want the car for. I told them track days to they said to you want to come and drive it on a track rather then the road.

Radical invited me as I had bought some engine parts from them in the past and showed an interest in the car.

How many car companies offer the same model in a range of sizes?

They had 70K tied up in the Radical I drove you can buy a lot of bikes for that.

Why don’t the manufactures/importers do a touring road show of their bikes They should have a fleet and they should be out somewhere every weekend through the spring summer months.

They do…..

I know they do, but it does seem a bit half hearted and they don’t od it as often as they should.

The industry moans about competing with online suppliers etc then does nothing about it.

The reason Caterham, Porshe, BMW etc etc make it easy to test drive things is they know that when people try their product they like it and it sells its self.

When I had my old TVR I used to pop into the dealership for a cuppa as some people might in their LBS they were always trying to get me to drive one of the newer models. They knew that if they can get you in the car you will like it and will start thinking about buying one.

How many people have been in their LBS and the owner says why don’t you take the new Tracer out for the afternoon. Secretly knowing they will come back wanting one so bad they will sell their kidney.

I think you have to ridden enough bikes to know what might work. But you may noy get to ride all combinations.

I didn’ trst ride my Fuel ex but knew that:

It needed to have clearance for turned in heels

A long top tube (leant this from my ols bike that was too short

a seat tube that points at the bottom bracket (learnt this on my Specialized test ride)

Slightly slackish head angle (well compared to the old 71 standard. learnt this on my Anthem test ride)

It feels right now. But I’m not sure a test ride would have told me this

So I think you can buy without a test ride. A good dealer who will work to get it set up right will help

bazzer – Member
The industry moans about competing with online suppliers etc then does nothing about it.

Because you’d always buy from a shop that gave you a test ride and would never, ever just ride it then buy online……

I’ve recently (last 2 years) bought 2 bikes – one with a test ride and one from bits.

The test ride was a Yeti ASR and there was no way I was going to spend that much on a full suss bike never having ridden one. Test took a while to arrange but it convinced me I had to have one so ordered the same day.

The HT I built up cost more that the Yeti and I was and am very happy with it as I knew what I wanted it to be. Took a long time to spec it and buy the bits.

The moral of the story is it depends if you know what you want. If you do then you don’t need to test ride, if not why wouldn’t you if its a shed load of money.

Most of mine have been second hand and available at the right price and time- although some some have been the right price and the wrong time but Ive still bought them anyway!
Most have been fine but I lost money on a few that couldnt get on with – eg blur classic and ti456

Because you’d always buy from a shop that gave you a test ride and would never, ever just ride it then buy online…..

Well I was quite pleased that Cycles Works in Burpham let me have a Patriot to test ride in Wales for a weekend. I took it back on the Monday and ordered a bike, so no I would not go online afterwards. The service I got was worth the £100 or so I could have saved. I also sent 3 other people to them who also got decent test rides. Two bought 5’s from them and the other bought a P7.

I can understand it might be hard for the likes of Cotic and the smaller companies to provide a large demo fleet. But for money machines like Specialized, Trek and Scott etc there is no excuse for anot having a comprehensive way of getting a test ride. While everyone is happy to say how impossible it would be then LBS’s wont be putting pressure on the importers and the importers on the manufacturers.

Santa Cruz bullit, Cannondale Gemini DH, Demo7, Cannondale Prophet all brought without test rides and enjoyed them all, if it wasn’t for injury i’d have kept the Demo7.

The only bike i’ve brought without a demo ride that I didn’t like was a Trek Session 7 and an Orange P7.

Biketreks do proper demo days; http://www.biketreks.net/
Have attended both Yeti and Specialised demo days and glad I did not take or listen to the lovers of either bikes, just did not get on with any of them.
Took me 3yrs, many road miles in the car,weekends away(keeps MrsT happy) test/demo days to find a full suss bike I could get on with. Bought 2 hardtails after riding them up and down the street but demoed my Pig in the Peaks out of 18bikes before buying.
If you are looking to spend a bit it is worth testing imo. I would(cannot justify)not spend that sort of money without doing so.

Nearest I’ve ever come to a test ride was – I kid you not – riding a Kona Cindercone around the basement of Freewheel in Nottingham. Might be more of an issue with a susser but I’ve been happy with all my purchases. Trek 820, Cindercone, MTRAX Ti3000 thing, Merlin MALT and Cotic Soul. Also bought a roadrat without ever riding it