I was wondering how peeps here would assess a bikes performance on a demo within 15 minutes on a gravel trail? I ask because I’m going to the demo day on the 18/19th of June at Gratham cycles. Ta 😀

Unless all your riding is 15 min blasts on gravel trails – you can’t.

HTH

By riding it? 😉

Mad skids.

What else can you do on gravel?

Doesn’t really sound worth going to, unless you want to see what size fits you better, but that could be done in a shop.

you lift all the bikes in the shop up and then pick the lightest one, surely?

Squeeze front tyre
Squeeze a brake lever. Doesn’t matter which
Bounce on forks
Click a gear or two
Prod saddle
Hum a little
Buy it

wwaswas

you lift all the bikes in the shop up and then pick the lightest one, surely?

Not forgetting the crucial “compress the forks test”. You must do this on all the bikes. The ones that rebound fastest are the best.

Then you must ask the sales staff what the differences are between every bike, feel free to include road, cyclocross, electric and kids bikes into this part of the test.

Squeeze front tyre
Squeeze a brake lever. Doesn’t matter which
Bounce on forks
Prod saddle
Hum a little
Buy it

This man speaks sense.

Flick the frame too, on all the different tubes. Metal frames that ring are the nicest, carbon frames that click the loudest are the fastest.

I just don’t get “testing” bikes. Sit on it, ride it round in a circle, feel the suspension squish. Is it plush, is it stable? If nothing jumps up and bites you on the ass, if the shock doesn’t explode in a Jerry Bruckheimer-style ball of fire, then it’s probably alright. This is not a fine-tuned thing.

Bikes are all the same. This idea of minutely testing a bike’s performance on every conceivable type of terrain feeds into bike industry marketing. In truth, tyre choice probably has more of an impact than suspension design.

But then I’d never spend over £1500 on a bike.

Having tested a CUBE AMS at Whinlatter recently … on the north red trail and the blue trail (the later trail being more fun IMHO) … I found that the front end twitchy upon turning and climbing switchbacks … has anyone else found this??? It was my first go on a full suspension bike though!

Bikes are all the same. This idea of minutely testing a bike’s performance on every conceivable type of terrain feeds into bike industry marketing. In truth, tyre choice probably has more of an impact than suspension design.

Indeed a quick ride won’t tell you much but what it will tell you is crucial – geometry like head angle and geometry changes. I’ve tried some perfectly usable, high quality bikes that just /feel/ awful to ride. A couple of older Treks came to mind then.

I think that if you’re going to spend more than £100 on a bike you’re a numpty if you don’t test it first.

I found the demos at Mountain Mayhem perfect for bike testing.
The fact you can try any amount of bikes gives you a chance to compare. I could certainly tell from the bikes I rode which one to choose.
I’ve had my 575 for 5 years now.

I just don’t get “testing” bikes

I just don’t get “not testing” bikes 🙂

But then I’d never spend over £1500 on a bike.

I’m looking around the £2,000 mark … so I do want to get this right for the wonga!

I found the demos at Mountain Mayhem perfect for bike testing.

Is that because all your riding is going round in circles in a muddy field? 😛

I agree that testing a bike’s important. Although not as important as reading reviews on MTBR. I’ll give you an example. Specialized Stumpjumpers ride amazingly, but they’re equipped with basically toy shocks with zero durability (Fox Triad) and crucially those toy shocks are not readily upgradeable due to the funny shock mount. A test ride will not tell you that because they ride great to begin with. You could learn more about this bike (including how it rides) in 3 mins on google than 30 mins on the trail.

Agh for that matter I hate hate hate that Specialized put these stupid little skewer/axle systems on their bikes which basically make it impossible to upgrade the crap hubs. They have done so for over 15 years now. THAT’s the kind of thing you want to know before you buy a bike. Not whether it rides 0.1% better than a Giant on roots but 0.1% worse on fire roads.

The number of people who used to come into my shop wanting to test ride every single hybrid in the store, at great hassle to us, without asking a single question about reliability, availability of upgrades etc.

Another jhw rant.

Squeeze front tyre
Squeeze a brake lever. Doesn’t matter which
Bounce on forks
Click a gear or two
Prod saddle
Hum a little
Buy it

Partly right although when I worked in a shop it went something like:
Wander round aimlessly
Squeeze brake lever
Bounce forks
Ping tubes
Pick up front end
Attempt to sit on bike
Knock over all other bikes in display
Ask for assistance
Talk about the bike with the authority gained from reading Wikipedia/bike mags
Make yourself sound like pro rider
Umm and ahh
Ensure that the above takes at least 1hr
Say “I’ll think about it” then walk out of shop

Post a pic on here.

That nicely brings me onto ‘bargining’ for the new steed?

Any helpful tips? Or should I give up … being STW and a Friday. I suspect the Kylie thread will back later 🙄

I think I’m getting from this … try and few bikes and see which feels good and then study the specs? Though for £2000 I expect everything to be ‘upgradeable’, and I generally have a good idea about what I like/ don’t like as far as kit goes (except with rear shocks).

i’ve just spent over £2k on a bike which i had never seen in the flesh before… i was happy to do so as i did my research online, spoke to owners of the same frame and read some independant reviews.

i love riding bikes, but to be honest, you could give me any bike and i would learn to love it. this particular bike is my first proper full-suss, so coming out of hardtails, it’s a revelation.

i was offered loads of test rides, but i didn’t really see the point. the only value i see personally is making sure that the bike actually fits properly and that if it’s a full susser, you can spin the cranks without catching your heals (very important if you have big feet).

agree that testing a bike’s important. Although not as important as reading reviews on MTBR. I’ll give you an example. Specialized Stumpjumpers ride amazingly, but they’re equipped with basically toy shocks with zero durability (Fox Triad) and crucially those toy shocks are not readily upgradeable due to the funny shock mount. A test ride will not tell you that because they ride great to begin with. You could learn more about this bike (including how it rides) in 3 mins on google than 30 mins on the trail.

Tell me you’re not serious?

MTBR – 2 different reviews,
a) one it’s the best bike on the plannet.
b) it snapped, it’s the worst bike on the plannet.
Every bike fits these reviews, sometimes the same bike can have both reviews.

MBR reviews –
a)Pick some minor specing point, even if all the bikes on test share this same flaw we’ll only deduct 4 points from this bike for it.
b) If it’s spesh give it 10
c) The ideal bike is the one we tell you to need, not the one you need, remember a few years ago when the trail bike section was all 6″-7″ bikes, now it’s all 4″-5″.

Reviews are useless.

Bikes are all the same

Haha.

Take your old bike along for comparison if you have one.

Ride each bike into as many obstacles as you can – kerbs, rocks, rough ground, etc and see how well each handles it. If you can find some climbs do those, both seated and standing.

I did back to back 1/2 tests on a turner 5 spot, a giant trance and a SC superlight. Immediately apparent which bike was superior, especially in the chop.

Pedal it up a hill and roll it down again with a few turns.

You can tell how lively/lumpish/soggy it feels under power, what the front back weighting is, if it fits you well for climbing, if the suspension is roughly tunable to you tastes, if the low speed handling is to your taste. You can also check frame finishing, colour and quality of wheels, assembly etc. You also see the design features up close.

The problem is that you can’t tell how well it corners and handles when its steep and rough, and this will ultimately dictate whether you love the bike.

Design issues should be researched on the Internet,

You take MTBR reviews with a pinch of salt. Like on youtube, there are always moron reviewer/commenters, who are easy to identify, but if you take all the reviews together, common themes normally emerge and there’s some good information to be found.

It’s been deadly accurate for all the bikes I’ve owned at least.

I agree that I would never ever ever buy a bike on the basis of a magazine review. They’re all on the take.