Surely one of the huge advantages an LBS has over the internet retailers (including the likes of Canyon and Rose), is their ability to provide customers with the opportunity to see and TRY the bike before parting with a not-inconsiderable amount of cash.

The “you can sit on it, but you’re not allowed to pedal it” aproach completey throws that advantage away. I understand the arguement about the expense of keeping a fleet of demo bikes, but LBSs need to (and many are) fully capitalise on their face-to-face business model. I don’t know how – but I don’t run a bike shop.

I bought my bike from a large online retailer – and their UK rep took me for a 2hr test ride around Swinley beforehand. Better service from an online retailer than your average LBS? Just saying…..

foxyboy , are they in Widnes ? never used them or heard anything about them
these liverpool comments are from I quote “helmets” (which is quite funny) who have never graced the soil of this sacred ground

Now , who wants a scrap !!!

I find it hard to believe that a big chain doesn’t have the resources to clean bikes somewhere too !

hels – Member
I find it hard to believe that a big chain doesn’t have the resources to clean bikes somewhere too !

That’s not the point though. The point is that as soon as someone else has ridden that bike, it’s no longer ‘new’. Would you be happy buying a new car if you’d known that someone else had taken it out for a spin and crunched the gears a bit in the process?

Bike shops need a test fleet for that purpose, and it’s unsustainable for most.

They have a shop in widnes and another shop in whiston.

I can see why most LBS can’t afford to have more than a couple of demo bikes but that’s where the distributors should be helping out (and often do) however it can take weeks for the distributors demo bike to become available.

Your average LBS must get a fair amount of tyre-kickers and people wanting to size a bike up before going off to buy it online for a bit of a discount. Not sure I’d do any favours for a ‘customer’ I didn’t know that wanted to get a new bike dirty either. There’s only so many times you can let a bike be ridden around a car park before something gets scuffed etc. leaving the LBS to replace it or worse not being able to sell the bike as new.

Dales cycles in Glasgow let me take Scott FR10 away for the weekend to try didn’t like it no prob then i bought a Giant Reignx1 off them now looking at a road bike they have offered to give me a Specialized Roubaix away for the day to try i cant see by them

A test ride???? You should try being 6’4″ and needing XL size bikes. Most shops won’t even get one in for you to sit on let alone ride it

Yar, the husband and I have had similar – he’s 6ft 6, and I’m 5ft 2, so we’re at either extremes of the height scale. When I got my first bike (a £400 Trek WSD hardtail) from Mike Vaughn’s in Kenilworth, I was allowed to try both the 14″ and 16″ models by riding a loop around the park. We had loads of good advice from them and bought the bike from there.

Unfortunately when I wanted to try a Specialized FSR in small, they wouldn’t get one in without me paying a 10% non-refundable deposit. Given that we didn’t really want to fork out £189 for a bike that was potentially completely wrong, we ended up going to the Concept Store in Fort Dunlop instead. They also asked for a £60 deposit to get the bike in, but would refund it if the bike didn’t fit. Fortunately it did. \o/

I think it’s hard for shops when it comes to the smallest and largest sizes, as they’re the models that they normally struggle to shift, and that’s even more of a problem with the more expensive bikes. If it’s a smaller shop, then they have to consider how likely it is that they’ll be able to shift an extra small/extra large £2k bike if they order it in and then the customer changes their mind.

Personally I’d like to see more demo days, and a bigger range of sizes a the demo days. Normally I do pretty well at them, but Mr Toast will be standing there with three or four other 6ft4+ blokes waiting for the one XL bike that a manufacturer has decided to bring along.

Yes, demo days are a problem too for us short folk – agree that a bigger range of sizes would be great. Many a time I’ve had to embarrassingly concede to being unable to get my leg over on a potential test ride 😳 😆

Props though to Sunset and Don Skene Cycles in Cardiff – both have been more than happy for a car park/road test and have taken quite a bit of my money in the past.

Oooooh, wouldn’t a frame library be great 💡 – you know – borrow a frame for a couple of weeks (for a fee obviously) and then return it without having to lose half the RRP and give most of the other half to eBay/Paypal in fees . . . or is that just me? When I win the lottery I may set up just such a business . . . riders over 5’5″ need not apply 😆

We try and be flexible, but dont mind a spin round the block, etc, usually ask for some sort of security, but have been caught out in the past, once had a guy turn up, leave us his passport (which was genuine not fake) and he never came back on the Zesty 314. Police couldnt be bothered to arrest him so he got away with it.
Another guy asked us to get an XL which he test rode round the block, then asked us to get another one in as that was now used stock and he either wanted a discount on it as ex demo or wanted a new bike ordering, again we didnt want another XL meta 6 so he got a discount.
Another customer asked us to get a 60cm cross bike in and then never came back.

So it can be a bit tricky, but were happy if someone leaves some cash, or girlfriend, etc as security

Another guy asked us to get an XL which he test rode round the block, then asked us to get another one in as that was now used stock and he either wanted a discount on it as ex demo or wanted a new bike ordering, again we didnt want another XL meta 6 so he got a discount

😯

I suppose I should give a big thumbs up to Noahs in Stroud, who let the other half test ride a £1200 Cannondale after we just walked in on Saturday. Nice chap too (I assume he was the owner).

She nearly bought it too, nice bike and weighed bugger all, but decided she wanted something ‘lighter’ 🙄

I’ve seen people come into an lbs, demo a bike, suck the salesman’s brain dry and go off to “discuss it with the missus”.

Next time you see that person they’re riding on that bike bought over the internet.

If I was a small lbs, I’d be reluctant to allow demo rides.

Ride it round the shop. Problem solved.

Surrounded By Zulus – Member

Ride it round the shop. Problem solved.

I asked a bike shop assistant to let me ride a Spicy down his stairs to see what the suspension was like. He politely declined.

Feels sorry for LBSs

I’ve seen people come into an lbs, demo a bike, suck the salesman’s brain dry and go off to “discuss it with the missus”.

This is also apartly the fault of the salesperson to close the sale but that’s a skill that you only see occasionally. It’s brilliant when you see a good salesman at work though

leffeboy – Member
…This is also apartly the fault of the salesperson to close the sale…

I doubt that sort of buyer ever has any intention of buying through the lbs.

The skill in the salesman needs would be spotting those characters and fobbing them off. 🙂

Evans let me take a Fuel for a 30 minute spin round Manchester City Centre. I was testing down stairs, drops and everything. Still didn’t buy it though 😀

projectyou dont buy a car without a test drive do you.

Depends what you want to buy but certainly some people do. If the particular car/engine combo you want is not in stock then it will be particularly common, afterall what are you “testing” when you drive it?

Back in the land of bikes I think this is increasingly common. Not sure if it is the “recession”, or attitudes of Hot Lines etc. but it seems to be getting harder to find demo bikes, especially anything which is not stupidly high spec. Harder if its womens specific, or very big / small too.

Full credit to TBC in Edinburgh who got a bike in specifically for my wife to try out and take for a spin (she did buy it), but they knew she was completely serious.

Personally I’ve no problem with paying for a demo, and getting it refunded if I buy (and likewise if I don’t buy that amount coming off the price of the bike for the person buying it “second hand”). Not sure why any serious buyer would have a big issue with that.

I had the opposite experience in EBC in Sheffield last Easter time (soon after it opened).
Went in to look at road bikes. I was undecided between a straight road bike or a CX bike. The guy was more than happy to let me take several bikes out for lengthy spins around Sheffield. When I came back from the 2nd one and was just about to go home he all but insisted that I also take out a canondale badboy with 3 speed hub gear just so I could see how bonkers a bike it was! If I’d had time I imagine I would have been sent out on the gocycle they had in as well.
I saw the same guy later in the year at the cliffhanger festival in June, he was working for the bike tree but remembered me. I told him I still hadn’t bought a road bike and he said good on me they were gay!
I imagine EBC were on a big drive for customers at the time having just opened, and by letting me have a test ride they got my details on their database, and so when a 15% off everything flyer dropped through the letterbox for bike week in July I was in like a shot to buy a bike from them.
They are now my LBS of choice in Sheffield.

The skill in the salesman needs would be spotting those characters and fobbing them off.

Does that bring us back full circle to top of thread? 😛

foxyboy – Member

The reason i chose this shop was because it was local and i wanted the after sales service after i had bought the bikes.

Thatto’s Cycles in St Helens is nearly local for you.
Thattos on line
Great service, great prices

28 Nutgrove Road
Thatto Heath
St Helens
Merseyside
WA9 5PL

Wiggle do 30 day test rides.

Every cloud has a silver lining, i have bought two brand new kona kulas for me and my girlfriend for £1000 for the pair. Now i will defy anyone on here to come up with a better bargain than that. I owe john geddes cycles an apology, thank you so much for refusing me a ride around the car park, as i am in dreamland at my two purchases.

Yes, but …

People buy beds by lying on them pencil-straight & fully clothed. I’ve never known anyone borrow one to test for a nights sleep & sex with the wife.

People buy fridges by opening & closing them in the electricals showroom. They don’t choose it on it’s ability to actually keep things cold.

Nobody demands a taste sample of all the items in my Tesco shopping.

It’s a fair point, and well made. 😀

I was once left a small baby as deposit while a customer had a quick test spin outside. 🙂

I wanted to test ride a blur ltc and a trc at a Santa Cruz demo day. Due to a misunderstanding the trc didn’t turn up. They said they would get one for me to demo for a full week and they truly did. I had the pleasure of keeping it at home and using it when I wished.

That’s service in my mind but at these prices I suppose there is little choice. It certainly helped make up my mind.

I was going to suggest thatto cycles or quinns on edge lane

or edge cycles in chester

The bike shop I work in shifts bikes by the bucket load partly because we let people do substantial bike tests. Anything else is bad business.

A lot of people buy bikes from crap shops. Can’t understand it myself. Sometimes people aren’t demanding (but they’ll always deny that fact).

The skill in the salesman needs would be spotting those characters and fobbing them off.

Nope. It’s actually to work out what they need to do to get them to buy it there and then. It’s a combination of working out what they want , matching that to what you want to move and then making the price right to get the sale. Once they walk out the door my guess is that the opportunity is gone

Edit: ok, actually some folks just want to waste time as well

wanted to buy a whyte 19 steel was but compare it with a 905 looked on the whyte website and the names of the dealers that were supposed to have demos. Not one would allow a test ride. I ended up buying a full build Pipedream scion from Pipedreamcycles at the bike show in birmingham in september well chuffed with it bout the same price but far better spec. LBS are very hit an miss specialized dealer in old hill west mids brotherton cycles always very helpfull though will buy wifes bike from there when get round to it as she wants a myka.

leffeboy – Member
‘The skill in the salesman needs would be spotting those characters and fobbing them off.”
Nope. It’s actually to work out what they need to do to get them to buy it there and then…

Qualifying the prospect. No point in wasting time or effort on someone who isn’t going to buy.

I’m quite lucky in that the bikes I sell (recumbents and other oddities) are rare enough that the’re not sold cheap online and they only usually come in one size, so stocking a demo bike is easier – and they don’t launch new models every year, so a demo bike lasts until it gets scrappy, when I can sell it for at least cost price.

It’s still a lot of money to have sitting around doing nothing, though, and deciding which bikes I’ll sell enough of to afford a demo bike is a big decision.

You do get a feel for who is a serious buyer and who is just messing about – and, oddly, it’s usually the people who want long weekend / multi-day test rides who are least likely to buy I’ve found. Though, saying that, my current record is 12 years to sell a bike 😉

I’ve also lost a couple of bikes to thieves – it’s just a risk you have to factor in.

Pay them £1400 and you can test ride for as long as you like. It’s a business not a public service.

Some customers shops can do without anyway.

i test rode a bike from a shop on an industrial estate, there were a few other people circling around outside the shop, but i’d spotted the flight of steps (about 20FT drop) and rode down those a couple of times…until the shop bloke came out and told me off 😳

I was allowed to try both the 14″ and 16″ models by riding a loop around the park

i’m telling! you’re not allowed to ride in that park*

*on the paths anyway 😉

Wouldnt it make sense for an LBS to sell demo vouchers. Say £100 to be able to demo upto 2 bikes for a day each, or 1 bike for 2 days (a weekend), to be returned clean (and security of a Debit card No.) If the punter goes for a bike from the shop, he gets the £100 deducted from the purchase price, and say a further 5% of value in accessories as a thankyou for not going to an online discounted supplier.

For those that walk away, or choose to buy online, the £100 foregone could go some way to cover the depreciation in the demo stock value.

I dont really see what an lbs does for you if it doesnt have demo bikes. They will sell you a bike and then do what?

I must be lucky with my LBS. They have demo bikes which you can “hire” for a deposit and test it out. The deposit is returned if you purchase a bike, any bike, from them.
It’s worked for them and it worked for me when i bought my Trek Wahoo (hate that name) a couple of weeks ago.
And i was a first time customer there.

People buy beds by lying on them pencil-straight & fully clothed. I’ve never known anyone borrow one to test for a nights sleep & sex with the wife.

I test rode my wife quite a few times before we got married. It’d be crazy to marry her first and then find out I didn’t like it.

Colonel wax, what film is that from? Looks hilarious.

Stoner – There’s a shop in Surrey who do just that. Their name escapes me at the moment but you pay £20 or so for a card allowing you a total of 24 hours worth of test ride over a month period allowing you try any of their test frames