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
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
However you're not allowed to take it to Wales... tried that 
Stoner,
A number of shops offer a variant of that. The issue is you can still only demo stuff they have in stock. So if you want a different size its tough luck - if like me you are on the cusp between two sizes, you might want to try the same bike in a couple of sizes. It might be better if "hotlines" and other distributors could offer such a solution so that you could go round all their outlets and still not loose out.
Personally though I've no problem paying £40 for a day "hire" to try out a bike even if I didn't get it back.
However, its clear that bike sales are thriving at the moment, and so I think its unlikely anyone will be increasing their risk to try and sell more if they don't need to.
Found em - mountain trax, and it's £30 for 48 hours.
Bike shop I use got a test bike in for me from the UK distributor and after I ordered it let me use any of their test fleet while mine was being made.
The clue is in the title. Its Liverpool. I imagine they've had a fair few bikes nicked.
I totally believe in demo bikes... We have a shop full of them.
You are either a box mover (selling units of bike) or a proper bike shop.
Also if the shop staff have actually experienced the bike, then they are qualified to advise customers. Almost everything I have ever sold... I have also ridden ( which is nice as I get to play on bikes)
Foxy - did the bike shop you got the Kulas from let you try them first?
Perhaps the trial/demo bike thing depends on what sort of bike shop they are and what time of year it is. If they mainly stock bikes that are most likely to be bought as Christmas presents then they're possibly just quite busy this time of year, and spending time with someone who wants to demo a higher end bike with a view to buy could waste some of the time they spend in selling/building up bikes for Christmas sales - which could be higher margin business. They are a business, they know their business and I guess act accordingly.
Well I guess you sell the demo's at cost so they really haven't cost owt but actually brought in sales ontop. Good future business sales?
hora - Member
The clue is in the title. Its Liverpool. I imagine they've had a fair few bikes nicked.
Jokes been done funny man, check this out anyway...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bike-blog/2011/jun/08/uk-bike-theft-hotspots
like any business you know when you are dealing with serious buyers.. we turn 90% of enquires into sales the other 10% we didnt try or priced too high as we didnt want the business/hassle/ simply didnt like them..
my LBS stand up guys ride what they sell small town/ village high end stuff they charge for a demo ( returned if you buy) i didnt buy the bike from them but ive spent every other cycling dollar in there.. and then went back and bought clothing to wear on the trials bikes..
no names but you d have to be into tie dying to live there..
Well I guess you sell the demo's at cost so they really haven't cost owt but actually brought in sales ontop. Good future business sales?True, unless each demo bike you sell for cost at the end of the season costs you a sale of a brand-new current-model bike?
bike theft league table ,bit disappointed we aren't in the top 10 ,perhaps we are have tagteamed with lancashire to keep our stereotype up
Doesn't Bristol win in the bike theft league tables?
I remember a couple of years ago a chap took a brand new demo 214 down to wales for a weekend.
It came back on monday and needed full set of new pads, a new BB, new front rotor and a darn good wash.
The £30 demo fee didn't cover it.
And therein lies the problem. The first year we did test bikes we had a Spesh Epic, we charged £20 to take it out for a day (preferably within one business day, but some were for 24 hours), and it got utterly ruined, as people just thought 'well £20 is less than it'll cost to fix my bike after this ride'.
Now tend to do guided test rides, don't charge, but go with the customer for an hour or two and show them a route to suit them and the bike. Used to enjoy doing that!
Car park tests are fine though, actively encouraged.
Its only recently that youve been able to get Demo rides on Motorbikes and even now its not as widespread as youd like....
And thats on something costing considerably more...
I dont see a problem with Paying 40-£50 a throw on a proper demo ride once youve narrowed down the choices, refunded against a sale If the shop also takes a deposit to cover any damage or serious wear then that should cover the aforementioned Brakepad etc issues and you would weed out the nobbers who are not interested in buying the bike 
thebikechain - MemberOne might argue that the demo bike fulfilled it's purpose for that potential buyer. If it needed all that work after just one weekend......
I remember a couple of years ago a chap took a brand new demo 214 down to wales for a weekend.It came back on monday and needed full set of new pads, a new BB, new front rotor and a darn good wash.
The £30 demo fee didn't cover it.
This thread rings a bell,[url=http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ron-spencer-cycles-warrington-rip-off-or-what][/url]
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