Ok, I've being doing a fair bit of research and reading up, checking out on-line reviews,and getting word of mouth opinions,and have decided to go for the spesh' Enduro.

Local shop want £50 for me to take it out for the day.I don't want to give them £50 (I'm not getting it from there anyway)

How vital on a 1 – 10 scale is it that I take a proper test ride, or is just sitting on one and having a pooch around the car park ok?

It's your risk I guess. How important is it to you that it fits and rides he way you expect?

Very important. Say 7.5/10. Take it to your local trails and mayby your fav away location.

and

WTF, if a shop charged for a demo… I wouldn't buy a bike from it.

However, I know people do take the piss with demo bikes from shops. I.e entering them in races etc.

redthunder – Member
Very important. Say 7.5/10. Take it to your local trails and mayby your fav away location.

and

WTF, if a shop charged for a demo… I wouldn't buy a bike from it.

However, I know people do take the piss with demo bikes from shops. I.e entering them in races etc.

We charge for demos – but you get the money back if you buy it from us. If you'd seen the state some bikes come back in you'd understand why a small shop can't afford to lend out bikes will-nilly.

I had trouble finding a bike to fit because I'm a short ar5e. I was interested in a Meta 5.5 but my local dealers didn't have a small in and wouldn't get one in unless I'd buy it – which I wouldn't without a test ride. I contacted the UK distributor for a standover height and was told that I'm the same height as Rachel Atherton so I'd be OK (but they still couldn't provide a standover height). That made the decision easier for me so I arranged to test an Orange and bought one 😀

I suppose the ideal is to find a dealer that sells all the bikes you want to test that way you should/ may get charged only one test fee. For me a demo was important so may be 8/10.

There's a few shops near me that sell SP bikes, I'll try one of the others…

@druidh

I have.

Still dont reckon shops should charge for demonstrators. But as always a few people ruin it for the majority.

Perhaps a cleaning/damage deposit should be considered.

its a difficult thing as i would feel guilty going somewhere to try a bike that i had no intention of buying from. I'm in a similar situation myself at the moment. I want to try a Lapierre for size but i'm not going to get it from local to me. Money is money

I've only ever tried one bike in 22 years. Can't say it's ever been a problem.

I would expect a shop to charge for a demo then refund if you bought it. Otherwise people would take the piss and use them as a free hire shop.

Sit on it. Make sure it fits. You might as well if it's in the shop. Otherwise just go for it, I've never got any further than the road outside my LBS before. I've had six bikes and only one of them I've ridden first, 2 I bought online so hadn't even sat on. They're all great.

Always ride the bike first. You wouldn't marry a woman without riding it first, sod what the church say, no one wants a crap bike.

I've been hankering after an Orange 5, judging by all the write ups they are the dogs dogs dangly bits. After a short test ride yesterday at the Stiff open day, I was well disappointed. So its up to you to decide, but personally I'd hand over £50 and have a good days ride on it.

Local shop want £50 for me to take it out for the day.

I'm not getting it from there anyway

this is why shops charge….

we charge £25 but if you buy a bike(any bike) ill refund it.simples!

they do cost even a smallish shop a fair bit to run a demo fleet….but if i got a even a slight wiff that you were what you are ie a tyre kicker..id be very strict with the charge..on the other hand i have waived it…like most things it hinges on customers attitude! 😆

Tyre Kicker?

Tyre kicker = time waster

Well if they do the right thing by me, treat me right then I'll be riding out on them tyre's and not kicking them.

Not sure, I've only ever test ridden one bike and that was the usual round the carpark ride. Bought one on line and built another from scratch (bit hard to test ride a frame). Mine all fit well enough. Maybe I've been lucky. Conversley maybe I'm just happy cos I know no better. Either way it's all been right.

Test rides are important but £50 ffs! Wonder how many car dealers would get away with charging for test drives and stop in business.
My not so lbs did free test rides and let me take them away for long weekends with no drama. It certainly swayed me to buy from them.

Not sure if you can really tell that much from a test ride. You can change a bike so much by changing stem/bar/seatpost combos that unless the demo centre are going to sit and change combos its pointless. And even then it takes time to get used to a bike.

I demoed a spicy with high rise bars and 70mm stem (stock) and it felt aweful. Bought one, sold everthing on it and put my own stuff on. Now short stem, low bars and straight post and it feels amazing…plus im used to it now.

When you are going to be spending a considerable amount of money it makes sense in my opinion. I got charged £50 per demo, but I got the bikes for three days. Its important to know what the ride is like of what you are buying, each shop in question said that the fee would be taken off the price of the bike which is fair enough, they also need to cover wear and tear on the demo bikes, they are not charities..Riding round the carpark or sitting on a bike in a shop doesnot give you idea of how the bike rides on your favorite routes, I rode all 3 bikes on the same routes, 3 completely different routes to learn about the bikes. I would recommend it if you are going to spend over £1500 and want the bike to be your choice for the next 3-5years….Good luck in your hunt !!

only bike ive ever tested was my road bike for mtb i dont think its so important. Imo anyway

I can appreciate what you're saying about shelling out £50 – but having made a very expensive mistake buying without demoing off road, I now make sure I demo potential new bikes properly, esp. if they're £1000's rather than £100's.

p.s. I ended up buying an Orange Five after having a 'proper' demo. TBH, when I had a quick bash up & down the roads around the shop I was very underwhelmed by it – but when I thrashed it round my familiar off-road trails, it completely made sense, and I could understand the rave reviews.
Really glad I went to the effort of demoing it off-road.

If you can't get a test ride at a shop then see if anyone in your circle has one and will let you try it (naturally depending on size, etc). Or at least see if the shop has a specific demo that is as close as possible to the one you want.

I've only had one test ride – walked into the shop (about 7yrs ago), said I was interesting in one of their FS Marins and asked to borrow it. They handed it over and said go on then. So I took it down the local woods and brought it back within say 20 mins (clean but slightly dusty tyres). They were most unimpressed and said I should have gone up and down the road outside. I said it's a MTB, not a road bike – and you didn't mention sticking to the space out the front. Needless to say I didn't buy a bike from them.

I like to try before I buy – demo days are great 😀

Sorry, but you are just the type of individual that takes the piss, and that is why they charge (but every shop I know off gives you a credit if you buy)…

Local shop want £50 for me to take it out for the day.I don't want to give them £50 (I'm not getting it from there anyway)

http://www.boneshakersbikes.co.uk/acatalog/Events.html

these guys run the Harrogate specialized concept store and doing a demo day for £15. could try out loads of bikes at same time

Local shop want £50 for me to take it out for the day.I don't want to give them £50 (I'm not getting it from there anyway)

if they do the right thing by me, treat me right then I'll be riding out on them tyre's and not kicking them

Which is it?

LBS has to survive somehow, if you're not even planning on buying from them why should they look after you like you're something special?

Reply to Underhill: Tredz

Having looked a bit closer at some of their options I may go up on the weekend and check things out.

Didn't realise that there was censorship on this site, and didn't think that I used a term that would upset anyone on here, but I was wrong…

Maybe I should have used a term like "you have the morals of Peter Mandleson".

I didn't ask to be abused.I asked in my opinion a valid Question.By the reply's I now understand why shops charge ( and also liked the point made that many will credit the charge back if you buy there )

I hope you don't shoot your mouth off like that when you haven't got a PC to hide behind… would make for interesting nights out I should imagine

Fight!

Hey, I'm a lover not a fighter . . hang on.. that sounds even worse !!

Calm down boy's save the anger for the trail. By the way any good bike shop should refund the £50 or put it towards some bling on your purchase and yes ride before you buy, i spent mths trying all the usual bikes, went for gary fisher hi five pro fitted perfect and we have never look backed 😉

TBH – you're buying a Specialized, where could you go wrong?
It's like buying a car – does it stop and go? Can you see out of it? Can you afford it? Errrrrrrrrr……… Is there anything else?
Although, I did get lent a Trek Madone by TrekUK once, gosh, I've never experienced snap oversteer on a road bike before. But then again, it wasn't on my list of frames anyway.