Hence why I said “for me” 🙂
There’s no right or wrong answer – you just learn what you like, but yes, if you break it, you probably are screwed!
Edit: I wouldn’t necessarily buy without seeing it – but I would narrow my search down massively by discounting stuff it’s unlikely I would like. That’s not to say you do’t hop on a mates bike every now & then give the a go.
Some things you can address seperately anyway, stuff like HA’s can be adjusted with headsets, etc, but if it’s in the right sort of ballpark I know I should be able to jump on something and it will work for me 🙂