A lot of people on here ask advice about buying a bike that they have no intention of riding before buying. Who's bought a bike "blind" and been disappointed?
(I ask nervously as my new-build lies in pieces in the shed)
Those of us that only ever buy frames?
Bought blind but not been disappointed on my last 3 bikes. Actually tested my next one thought 🙂
i bought all my bikes that way. i know what effective tt i need. the rest is want 🙂
Bought my newest MTB blind - a Stumpjumper HT. Had a 10 year old one that I loved so was confident a new one would be okay - it is.
Tested my road bike first.
I always buy blind purely because finding large/21" bikes to test ride is impossible.
Always and been diappointed many times, but usually bought trade or sh.
Worst was a Mojo around 2000, wanted one for years and hated it.
wanted to buy a full suss after riding SS for a while.
went to a demo day to try a commencal, a marin & a specialized.
rode the marin & specialized, commencal got stuck in the snow so never turned up.
bought the commencal. 12 months later it was on the garage wall not being used, replaced by a 456.
Ive never test ridden a bike, it seems like such a rediculous thing to do. Its a bike FFS. You must sound like a right **** when someone asks you what you did at the weekend.
"Travelled 80 miles to my nearest Lapierre dealer so I could test ride a mountain bike for 30 minutes, then drove 80 miles home"
i am same as lunge...........not many bike shops will set a bike up for a 20stone bloke to test ride.
sometimes the bikes i choose are shyte when i buy them.....hence my large turnround in bikes. 8)
Guilty as charged.
2006 Trek Fuel ex9 - was better than the 1997 GT LTS I was using... very cheap deal. Rear shock issues though - a mate has the frame now.
2008 Stumpy pro Carbon - very cheap deal. A lot better now I have an RP23 on it - but hardly an unknown quantity,
2009 Rock Lobster HT - (aluminium) - made up with this bike.
Old Dialled love/hate (SS) bought frame off here - and it is brilliant - but if it hadn't suited me I would have sold it on.
Unless you are really skilled - I suspect that the first day or so you ride a different bike - all you are checking is whether your bad habits work with it, and that it takes longer for most of us to get an idea of what a bike can do.
Can remember the last time I got a test ride.
My two current bikes, Turner 6 pack and Pace 305 were both bought opn spec.
Two Intense before that.
Like Jedi, effective TT and I can sort the rest out.
I've never test ridden a bike further than the carpark.
Bought one hardtail, one frame, 2 road bikes and a full suss.
I'm happy with them all.
Only bought my Rock Lobster without trying it first. All other bikes I've bought from shops.
It was similar geometry to what I'm used to, so I knew it would be fine.
S'possibly the best fitting bike I've owned! 🙂
I'm probably about to but it will be the first time, and TBH I'd be a bit happier if I could get a ride in first.
"Travelled 80 miles to my nearest Lapierre dealer so I could test ride a mountain bike for 30 minutes, then drove 80 miles home"
80 miles would be excessive, but I reckon a lot of us on here spend more money on our bikes than our cars, and I reckon most people would travel to test drive the car they want
all the bikes I've test ridden I can't afford
so all my bikes have been bought blind
Ive never test ridden a bike, it seems like such a rediculous thing to do. Its a bike FFS.
I don't think it's so daft. They're not all the same, amd for a lot of people it's a significant amount of money on something that might have to last them a few years so why not make sure you get it right? Do you try clothes on without buying them?
But travelling 80 miles is a bit silly.
jedi - Memberi bought all my bikes that way. i know what effective tt i need. the rest is want
Funnily enough, that's exactly the same principle I've always applied to buying bikes!
And yes, as a result of buying blind in the past, I've bought a few bikes I've ended up not liking pretty quickly, and shifted them on. But I generally tend to buy 2nd hand anyway, so fortunately haven't lost too much in the process.
As it is now, I've got 4 bikes, 3 of which were bought totally blind (the 4th only wasn't cos it's a replacement for a similar frame I had before, which was again bought totally blind), and I love each of them! I've made some mistake purchases in the past, but my problem now is that I feel I've got too many bikes... Still, I love them all, and that makes me want to get out and ride them more, which can't be a bad thing surely? 😉
Yes, I guess its not a particularly stupid thing to do, especially if your buying from a local dealer, at least a spin in the car park is a good idea.
My comment was more with regards to these brands that not many shops sell (like cotic perhaps). People travelling miles and wasting(?) a saturday just to go and have a quick ride on a bike, spending about £100 in fuel just to get there.. Just buy the ****in thing.
I test rode a Heckler and was convinced I wanted one, then bought a Blur LT instead without riding one!
Bought an Orange G2 without trying it and never got on with it. I've demoed everything since then and decided against a few that I was 99% sure I was going to buy.
The only bikes I've ever tried before buying were a Sunn (with the world's wobbliest suspension forks) and a Cannondale F900 (with the world's stiffest suspension forks and was the first disc brake only frame sold in the UK). All the rest have either been frames built for me or ordered in advance - usually taking between 3 and 6 months to arrive.
Bought a cotic soul without trying. Was ok, kept it for a couple of years but never really got on with it the way I did with the inbred it replaced, so I got rid of the soul and got another inbred instead. 853, this time
I can't ever remember doing a proper test ride. Certainly not for my current crop. I know what size I need and generally not disappointed. I probably do a bit of research but usually build up from frame with stuff I have lying around and swap bits in and out all the time.
Again getting large's to test has always been difficult.
Not been disappointed for a very long time. Last buy was second hand and build up from a frame so not easy to test.
Used to think I didn't need to test ride bikes, but now I try to do it whenever possible. Probably because I've got a bit more fussy.
First 2 MTBs (Orange C16R then a Kona Manomano) were bought on no more than a quick pedal up the road and back to check that they fitted.
Inbred was bought unseen, PA frame was bought unseen, replacement PA would have had to be very different to not work!
That said, if I was dropping £2k+ on a suspension bike I'd probably make the effort to go to a demo day and try them out properly.
Like mboy and Jedi, I figure that if the tt is about right, I'm going to change it so it fits my riding anyway- chances of getting a testride the way I'd build it are nil.
Bought a Mojo recently, without ever having seen one outside photos.
I've only ever test ridden three new bikes, bought two of them, one of which (bullit, must be nearly 10 years ago) was a disappointment. Everything else I've bought blind- some I've ended up liking, some not.
I bought 2 blind, a Kona Caldera which I loved and a Kona Coiler which I hated.
Not sure I would buy blind again...
I've never test ridden a bike before buying it as I've always known what size and geometry I wanted. I suppose if people aren't sure about what they want or confident enough in their research, then they'll want to test before buying, but I've never felt the need to.
I didn't test drive the last car I bought either.
Ive never test ridden a bike, it seems like such a rediculous thing to do. Its a bike FFS. You must sound like a right * when someone asks you what you did at the weekend.
Potty mouth .......from your comments you sound like a right * without trying.
I rode a couple of bikes about 10 years ago that really surprised me. I thought they would be perfect, but they didn't suit me at all.
After that I've always test-ridden a shortlist before buying.
In amongst those there have been about 4 bikes which looked great on paper but that really wouldn't have suited me.
The bikes I was surprised not to like were DeKerf, Spot, Yeti 575.
I don't bother test riding. Much better to do your research so you know exactly it is what you want/need. Mind you, I wisb I'd known that 10 years ago - would have saved a fortune!
Had a bike fit done- know my frame size (top tube anyway) and buy from that.
I did try my roadbike out before buying -rode in a shop as they were too scared to let me on the road.
Local Genesis dealer had some demos of the steel hardtail.
Hit and miss but for roadbikes-deffo get fitted. Mtbs? -well you can getaway with it but you can't beat a demo bike.
Never test ridden any bikes before but I really want to test ride a few frames to see how they compare to my current ride. Anyone got either a 456/456SS, BFe or DB Alpine I could have a go on? 🙂
My current bike was bought untested
But I had ridden enough bikes to know rougly what I wanted in terms if TT etc. I'd also demoed enough full FS bikes to have an idea I'd get on with it
I think setting it up for you is key
ive bought all my bikes blind, never been disapointed, always fit and rode well. currently on a 09 remedy 7 with a few upgrades and couldnt be happier. saw it cheap on internet in a sale, liked it, bought it, riding the life out of it. 😀
Ahem. Try being a woman. 👿
always bought blind, trusted mag reviews. Got bitten ion my last frame despite all good reviews, won't be doing that again
I didn't test the last 4 bikes I bought, but did a lot of homework on the geometry (mainly TT & standover) compared to my previous bikes.
So that's a '03 Orange Gringo, '06 Orange 5, 2010 Cube AMS Pro & a '98 Orange Clockwork all bought blind.
Luckily every one of them is just as I like/need them to be. The Cube is the one that has had the least tweaking/upgrading, only contact points have changed.
Strangely enough I do recommend trying bikes out to other forum users...
I'd always like to try first but it's not always possible. Bought my Soul and Kraken based on a testride but the Hemlock- which's been my best buy so far- was on a whim, pretty much (and also on the basis that I was confident I could resell it on here for more than I paid!)
my favorite bike to ride and the one i grab first was bought blind .... never ridden a 29er nor SS.....
i bought a gary fisher rig because it was the same price as the inbred 29ere - but with disks and rebas .... still love it 5 years on - best 400 quid i ever spent
Yup, the only bike I ever test rode was a dog (I didnt have much to compare it too), since then I've bought blind and never been dissapointed, everythings always been better in one way or another.
Actually, I don't think I've test ridden any of mine. Apart from a Ti that was one size too large.
Made some mistakes along the way. 🙄
After all I said earlier about buying blind and having some success, there is one bike I was very glad to have test ridden before buying.
In 2003, after having sold my S-Works Enduro frame cos I wanted something slightly beefier, I was dead set on getting a Cove G Spot cos they looked awesome. Anyway, got a demo on one in my size, it fitted perfectly, the geometry felt spot on, the bike was gorgeous... But it was without doubt, the single worst full suspension design I have ever ridden, because the pivot around the BB totally isolates the suspension from any feedback at all, and so the bike just wallows constantly. Every pedal stroke uphill it would dive through more than half its travel! IT WAS HORRID!
Ended up buying a Santa Cruz Bullit instead (a blind purchase), after having previously ridiculed the high forward single pivot suspension design, and it ended up being one of my favourite bikes ever!
i've never test ridden a bike. not had a stinker yet, just one 2nd hand bike that was too wee for me.
I bought two off the peg/blind and they didn't stay long.
I've always built my bikes so I know exactly what frames will work, and I can pick the exact ratios, widths, diameters,lengths everything.
The off the peg bikes went in fairness probably because of the sum of their parts not being quite right.
Got one of the new ST4 frames coming as a warranty replacement. Only know a couple of people who've ridden one, but the angles + effective top tube look spot on. If its not all that, I'll be bunging it on here + trying one of them Cannondales Ben was raving about in the mag.
I'm 6'6", so not a chance. Through the years, I've learned what geometry and sizing works for me. Not that many of the importers actually bother bringing XXL sizes into the UK anyway.
I often feel the geometry on XXL frames is wrong as it's just a copy of a 17" frame scaled up, but that's a whole other story.
If you choose the right bike for the type of riding you do (you don't need a long travel bike in Dorset) and you can work with the geometry charts, especially the effective top tube - it's very hard to go wrong.
BUT no all bikes are standard format MTBs and so our demo quiver is stuffed full of "I wonder what that bike is like" bikes;
Surly big dummy cargo bike
Surly ss cross check
Surly steamroller fixie
Salsa dos niner 29er soft tail
Niner sir9 853 ss 29er
Salsa vaya adventure road bike
And coming soon:
Salsa Fargo 29er adventure bike
Not a single regular FSR clone in there! These are all bikes that are difficult to judge on paper and a test ride tends to confirm they are as good or better than you hoped at doing there unique jobs.
I only wish there were a big catapult to allow quick access to your demo bikes, charlie.
Incidentally, have you ever wheelied your BD? Perhaps it'd only be possible if you had your freeloaders rammed with other bike exotica.
sponging machine - for the most part youd be right - but with things like headangles tucked in a degree or 2 to compensate for silly long wheel bases ...
was an article on it in one of the mags
only test ride i had was on a spesh fsr, out of the other bikes ive bought without testing, only my first mtb could be counted as a mistake - shop sold me a 19" Dawes, which was similar in feel to a five bar gate!
if the opportunity presents itself a test ride is a great idea. I cant let a mate get a new bike without having a quick spin on it, they all feel different, roadies, shoppers, bmx, kids bikes, all of them are good and you know very quickly if you can adapt to it or not.