Depends on whether you’re aiming for a bike for life (or a while at least) or happy to buy and try, and punt on if not for you.

I’m in the latter camp and part of the fun is the gamble of trying something. £1700 on a used jones spaceframe build was at the extreme end of blind purchase for me. Nice but not for keeps, but got my money back selling on.

Anyone who’s 5’8″ and riding a large frame is a very weird shape.

😆

But, it does somewhat answer the OP’s question. If I’d bought it without at least sitting on it then it would have been a bloody expensive mistake…

I’m actually going to test ride a bike for the first time after Christmas. It’s the bike I think I should ride if you know what I mean?! And a test ride is a good excuse to skive a Monday off work to go riding!

I’ve only ever test ridden a couple of bikes before buying. One of those was a huge mistake, a Whyte 46 which I quickly grew to hate. I get all my bikes now without test riding, from Orbea, and I just use their online size calculator and the bikes fit perfectly. There is so much information out there in terms of reviews and tests and opinions that I think you have a good idea before you buy. Maybe a better idea than a short test ride gives you, especially if the bike isn’t well set up. I’ve only had one other mistake and that was ordering the wrong size from Orbea after I failed to read the sizing chart! The bike was a little small but no big deal and I rode it loads and this year have ordered the next size up.

Commencal meta’s have been an expensive mistake in the past. However test riding a sc bronson & hightower will prove more expensive I feel as they were both so bloody brilliant.

Bought a Santa Cruz Heckler in 2009 without a test ride..
No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get on with it.
Sold it, but should’ve sold it long before I did.

I demo’ed loads before buying my Yeti 575, which I rode for about 10 years and was perfect… then, my last bike I sat on one in a shop, a bit later bought online. I think it might be slightly too small, but the large felt too big in the shop. Fantastic ride though, so no regrets.
I would try to demo next time, especially if it’s a Cannondale, cos they do tend to have weird sizing IME.
These days, don’t most online shops let you try the bike and return it if it’s not right? Hassle, but worth it if you’re not sure.

DezB – Member
then, my last bike I sat on one in a shop, a bit later bought online. I think it might be slightly too small, but the large felt too big in the shop. Fantastic ride though, so no regrets.

Classy.

Bought both of my alpines blind. Checked the geometry out pretty carefully but other than that I’d not sat on them until they arrived in their big cardboard boxes. Fell in love instantly both times.

I recently attempted to ride a mate’s 5, which apart from a longer stem, was ostensibly the same as my first alpine. It was bloody awful.

When the original Santa Cruz Blur came out . I bought into all the press VPP hype,, pedals like a hardtail, descends like a downhill bike blah, blah ,blah
Was and still is the most I’ve paid for a complete bike, Full XTR inc wheels.
.
Used to fold in half, blow thru all its travel when you hit a compression, even on a climb. Wheels needed truing almost every ride!

I tried everything to sort out the rear shock to no avail.
Persevered with it for about 6 months, before selling

Bought a Coitc Bfe after reading so much abt the Bfe’s on here years ago. In the end the bike was too small for me and not the best for long days in the saddle.

Bought a Knolly cos I just wanted one and when a frame came up for sale in the US just bought it blind and built it up. Could do with some refinements but overall love the bike.

Doubt I’d be able to get a decent demo due to being on the wrong side of 6ft

DezB – Member
then, my last bike I sat on one in a shop, a bit later bought online. I think it might be slightly too small, but the large felt too big in the shop. Fantastic ride though, so no regrets.

Classy.

Maybe they couldn’t get the medium the poster wanted as the large felt to big ?
But just popping into a shop and sitting on a bike is hardly a commitment to buy it.

I’ve never demoed a bike before buying.

I generally look at geometry, maybe read some reviews, and decide from there.

Spesh Rockhopper. It ticked the boxes. Frame is still hung in the workshop.
Commencal Absolut hardtail. Original frame was a complete impulse buy, but brilliant fun to ride. Replaced it twice, after killing the first two.
Commencal Furious. Another impulse buy. Loved that bike, and is the only one I really miss. Definitely not a downhill bike, but brilliant on uplift days.
Yeti AS-X. Got this at pretty much cost price, after another german frame I’d ordered never materialised. Hated it (it’s the worst bike I’ve ever had for brake jack. Touch the back brake and the suspension just stopped working!), but got my money back when I sold it 6 weeks later.
Commencal Ramones. Had had the previous Absolut for over 4 years, and this was the nearest replacement.
YT Tues 2.0. Wanted a proper downhill bike, and the price/spec couldn’t be beat. Never really got on with it for a good while, as although it handled speed fine and wanted to go fast far better than the Furious, it never really felt stable regardless of how it was setup. Eventually the RockShox rear shock spat it guts, so got an ex-demo Fox Van, and it was like riding a totally different bike!
Devince Django. I had been umming and arring over a pedalable full suss for a while, and happened to be sat in the LBS chatting to the owner/mate, and he suggested it. I’ve never liked long travel trail bikes (one of the reasons the AS-X lasted only weeks), and anything short travel I’d seen at that point I’d of probably quickly destroyed. A bit number crunching and review checking, and it was ordered. It’s still one of my favourite bikes. Twitchy as **** at speed, and only enough travel to take the sting out things, but brilliant fun to ride.

So yeah, never demoed anything before purchase.

@pictonroad, totally agree with the Specialized sizing. I reckon a 29″ XL Stumpy would have probably been great!

In the last 5 years I’ve bought 5 bikes

My entry level Spesh hardtail, to get back into MTB. No test ride, I just wanted a bike – bought it from my LBS. Hadn’t really considered a test ride back then

My Solaris, Arkose and Brompton were all test ridden and bought new (from the dealer I test rode it from)

My El Mariachi was bought used so I couldn’t test ride that, but reviews were so good I was happy going with it

I’d prefer to test ride if possible

I think I’ve now had five mountain bikes and three road bikes in over 30 years (I tend to keep them.

Never tested any of them first and never had an issue I couldn’t just fix with a little tweaking.

Happy to buy without a test ride. But I would not buy without knowing the geometry of a bike. Bought a Medium Trance and a 19″ Genesis IO without a test ride. Bought a Giant Propel too, but then I was already riding a TCR and knew the geometry.

Oh and I bought a recumbent trike too 😉

Only bikes i’ve test ridden with an eye to buying (many many years ago) i soon realised that they’d been hyped by the reviewers and owners to such a degree that every single word of any of the reviews had to be double checked. So all the evidence i’d gathered to create my shortlist was rubbish. (This is both road and MTB)

Now i’ve got my own list of needs (have done for 10+ years) and just buy (usually online) based on that. Only bikes i’ve actually test ridden recently during the process of buying were so new that i had no idea what to expect, and they both disappointed massively. Would have wasted over £3500.

Spent less on line and got a far nicer bike, which actually meets my needs.

ChunkyMTB

Classy.

Clueless. You have no idea of the situation or circumstances, so why would you even respond?
Twonk.

Not really sure if riding for 30 seconds in a car park counts as a test ride, but i’ve done that twice. Bought them both – my first FS bike (L) and a jump bike (they’ll all the same size 😀 ). My first mtb was a medium hardtail bought blind. My latest bike is an XL FS bought ultrablind i.e no test ride and no reviews as it was only out. Despite being 6’5″ they’ve all felt perfect. I probably looked ridiculous on the 18″ HT but i loved riding it*.

*Spent a loooong time riding BMX bikes so every mtb was huge in comparison

A custom Parlee road bike!

I know 3 people who have bought them…. and sold them quite soon after because they dont fit right.

one of them was a retul bike fitter to trade .

i dont think id bother buying a parlee …

reminds me when my mate bought a serotta custom TI for his 40th and they built it with a BB so low you couldnt really go round corners….

I bought my Salsa Horsethief blind as it was £1150 down from £2300.
Great bike, no regrets.

I bought a Rose DX Cross Pro without a test ride. £1450 I think.
Great bike and have been very happy for 1000s of miles.

My #PeptoCrush Chromag Surface was bought without a test ride. It cost more than I care to recall, and I picked it up from Chromag in Whistler. The lovely Chromag people were proud of it, they spent a few minutes fine-tuning the set-up with me and I rode it up the valley and off onto the Lost Lake trails for the afternoon. That was over a year ago and I haven’t had a moment’s regret. I’d had Chromags before and knew it was going to be pretty good.

Some day, I’m going to turn up in Talent, Oregon and ride away on a Jones. 🙂

Never really had a test ride on a road bike, though I did send one internet purchase straight back as it was too short (we’d discussed sizing) and the frame felt harsh just rolling up and down my road.

I’ve found the feel of road bikes changes so much with different wheels and tyres that I’m not sure a demo ride of lower end models would be much use (assuming I’m gonna use my nice wheels).

bought a liteville 301 off here for about £1400, iirc. I built it up, took it for a quick ride and crashed after 2 minutes. I went straight to A&E.

Since that, I’ve never felt comfortable on it. I’m glad i’ve tried it though.

£6900 for me!

I dropped £2k on a YT Capra AL1 in 2015 without ever slinging a leg over one.

The bikes reputation seemed rock solid based on the internet without seemingly too much hype.

Key was the sizing which i was pretty happy I got correct. Still going strong.

same thing with my Canyon road bike last year; similar price, similar internet warm, fuzzy feeling. Just used the online tool to get the right size and super-happy with the outcome.

Give me the geometry chart and tubing specs of any frame, and I’ll tell you exactly how it’ll ride.

Compression damping; suspension kinematics; head angle; they’re all words in my encyclopedia.

After logging thousands of hours in the saddle, along with thousands of posts on internet forums, in a cycling career spanning decades; I have built up such a wealth of knowledge and experience that I can now carry out “virtual” test rides by simply using the power of my own mind.

Most expensive non demoed bike? Obscenely bling spec MK3 Nomad, bought on release date, before any reviews were published etc. Based on how good my 5010 is. Not been disappointed.

I’ve never wanted to buy a bike, then demoed it, then bought it. It’s always demo, want, buy. I now try to limit the number of demos I do, as they cost a fortune….

Stuff I haven’t demoed, only had one miss, so not the end of the world, given the number of hits.

Loving your work DTF 😉

After logging thousands of hours in the saddle, along with thousands of posts on internet forums, in a cycling career spanning decades; I have built up such a wealth of knowledge and experience that I can now carry out “virtual” test rides by simply using the power of my own mind.

😆

After logging thousands of hours in the saddle, along with thousands of posts on internet forums, in a cycling career spanning decades; I have built up such a wealth of knowledge and experience that I can now carry out “virtual” test rides by simply using the power of my own mind.

Now *that* is the funniest thing I’ve read in ages..

Top Trolling Sir, Chapeau!

late entry for post of the year there David

😆