From a consumer POV what items do you think a try before you buy would work best? (Or even hire services)
It’s possible to hire or demo bikes which I personally wouldn’t buy a bike again without doing but how about components?

I was just thinking based on a dropper thread… it seems like if you could give a demo hire and then knock demo price off a purchase it might convince (or otherwise)

Cranks… and by that I mean different lengths..
I suffered for years on 175’s and just 5mm less and my hips/knees are no longer suffering…

Bars, stems ? Be great to try different rise heights on bars/or stem lengths/rise … ??

Saddles …. ??? Very personal as to what’s comfy??

I suppose bars/stems/saddles etc. you can sorta do by getting a bike fit ?

I’m not convinced I wanna buy a shockwiz gizmo but I could probably be convinced to hire one and get the results … you’d think it would be a killer for trail centres ???

Cranks… and by that I mean different lengths..
I suffered for years on 175’s and just 5mm less and my hips/knees are no longer suffering…

Makes you think that LBS could keep three sets of XT in stock in 165/170/175 and hire them out cheaply, refunding the charge if you buy some new cranks.

The thing with bars is there are so many different shapes and widths. In fact cranks are one of the few components with very limited options – which is bonkers when you look at the range of human leg lengths!

Loan stems is not uncommon. And one local shop to me is alreay doing Shockwiz hire.

Makes you think that LBS could keep three sets of XT in stock in 165/170/175 and hire them out cheaply, refunding the charge if you buy some new cranks

Well 6 sets as you’d need boost ones.
Well 12 sets as you’d want a couple of different ring sizes.
Well 24 sets as some people run doubles.
And you’d want some SRAM ones for the GPX users unless you start swapping BB’s too.
And I suppose you should have BB30 ones too.

Large cost to the retailer for little benefit

Pedal pedal let you try ism demo saddles for a hefty refundable deposit. They are expensive / very unusual saddles, and I wouldn’t have bought without the demo. Have them on 3 bikes now (all bought from same place as they were so helpful), so for unusual parts it can pay off for the retailer.

We had the full Fizik test saddle range They were cheaper than the normal saddles but still quite an investment as as you had to buy the whole range to qualify.
No one would pay more than a few quid to try them.
And would want them for a week or longer (5 weeks was the record).
And then obviously needed to try a few different models.
And needed them swapping in/out for them (no biggy but still).
Then invariably if they did want to buy one would want them price matching to the cheapest online price.(Cos’ money innit).
Then Fizik changed the designs of half the saddles….making the test ones obsolete.And unsellable/worthless.Probably ended up losing a couple of hundred quid for the bother.

Wouldn’t most of the peramiters mentioned be covered in a bike fit ?

I’ve built up a wee pile of stems, rather than sell them- any time I get a new bike I just work through them. (I’ve never yet ended up with the stem I thought would be the right choice). Decent stems are cheap- folks spend £60+ for stems that perform identically to my £15 KCNC so it’s no hardship to keep a few around.

Rise, likewise, you can experiment with.

Saddles are tricky because you really need to ride them a few times for a decent distance in your normal riding kit, just sitting on them is useless. I found one saddle I like in about 2009 and I’ve been using thta model ever since, there might be better out there but I’d probably have to try a bunch of worse ones before I found it… Some companies offer measurement etc but tbh I’m not too convinced, I know the saddle I use is officially too narrow for my ass but I’ve never ridden a wider saddle that felt at all right.

I’ve had to stockpile SDG Formula Fx I-beam saddles (and DMR zip grips!!) as they fit my arse like no other……and you can’t buy them anymore.

Clarification-The saddle fit my arse.The grips…….

my old local had a box of cheap stems of various lengths.
For things like bars & cranks ask your mates, for most other stuff the variety on demo bikes is huge these days with lots of different droppers and gear setups, just ride them

It’s bars for me, I’ve got a small stockpile of them. Finally happy now through.

Wish I’d had an opportunity to try a go pro out too. Wouldn’t have bothered if I’d used one for a week first.

As others have mentioned, saddles would be the thing I’d like a ‘try before you buy’ option on.

My backside seems rather fussy when it comes to saddles. I finally found the ti. railed SDG Bel Air which is nigh on perfect so of course they stopped making them (although steel railed versions are available). I spent a small fortune on the new ti. railed SDG Bel Air 2 and it was horrible.

I’ve been thinking about a Brookes Cambrium but again it’s a lot of dosh to waste if it doesn’t work out.

Well 6 sets as you’d need boost ones.
Well 12 sets as you’d want a couple of different ring sizes.
Well 24 sets as some people run doubles.
And you’d want some SRAM ones for the GPX users unless you start swapping BB’s too.

I’m not sure that couldn’t be simplified at least regarding the crank length question for 80/20.

I’d have been more interested in trying crank length than which manufacturer so I could test a 3 piece set buy then might end up buying a Shimano 2 piece… I run 1x but I actually use 2x cranks (on both bikes)

A 3 piece could do boost or “normal” (if boost isn’t normal now) if the spindle can be changed which only leaves the SRAM/Shimano spindle question for 80%? (I’m assuming square taper etc. wouldn’t be people in general as interested in getting the right crank length…?)

The thing with bars is there are so many different shapes and widths.

True but I guess like stems you might try a few but end up going for a “between” anyway? I’m thinking I’d be more flat/low rise/bigger rise and long/med/short combo’s… then when I bought I might want between say med-high on rise and between med/short (just for example)

Our LBS has the Shockwiz thing available for demo..

Just saying

Corley Cycles in Milton Keynes