Bike store Says No to test rides
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Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby Unko » Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:36 am
BTW its a carbon road bike
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby m@ » Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:39 am
In my books, no test ride + no return policy = no sale.
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby sogood » Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:44 am
RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby Unko » Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:55 am
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby mikedufty » Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:57 am
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby Kalgrm » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:05 am
End of story.
---------------------
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby herzog » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:34 am
Maybe theft insurance. How to stop the customer pinching the bike?sogood wrote:What's the shop's liability? Accident caused by mechanical problem?
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby herzog » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:46 am
Neither of which is a requirement for being a cyclist! (just playing devil's advocate).JV911 wrote:easy: take their licence and car keysherzog wrote:How to stop the customer pinching the bike?
Nevertheless it is possible that their stock insurance wont cover this scenario.
I believe this is the case when you sell your car/motorcycle privately and the buyer wants a test drive. If they pinch it, your insurance doesn't cover it, since you gave them the keys.
Anyone confirm?
On the subject of test rides, as long as you get the right frame size, pretty much everything is adjustable other than the head angle. Eg: If the frame size is right, everything else can be tailored to ride to suit the rider, such as stem length, seat height/setback, bars (riser/flat/drop), brake/gear lever position etc. Even the stem height can be changed with spacers.
Arguably, to get a bike set up perfectly takes a few days of solid riding, in various conditions (up hills, down hills, long distance, offroad if it's an MTB, etc).
This is more than you'll get from a ride around the block at the bikeshop anyhow.
The exception to this is a dual suspension bike, where there's so much going on with pivots etc that a test ride really can rule out a particular bike.
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby provoked » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:54 am
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby Jean » Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:02 pm
As far as I know if you have given permission for the driver to have control of the car you're covered (though I suppose the fine print of various policies might differ). This was certainly the case when a car of ours was dinged by my wife's niece.herzog wrote:I believe this is the case when you sell your car/motorcycle privately and the buyer wants a test drive. If they pinch it, your insurance doesn't cover it, since you gave them the keys.
Anyone confirm?
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby Jean » Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:06 pm
I certainly wouldn't argue not to do a test ride if that's what you want. But nearly every 'real' road bike I've ever owned started out as a bare unridden frame which was built up. People go on about a bike 'singing' to them or whatever, but in the end a lot of it has to do with geometry and it is not essential to test ride as long as you know what you are looking for.provoked wrote:I disagree. I only rcently purchased a roady. Although I test rode bikes that were just my size, there was a world of difference regarding the ride, "feel" of the bike, bar fitting etc - to the point where I was able to completely say no to one bike and yes to another. As mentioned earlier - can't test ride, no sale.
In regard to the original matter though. If you feel a test ride is necessary and they won't give you one, go elsewhere. Especially if they have a no-return policy.
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby im_no_pro » Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:41 pm
Private vehicle = completely different type of cover. And even some private policies will not cover a non-specified driver.Jean wrote:As far as I know if you have given permission for the driver to have control of the car you're covered (though I suppose the fine print of various policies might differ). This was certainly the case when a car of ours was dinged by my wife's niece.herzog wrote:I believe this is the case when you sell your car/motorcycle privately and the buyer wants a test drive. If they pinch it, your insurance doesn't cover it, since you gave them the keys.
Anyone confirm?
[2c]
OP - If a test ride is what you want, then find somewhere that will offer it. Just be aware that some stores will not do it, whatever their reason (and insurance being a cause is not that far of a stretch of the imagination IMO). Without being an expert on the matter, I would suggest that public liability would be the issue, not insurance of the bike itself (although for smaller operators, losing a 3-5k roadie would definately hurt them, and insurance would prob not cover the theft as they let you take it out the door). I daresay some sort of signed waiver would cover the shop in most circumstances, but I hate to think how much a lawyer would charge to draft a waiver notice, again a charge that a small store might not be able to afford and/or be able to justify cost/benefit.
FWIW I bought my roadie without a test ride, and I love it. I was 'inbetween' sizes, could have gone for a 54 or a 56. Went with the 54 asit felt more comfortable rolling around the store & on the trainer. As mentioned above, get the frame size right and get a full bike fit once you have ridden it for a while, if your new to road then your ideal position will likely change as you get used to the riding position of a roadie (after a few months on mine, I dropped the bars lower as I was getting used to the riding position and could comfortably go lower).
[/2c]
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby }SkOrPn--7 » Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:59 pm
Do a Julia Roberts in pretty woman go to another store and make your purchase then ride back and rub it in there face saying "Big Mistake". Tough economical times for that shop doesn't appear to be the case still there shop there rules just don't go back there too easy........................Unko wrote:I went to a bike store in Adeliade (not going to say the name) the service was Very Good they helped with questions and all that stuff. But when I asked to book a test ride they said No. They said there insureance didnt cover it any more. Is that ture nowdays, they have a really good deal on a bike I want to buy but im scared if i dont ike the ride on it its a wast of neally 3k. Did a bit of looking up and all of ACForums plp said that they liked the bike it road nicely and was cumphy. they said they would fit the bike up for me and they have no return policy in there defence they said they dont get many plp come back complaining.
BTW its a carbon road bike
unko
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby brent84 » Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:22 pm
Agreed. Place I bought my bike from in ACT did this, they offered in fact.JV911 wrote:easy: take their licence and car keysherzog wrote:How to stop the customer pinching the bike?
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby herzog » Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:26 pm
Easier said than done.}SkOrPn--7 wrote:
Do a Julia Roberts in pretty woman go to another store and make your purchase then ride back and rub it in there face saying "Big Mistake". Tough economical times for that shop doesn't appear to be the case still there shop there rules just don't go back there too easy........................
So the next store, and the next one, doesn't have the make, model and size you're after on the floor. Then finally you find a shop that does, and they don't offer test rides.
It's just not feasible for a small/medium sized bike shop to have a demonstrator available for every model and size that they stock.
The alternative is to allow the potential customer to test ride the brand new floor stock. After this it's no longer a "new" bike, and can't be sold as such.
This is also an issue. There are "tyre kickers" out there. The "customer" could potentially test ride half a dozen brand new bikes and not buy any of them. The shop is then stuck with 6 bikes that were brand new yesterday, and are now ex-demo's, with the consequent drop in value. Not an option for many shops whose floor stock is the result of a large overdraft with the bank.
So it's a complicated issue. I'd prefer a system where the shop helps you establish your frame size when you buy a bike. And then say for the first 3 months as you get some riding time up, the shop provides free assistance with adjusting seat height/setback, adding/removing headset spacers, swap stem for shorter/longer, adjust brake/gear lever position, cleat position etc.
In the long run, you'll end up with a better matched rider-bike than you would by relying on a ten minute test-ride around the block. Also, most serious riders have settled on a particular type of pedal and cleat combo, unless you BYO pedals to the shop, the test ride may be pointless if the bike is set up with a different system (Shimano/Crank Bros/Look/TIme etc).
Something else I'd like to see would be for the distributors to put on more demo days. This is more economical as each distributor can retain a pool of demo bikes, rather than expected every store to do so.
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby ni78ck » Wed Apr 22, 2009 3:14 pm
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby sogood » Wed Apr 22, 2009 3:35 pm
The more I look at this subject, the harder I am able to define "right". These days, I think there's a far larger range of frame sizes that can be considered "right" than when I first looked at the subject. Even just looking at that often used Competitive Cyclist's calculator, they provide 3 fit options with 3 different suggested frame sizes.herzog wrote:On the subject of test rides, as long as you get the right frame size, pretty much everything is adjustable other than the head angle.
RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby sogood » Wed Apr 22, 2009 3:41 pm
Thinking back on my test ride experience. The big differentiator for me was how the mechanism operated and the feel of the ride. On mechanism, it was a choice b/n Shimano and Campagnolo drivetrain. On feel, as discovered later, a big portion of that came through the particular wheelset/tyre/tyre pressure. Even a change of seatpost gave me a slightly different feel on the same bike. So road testing two commercial bikes, it would be quite difficult to know the difference really came through the frame, short of completely matching all their components. Of course, one would consider the whole bike if buying pre-built bikes. But the equation differs big time when it comes to frame choice.Jean wrote:I certainly wouldn't argue not to do a test ride if that's what you want. But nearly every 'real' road bike I've ever owned started out as a bare unridden frame which was built up. People go on about a bike 'singing' to them or whatever, but in the end a lot of it has to do with geometry and it is not essential to test ride as long as you know what you are looking for.
RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby nickobec » Wed Apr 22, 2009 4:18 pm
Last motor bike I purchased, dealer said "the tank is full take her for a long test ride and I mean a long test ride". I hated the next 10 minutes manhandling the bike through the city streets. Two hours later, I was back grinning from ear to ear ready to buy.
My first road bike, my LBS got a demo from a distributor, got another bike on loan from another store and a third from his ex-mechanic who was thinking about selling. The intention was to spend a couple of hours early one Saturday morning test riding the different bikes and finding the right one and the right setup for me. The first bike felt ok, the 2nd no so and the 3rd was perfect. Took about 30 minutes and ended up buying the ex-mechanic's bike because it worked well for me. Never looked back and was loyal customer to that LBS.
Sidenote: LBS had booked in another rider in that afternoon to test the bikes (found out a couple weeks later when other rider was in picking up new bike)
Never had to leave keys or licence for test ride, for motorbike I parked my 61 Matchless in their workshop and at the LBS is was my MTB.
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby Lukemac » Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:21 pm
He was really keen that I should ride it and then buy it.
No ride no buy. There are plenty of bike shops so try another one.
Luke
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby trailgumby » Wed Apr 22, 2009 10:38 pm
For me it's No Test Ride, No Purchase. if they aren't going to accomodate you when you want to spend money, what are they going to be like when you need them to help you with things like warranty issues? They sound like a service quality nightmare.
I'm not expecting the fit to be perfect - I always leave room in my budget for customising things like bars, stems, seats and seatposts, but I wanna know if the frame is in the right ballpark, and what it feels like for responsiveness, feedback from the road or track surface, is it smooth or harsh? I bring my own pedals, shoes, gloves and helmet.
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby giwi2 » Thu Apr 23, 2009 12:44 am
+1K to no test ride then no sale.
i have been on the lookout for a new roadie (after bunches of desk top pedalling) and was talking to 2 LBSs with both allowing and recommending test rides. What swung it for me was that the LBS I made my purchase from (getting built for use of the weekend)suggested that i come along on their Sat morning group rides and try the bikes i was interested in . I jumped at that and some rides of about 30kms over a few weeks trying a Madone 4.5, Specialized Elite and Specialized Roubaix Expert thus getting the feel of a range of bikes and frames. Reps from the LBS were on the rides and i was able to talk about the bikes whilst out on the road and importantly they were able to supervise their merchandise
Cerrtianly swung the deal for me and i met a whole bunch of great people to boot.
Win win for all IMHO.........but sounds like i was spoilt.
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby Dr_Mutley » Thu Apr 23, 2009 12:50 am
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Re: Bike store Says No to test rides
Postby Mulger bill » Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:22 am
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