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Trying out new bikes – test rides

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  • March 11, 2016 at 11:43 am #25474
    Sepulchre

    I’m looking to get my other half off their heavy Decathlon work horse and onto something lighter and therefore faster (yes, I’m sick of having to go slow for them to catch up).

    Does any one know of any bike shops that’ll let you try out bikes for a day or a weekend?

    I want them to test out a bike so that they see the light and opt for a new bike. 

    Cheers in advance

     

    Sep

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  • March 13, 2016 at 8:21 am #868129
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    Luv2ride

    Another thumbs up for Evans

    Another thumbs up for Evans here (you don’t have to agree to buy first – although in my case I certainly did buy afterwards!). I’ve also tested bikes with 1 other chain and 3 other independent LBS (and bought two of those bikes, but only after test rides).

    The only problems I’ve had are the city locations of the stores.  Although they were all happy for me to go out for an hour, I was certainly held back by my lack of local knowledge of safe or sensible routes, meaning I spent as much time thinking about where I should be going on unfamiliar, potholed roads (as well as negotiating city traffic), as thinking about the bike during the test.  Im lucky enough to mainly ride quiet country roads, so think if I was a relative newbie the test rides could actually have put me off for life, let alone help me choose the right bike.

    Unless the stores are local to you, I’d certainly suggest pre-planning a route, or even travelling further to a store in a quieter location to get the most from a test ride.

    TBF, my last purchase was a single speed Adventure/cross/gravel bike.  The fat tyres dealt with the potholes with aplomb, the hydro discs helped me negotiate the stop start city traffic, and I was able to get up a couple of Bristol hills with the 38×17 gearing, so ended up not thinking about what bike I was riding at all.  Put another way, the bike fit well and functioned superbly so no flaws or issues were distracting from the “visceral” experience of city riding for this country bumpkin!  Happily, the bike has gone on to exceed expectations since purchase, so I’m glad I tested first…

    March 11, 2016 at 9:51 pm #868127
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    rnick

    If you’ve any sort of

    If you’ve any sort of relationship with your local bike shop then I’m sure they’ll oblige.  The big manufacturers have a pool of demonstrators.    Can’t tell from your posting if your other half is male / female.  If the latter you will have a far more restricted choice  (based upon my wife’s recent experiences) and this tend towards the top end.  As an alternative, find a shop who also hire bikes – I’m sure the cost of the hire could be factored into the deal.

    March 11, 2016 at 5:40 pm #868125
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    mostly

    giant do some sort of day

    giant do some sort of day long ride thing.

    March 11, 2016 at 5:15 pm #868123
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    Daveyraveygravey

    Give Evans a call and ask

    Give Evans a call and ask them how long you can trial it for.  Definitely don’t have to buy; I tried one at their Brighton store and on a separate occasion a different one at the main outlet near Crawley.  I bought a Giant in the end!  I think it’s plenty of time to get an idea of what the bikes are like; one shop would only let me scoot around their gravelly car park, although to be fair that bike was about to go off to a show.

    March 11, 2016 at 2:10 pm #868121
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    Sepulchre

    Interesting replies – thanks.

    Interesting replies – thanks.

     

    Evans:

    Looks like you’re saying I’d have to buy before I try with Evans or only have it for an hour. Both not what I’m looking for.

    Maybe there’s a gap in the market between bike hire and purchasing a bike. I want her to get a feel for  the bike for a decent time. 

     

    March 11, 2016 at 1:13 pm #868119
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    Daveyraveygravey

    Evans was the best place for

    Evans was the best place for actually trying bikes you could buy when I was looking.  You need to book it, and you need to pay a deposit, but you can pretty much trial anything they have or can get from their warehouse.  Not sure how long you are allowed, I had an hour or so each time, which is enough to give you a good idea on how it rides.

    Lots  of lbs have demo fleets, but they tend to be higher end – my lbs demo bikes started at £2.5k, which was a lot more than I could afford!

    March 11, 2016 at 1:12 pm #868117
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    kil0ran

    Evans are great for this –

    Evans are great for this – they’ll even order a specific bike in to store if they don’t have it in stock.

    March 11, 2016 at 12:51 pm #868115
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    Alessandro

    Evans have a 30 day returns

    Evans have a 30 day returns policy for bikes, even if they’ve been ridden (https://www.evanscycles.com/help/right-bike-guarantee). Wiggle do something similar but  you obviously have to deal with postage, assembly, dismantling and collection.

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