Demo season is just around the corner, and we’ve got our popular Bike Live Demo Day at Cannock Chase coming up in April 2019. We thought it’d be a good idea to help you get the best from you day, here are our eight top tips on how to make the most of any demo day that you attend.
- Our Bike Live demo day is back at Cannock Chase in 2019 get your tickets here
- Buying your first mountain bike: the complete guide
- The best mountain bikes you can buy for under £1,500 – full sus and hardtails
New bike day is the best, we all know that, so making sure that you are safe in the knowledge that you bought the best bike for you will put the icing on the cake! Demo days are a great way to test out a load of bikes, back to back so you can see your potential purchase up close and personal, make direct comparisons between brands and hopefully make a final decision on which way to direct your cash.
1. Get there on time
Turn up early and start queuing to register and you’ll be the first in line to test the most popular bikes. Our Bike Live demo day in 2018 saw riders turning up from 8:30am, given the 9:30 start time. At a demo day you will be required to register beforehand and then ‘sign in’ once you get to the event. The signing in process usually requires you to leave the organiser with some form of identification and a credit card as security, just in case anyone decides they want to leave with a two-wheeled freebie. This does take a bit of time, so getting there early is recommended. Leading on nicely from the above, you need to be prepared to queue. Certain bikes at demo days will be popular with everyone so it will pay to get in the queue and nab a ride on one early. Some brands will book you a ride on a particular bike so you just need to come back at the allotted time and grab your steed. Make sure you book early to avoid disappointment.
2. Bring your own pedals and shoes
Remember to bring your own pedals and shoes on the day (plus a helmet too). Take your current pedals from your bike and bring the correct shoes to use with them. If this is your first bike, buy some new pedals that you will want to use on the bike once you’ve bought it. Our guides to the best clipless and flat pedal are below. If you are new to riding a pair of flat pedals and your trainers will do the job nicely.
- The best clipless mountain bike pedals ridden and rated
- The best mountain bike flat pedals ridden and tested
3. Ride the same trail on every bike
We reckon its best to ride the same trail on every bike so you can make direct comparisons between each ride over the same terrain. The devised demo loop will be the best trail to ride, it will usually have a good mix of steeper and more technical terrain, some fast flow and a steep pinch climb so you can get an idea of the bikes ability to deal with both uphill and downhill. We do this when we test bikes too!
4. Get help getting set up
There will usually be a helping hand on offer to help you get set up for your ride. Take the help, the staff at the event will likely work for the brand of bike you are testing so will know the best way to set the bike up for your riding style, plus they will be pretty quick at it too! Usually, bikes are allowed out on the demo loop for about thirty minutes to an hour and you don’t want to spend half that time fiddling with suspension settings or tyre pressures.
5. Ride a technical feature
Ride something on each bike that scares you a little bit. Choose a feature that you would normally think twice about on a trail and session it on each bike, it’s a good way to find out about the bike capabilities and you never know, a certain bike might surprise you!
6. Take some friends
Riding with friends is great anyway, right? At a demo day it’s good to gather as many opinions on each bike as you can so having mates along with you to discuss the ride is a really good way of doing this. They might notice things about the spec or the ride that you don’t and if you go along with a riding buddy whose opinion you trust, their help could be invaluable.
7. Don’t get hungry
Like any ride, you’ll need to take snacks to keep you going all day. Testing three or four bikes, could easily see you spending four hours plus in the saddle, not to mention set up time so you need to make sure you are adequately fuelled. The last thing you want is to run out of steam for that final bike test, keep snacks in your pack and schedule a lunch stop to your plan. Most demo days will have great catering on site, like this yummy pizza at Bike Live…….
8. Ride a bike you hadn’t planned on riding
Ride something you wouldn’t normally, like an e-bike or a cross-country bike for example. Demo days are a great way to see lots of different bikes all in one go, so if enduro riding isn’t really your thing but you have always been ‘long travel curious’, have a go on a big full susser and see what you think. Or alternatively, take the chance to get on an e-bike or a gravel bike and see what all the hype is about. It could confirm your suspicions or it could throw a spanner in your bike buying plans. Either way, it will be worth the experience.
Get tickets for our Bike Live Demo day at Cannock Chase here
Our BikeLIVE demo day there was such a huge success last year so for 2019 we’ll be back at Cannock Chase, Stafford. The venue has everything you could possibly want to get the most out of a day of testing as many road, gravel, mountain bikes and e-bikes as you can manage, with the likes of Giant, Liv, Canyon, Cipollini, Titici, Identiti, Calibre, Saracen and Forme all present. See you there!
You might also like:
- Best mountain bikes for under £3,000 – capable trail bikes that won’t break the bank
- The best gravel and adventure bikes you can buy for under £1,000
- The best gravel and adventure bikes you can buy for under £2,000
Photos – Christopher Lanaway and Oli Pendrey
