[jacksonpt]

Oh wait... there's more...

Stopped by the LBS on my lunch today. Walked in, was greeted by the same guy who answered the phone when I called yesterday. Told him I was looking for a steel road bike, either fuji or bianchi, in the range of $1200. Said I had looked at a Cannondale and Specialized and was disappointed by the feel... thought steel would be a better fit for me.

His response... it's not going to feel any different - there's no suspension; they are all stiff.

So anyways... I checked out the Eros and a fuji, asked if I could take the Eros around the block a couple of times.

His response... no, we don't really do test rides.

Me: really?
him: nope
me: why is that?
him: they've been doing a lot of road work lately (which they have), and we don't like the bikes to get all dirty
me: well, I'm very hestitant to buy a road bike without having some idea how it feels.
him: *no response*
me: I'm happy to leave a credit card or my driver's license or whatever if you're worried about damage or something.
him: no... we just don't want to have to clean the bikes.
me: ok then... *walked out*

 

[Echo]

Are you a small business owner who makes frequent claims from your insurance company? How much is your theft and damge deductible?

The only time I can recall something being stolen my favorite LBS (which I'm good friends with the owner), it wasn't on a test ride. And there hasn't been a problem with the bikes getting damaged either. I talked to him about this thread yesterday, he just laughed and said shops with paranoind policies like that are great for his business.

I mean obviously you aren't gonna send a 13 year old kid who you've never seen before out on a $4000 carbon Bianchi with a Campy Record gruppo... but damn, if a regular customer you recognize comes in and is interested in a high end bike, hell yeah he can take it for a spin.

So one of the shop rats has to wipe it down afterwards, so what? You're paying them anyway, as long as the repairs are on schedule it's not gonna put the shop in bankruptcy to have someone spend 5 minutes wiping the dust off a bike.

 

[sanjuro]

The only time I can recall something being stolen my favorite LBS (which I'm good friends with the owner), it wasn't on a test ride. And there hasn't been a problem with the bikes getting damaged either. I talked to him about this thread yesterday, he just laughed and said shops with paranoind policies like that are great for his business.

I mean obviously you aren't gonna send a 13 year old kid who you've never seen before out on a $4000 carbon Bianchi with a Campy Record gruppo... but damn, if a regular customer you recognize comes in and is interested in a high end bike, hell yeah he can take it for a spin.

So one of the shop rats has to wipe it down afterwards, so what? You're paying them anyway, as long as the repairs are on schedule it's not gonna put the shop in bankruptcy to have someone spend 5 minutes wiping the dust off a bike.

Just to clear the air, of the 5 shops I have worked for, only the Manhattan shop did not allow test rides, which, again, because there was no safe place for one and New Yorkers cannot be trusted not to run off with the bike. And there is no insurance coverage good enough if someone got slammed by a taxi every year.

All the others shop did allow test rides, and I encourage people to test ride bikes. What they learn from this is debatable, but I know that is what customers want.