My most recent bicycle (just the frame) was shipped from the UK to Australia to me.
We bought the bicycle before that (a tandem) from a shop about 250 km away. We made a weekend of it, went down there on a Friday, test rode it on the Saturday ... and bought it.
We bought my bicycle before that (just the frame) from a shop about 100 km away.
1 hour and 30 minutes drive doesn't seem too far. You can do your own tune-ups for basic stuff, right?