Originally Posted by
Racer Ex
Not if you made it politely.
But without a super tight controlled environment and test protocol the odds of seeing any meaningful differentiation in the data is slim/none. You'll read a lot of anecdotal "I was 2 minutes faster over my usual route on the Howdy Doody Mark 7" things posted both on the Net and in some less than scientific journals. I most cases they are saying the tinfoil is protecting them from sonic rays. A 5 MPH change in the wind can make something fast. So can having a good day.
Without a weighted jig like Ride Magazine has, subjective "feel" is often a better judge of things like stiffness.
The one thing I would insist on in any test ride is to use your wheels. They can make a huge difference in ride feel between bikes; put on a set of stiff wheels and a "soft" frame might feel stiff. Worth noting too that bars and seat post can play into the "feel" as well.
As Gary noted push on things, get out of the saddle and sprint, throw it into corners, wiggle the bars while you ride. But use your wheels and ride your bike and the "candidate" back to back.
Of course I was polite. They seemed concerned that 'installing' anything on the bike would 'scratch the frame'. They seemed to be a little annoyed with my actually wanting to have some basic saddle adjustments, too, and paused for a few seconds when I presented them with my own pedals to put on it. They left me feeling vaguely like I was just a waste of their time or something.
Since no LBS around here seems interested in allowing test rides of race bikes I doubt I'll have any future opportunities to test ride anything unless I'm waving hundred dollar bills at them, ready to buy one, or at least that's the impression I've been given. I've asked at least one salesperson how they expect me to agree to buy something that costs thousands of dollars that I can't even try for a few miles first, and am essentially told those are 'the rules' and they don't have a choice.