I know this gets kinda ridiculous, but I am quite sincerely put off from buying a road bike by the test ride process. I'm serious! I feel guilty as hell about the time the person has to spend to get me fitted to a bike before I go out to see how I like it. Now I find myself going out of my way to far-off shops just so I don't feel like the local guys will hate me for not buying one after spending however many minutes staring at a few bikes.
I mean, I'm already the sort of person who wants to know everything possible about something before making a major purchase; this makes my search pretty stressful, let me tell you. I know what it's like to have someone take up my time at work, and I DO know the difference between someone who's sincere about the process (like me) and someone who's a time waster, but still. I have a very clear albeit subconscious line in my head between not caring what people think when my own interests are on the line as opposed to worrying about impressing people with whom I might be riding someday.
I went through all this years ago when I was first getting into firearms, which interestingly enough can cost comparable amounts of money. Also interestingly, you know how there're stereotypical generalisations made about which groups of riders are nicer than others? Same thing with guns. You get different groups which you can identify either immediately or within a few words.
--weight not off chest, but at least shifted around,
alex.