ShoreCyclist

Seriously? Products sell themselves, right?

rkwaki

It's because your other hand is in your pants touching your wookie...

BTW my boy's shop has a McLaren Venge with Di2 sitting on the stand.

fettsvenska 

Obviously bike shops come in many flavors and your story doesn't surprise me very much. In my limited experience shopping for higher end bikes, I've found that you need to be a little more discriminatory as a consumer. What I mean by this is that you need to be more selective about where you shop. You probably need to be looking for "boutique" type shops rather than the major brand retailers. If you are in a major metro area, there are probably a couple in town.

jsutkeepspining

is that what you guys used to call it back in the day????

garysol1 

He has kind of laid claim to the 58

jsutkeepspining

he can take the 58, but when i win the tour of the valley p/1/2 race i expect to get my free venge that i was promised by greg and aussi.

dbf73

another option is to see when/if the demo truck for the brand you're interested in will be in town or nearby. I bought based on such a test when I wasn't really in the market when I went to the demo

bt

how is riding it around the parking lot gonna tell you anything anyways?

garysol1 

I guess if you can beat Aussie for the win its all good

jsutkeepspining

tell that fatty im gunning for him this year

garysol1 

If the shop insists the test ride cant leave the lot I would be looking elsewhere but thats just me.

garysol1 

I think he is going to be hard to beat this season. He is going to be strong this season. Actually I am not sure of his roll on Panther but they are lucky to have him on board this season.

Bah Humbug

Thing is, for the people who know exactly what they want, the LBS purchase doesn't exactly have much to offer. If they're just order-takers, they're overpaid.

oldbobcat

Well, yeah, but the dealer pays $4000 for what is essentially a lure to make a $3000 sale that nets him something like $1800. Frankly, I can't see him staying in business for long doing stuff like that.

pgjackson

My LBS has nothing BUT high-end bikes ($2500-$10,000). I can't afford a thing in there. Great shop, lots of gear and goodies...bikes are out of my price range.

garysol1 

To call a kick ass bike that any bike geek wants to mess around with and maybe someday own a lure is silly. The bike is there to be purchased but until that happens if any buyer wants to see what a flagship bike is all about I will gladly show it to them. I personally do not care if you buy a $800.00 bike or a $8,000 dollar bike as long as you get the bike that you want but I am not doing my job if I do not show you what is available. I would personally hate to spend $800.00 on a bike only to find out a year later that I am spending $3,000 or more to upgrade because the salesman did not explain the benefits to me initially.
I may not be the typical bike sales guy. I am a serious enthusiast who is retired and when I say I could not care less if you spend $800.00 or 8k I mean it. Not everything is about making the all mighty dollar. I want my bike buyers to be long term customers and friends of the shop.

Garfield Cat

Can you imagine a pro rider asking to ride the bike first before he signs up to a pro team?

oldbobcat

Good point. Except he gets paid for riding the bikes, not the other way around.

pgjackson

I thought I read that some pros stick with their favorite bike brand and just get it painted with team colors. True?

Bah Humbug

Happened in the older days when certain brands didn't have TT bikes. Still happens with shoes and wheels, I believe.

LowCel 

I really wish that shops made $1,800 on a $3,000 bike. There would be a lot more rich bike shop owners if that were true.

Now, if you want to go with your "lure" idea, odds are that the lure makes him a lot more than one sale, otherwise he probably wouldn't be wasting his time. I doubt he has to be another lure every time he sales a bike. If so he isn't a very good fisherman.

Psimet2001 

Correct. You don't see rebranded bikes much at all anymore in the pro ranks but you definitely see re-branded wheels. I should know.

With shoes they usually just ride with team shoe covers.

hhnngg1

Despite knowing that it's hard for the LBS to allow rides on pricey $4k+ bikes, I find it unreasonable for LBSes to be that high and mighty that they can't offer test rides to people legitimately interested in purchasing one of these bikes.

If I can go to the local Honda dealer and test ride a stacked $45,000 Honda with no problems, I should have no problems with a $4k bike at the local LBS. There should be some sort of insurance or otherwise to help cover any accidents, similar to what car dealerships might have. I know you all will now say how impossible that is with the tiny margins LBSes are making, but I can say with certainty that I'd pay $100-$200 extra to buy a bike that I test rode than not. In fact, that's the sole reason I go to an LBS - otherwise, I'd just order online for pretty much that margin of discount.

My LBS snagged me good when I went in to check out Cervelos, and they not only got me on one, but without my asking/pushing, offered to set it up in my size while I was there. Hard to turn down a sale after that for an interested buyer.

jsutkeepspining

Hey i was kind of strong

whitemax

The guy that owns the shop carrying Cannondale has exactly the same philosophy. He works closely with the Cannondale reps and they want him to offer those test rides. I get that the Giant and Specialized dealers may not be able to have the higher end bikes on the floor due to their volumne but it seems as big as those two companies are, they'd do something to make sure some were available to test on. I currently ride a CAAD 7 frame so the EVO's geometry is going to be somewhat similar. I happen to think the Tarmac and Venge (omg) are sharp looking bikes but I've never been on one and I sure ain't dropping this kind of money on one just because I like the looks and guess that'll it'll be right for me.