Can I test ride this bike? Sorry no it has no pedals.
08-13-13, 11:06 AM
#76
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When I first became interested in buying a more "serious" bike was right after I had ridden in a duathlon on a hybrid. I wound up buying a road bike because I thought it suited my all around needs better, but it wouldn't have been unreasonable to buy a triathlon bicycle. I did not own pedals and shoes at the time - I had just participated in an event, thought it was fun, and decided I'd like to get involved. This isn't some wildly unheard of story that's shared by absolutely no one else.
08-13-13, 11:19 AM
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Yeah I've heard them all.lol I know and have trained a sales staff in every aspect of sales from opening question to confirmations and invitations. Some people have the sales knack, some don't. Not all people are buyer like myself, some people like to waste time.
08-13-13, 11:35 AM
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Non sequitur. Even if I agreed with your premise that an LBS should refuse a tri test-ride if the rider is new to the sport (which I don't), you're still equating not bringing shoes/pedals to not having them and/or being new to the sport. That is not true and wasn't the case for the OP. If I went to test ride a bike today, I wouldn't go through the hassle of removing my pedals from my carbon crank and taking them with me either (I don't have a torque tool). And it makes no difference whether I plan to test ride a road bike or a tri bike. Clipping in is not necessary for me to test ride a bike and that's true for many others.
08-13-13, 11:39 AM
#81
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Non sequitur. Even if I agreed with your premise that an LBS should refuse a tri test-ride if the rider is new to the sport (which I don't), you're still equating not bringing shoes/pedals to not having them and/or being new to the sport. That is not true and wasn't the case for the OP. If I went to test ride a bike today, I wouldn't go through the hassle of removing my pedals from my carbon crank and taking them with me either (I don't have a torque tool). And it makes no difference whether I plan to test ride a road bike or a tri bike. Clipping in is not necessary for me to test ride a bike and that's true for many others.
08-13-13, 11:52 AM
#82
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Sorry, but I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion. A buyer and a tester are one and the same thing. An LBS cannot conclude that someone isn't going to buy just because he/she didn't bring pedals and shoes. A test ride also increases the probability of a sale because it places pressure on most people to make a decision. This is why car dealers always keep pushing the customers to test drive. It's a business.
Now if we're talking about test riding a 6K bike or a Ferrari, there can be certain precautions in place for that. But the type of the bike itself - mountain, road, tri - does not matter.
Now if we're talking about test riding a 6K bike or a Ferrari, there can be certain precautions in place for that. But the type of the bike itself - mountain, road, tri - does not matter.
08-13-13, 11:52 AM
#83
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This is only rational if a seller has a very high level of certainty about who will be a buyer. I purchased my first road bike (and it's not a cheapie) with very little knowledge about cycling other than that I was very I wanted to do it. I didn't own pedals or shoes at the time, I purchased them with the bike. My girlfriend recently bought herself an ~$2K bike from a similar position of not owning pedals and shoes. Assessing whether someone intends to buy a bike primarily on whether they brought pedals and shoes with them to a store would be a very, very stupid means of assessment. Electing to not spend a few minutes setting up a bike all but guarantees that a sale will not be made.
08-13-13, 11:53 AM
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I don't own a bike shop, for for everyone who expects a bike shop to allow test rides of every bike they have in the showroom I think that's a little unrealistic. Once a bike has been test ridden a few times it becomes 'used' and it may be difficult to sell at full price due to scuffs or other signs of wear. I would think this is even more true with newer riders and TT bikes which are more difficult to handle.
A good shop should have a decent setup for measuring a rider and determining which bikes will fit. Those measurements coupled with the customers expressed riding style should be enough to narrow down which bikes are candidates. Test riding shouldn't be necessary other than as a final check once the bike has been sold and configured.
08-13-13, 11:59 AM
#85
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I could be off on this, but if I was a bicycle sales person, I would probably assume that I would stand a very good chance of selling a bicycle to ANY person that came into the shop asking to test ride a bike.
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08-13-13, 11:59 AM
#86
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What exactly are you expecting to learn from a test ride around the block?
I don't own a bike shop, for for everyone who expects a bike shop to allow test rides of every bike they have in the showroom I think that's a little unrealistic. Once a bike has been test ridden a few times it becomes 'used' and it may be difficult to sell at full price due to scuffs or other signs of wear. I would think this is even more true with newer riders and TT bikes which are more difficult to handle.
A good shop should have a decent setup for measuring a rider and determining which bikes will fit. Those measurements coupled with the customers expressed riding style should be enough to narrow down which bikes are candidates. Test riding shouldn't be necessary other than as a final check once the bike has been sold and configured.
I don't own a bike shop, for for everyone who expects a bike shop to allow test rides of every bike they have in the showroom I think that's a little unrealistic. Once a bike has been test ridden a few times it becomes 'used' and it may be difficult to sell at full price due to scuffs or other signs of wear. I would think this is even more true with newer riders and TT bikes which are more difficult to handle.
A good shop should have a decent setup for measuring a rider and determining which bikes will fit. Those measurements coupled with the customers expressed riding style should be enough to narrow down which bikes are candidates. Test riding shouldn't be necessary other than as a final check once the bike has been sold and configured.
08-13-13, 12:02 PM
#87
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What exactly are you expecting to learn from a test ride around the block?
I don't own a bike shop, for for everyone who expects a bike shop to allow test rides of every bike they have in the showroom I think that's a little unrealistic. Once a bike has been test ridden a few times it becomes 'used' and it may be difficult to sell at full price due to scuffs or other signs of wear. I would think this is even more true with newer riders and TT bikes which are more difficult to handle.
A good shop should have a decent setup for measuring a rider and determining which bikes will fit. Those measurements coupled with the customers expressed riding style should be enough to narrow down which bikes are candidates. Test riding shouldn't be necessary other than as a final check once the bike has been sold and configured.
I don't own a bike shop, for for everyone who expects a bike shop to allow test rides of every bike they have in the showroom I think that's a little unrealistic. Once a bike has been test ridden a few times it becomes 'used' and it may be difficult to sell at full price due to scuffs or other signs of wear. I would think this is even more true with newer riders and TT bikes which are more difficult to handle.
A good shop should have a decent setup for measuring a rider and determining which bikes will fit. Those measurements coupled with the customers expressed riding style should be enough to narrow down which bikes are candidates. Test riding shouldn't be necessary other than as a final check once the bike has been sold and configured.
08-13-13, 12:07 PM
#88
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We want customers to test ride bikes...if a customer seems interested and we've talked about what they're looking for and we have something that would work, we ask them to take the bike for a spin. We try to put every test ride bike in the trainer for a couple of mins to get seat height, set back, and reach/drop somewhat close, or close to their current bike if that fit is good. We then set the tire pressure for their weight. We also have them sign a test-ride form and take their ID and CC. It shows that we're as serious about earning their business as they are about buying a bike. We look like the professionals we are, and they know that we'll be able to take care of their fitting and mechanical needs. It makes us look a whole lot more competent than the local chain store that just grabs a bike off the rack and shoves it in their general direction.
08-13-13, 12:08 PM
#89
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If I owned a bike shop I would have a set of bikes available for test riding but I wouldn't just pull any bike out of inventory for a test ride, especially for newbie customers who I didn't think had a reasonable likelihood of buying. Rather, I would spend the time educating the new customer on what was important in selecting a bike.
08-13-13, 12:13 PM
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He was in the shop asking questions, so yes, that makes him a customer. Again, the customer is always right. Deal with him or don't, the LBS can manage their business as they see fit and customers can do business with whomoever they like.
08-13-13, 12:14 PM
#91
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A lot of shops have demo bikes for this very reason. It doesn't cost them a thing. At the local Trek store, I could get a demo and actually ride it for 50 miles if I wanted to. In fact, one of my buddies bike broke down at the start of the ride a few months ago, they let him borrowed a demo bike so he could ride with the group. That's going out of their way to make customers and potential customers happy. I was worrying about this Trek store when they started out a few years ago but their great customer service has attracted a lot of customers over the past 2 yrs.
In this case, the OP wanted to ride a bike that wasn't a demo bike. Rather than go into a lengthy explanation of why he couldn't ride that particular bike the LBS took a shortcut and used the excuse that no pedals were available. Same thing would happen if a 16 yr old kid walks into a Porsche dealership expecting to drive a GT3.
08-13-13, 12:17 PM
#92
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exactly, and they just lost this sale because they chose to generalize and shall I say "profile" a customer, and not take two minutes to put pedals on this bike.
08-13-13, 12:23 PM
#93
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08-13-13, 12:29 PM
#94
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1. get a feel for the shifters (there is more than one style these days)
2. get a feel for the brakes
3. get a reasonable idea of the stiffness
4. reasonably assess overall fit
None of this, except for #4 and only after taking measurements (which surely would take longer than installing pedals), can be easily communicated in words by a salesperson. Hence the test ride.
08-13-13, 12:33 PM
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Any decent salesperson will ask the right questions to determine whether their customers are serious buyers or tire kickers. If the store is busy and I'm juggling several customers at once, I'll even straight up ask, "Are you looking to buy today?"
IMO there is nothing wrong with that because from my personal experience, you have tire kickers who try to act like they're 100% serious about taking a bike home and boast about how they have X amount to spend on a bike that you spent an hour with and just walks. And then you have the ones that act very hesitant and not serious about buying saying, "I'll take this one" after 5 minutes of conversation.
When I'm shopping for a car/motorcycle/bike, I'm one of those people that like to go in several times and really shop around. So the first thing I say when I get approached by a sales guy is, "Just to let you know, I'm not looking to buy today since I'm still shopping around, so I don't want to waste any of your time." Unfortunately there are a lot of shoppers out there who don't give the sales guys the same common courtesy. IMO it's bad form to tie up a sales guy for an hour just because they're lonely and want someone to BS with.
IMO there is nothing wrong with that because from my personal experience, you have tire kickers who try to act like they're 100% serious about taking a bike home and boast about how they have X amount to spend on a bike that you spent an hour with and just walks. And then you have the ones that act very hesitant and not serious about buying saying, "I'll take this one" after 5 minutes of conversation.
When I'm shopping for a car/motorcycle/bike, I'm one of those people that like to go in several times and really shop around. So the first thing I say when I get approached by a sales guy is, "Just to let you know, I'm not looking to buy today since I'm still shopping around, so I don't want to waste any of your time." Unfortunately there are a lot of shoppers out there who don't give the sales guys the same common courtesy. IMO it's bad form to tie up a sales guy for an hour just because they're lonely and want someone to BS with.
she did not buy anything. that, friends, is an asshull move.
08-13-13, 12:36 PM
#97
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Fair enough, but you realize that your willingness to commit thousands of dollars without trying something is far more unusual than people want to test ride/drive things, right?
08-13-13, 12:44 PM
#100
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Just in case another newb asks a similar question, let's get answers to the following questions: Should the shoes and pedals be well-worn to indicate prior usage? Should the prospective buyer bring along a sales receipt to prove that they are his pedals too? Perhaps should a picture showing him riding a bicycle with those shoes and pedals accompany the sales receipt?