I recently bought a $500 bike and spent about an hour riding different models before the purchase. After this amount of time with a salesperson riding and asking questions, I felt like I had absorbed enough info to make a good decision. I didn't have a way to get the bike home at the time, so I came back with a friend and his truck. By the time we got to the LBS I had convinced him to buy the same bike and he did. The salesperson must have done a good job of educating me.