A rant - so if not interested in my complaining, move on.


Very often I read on this forum about test rides for a new bike purchase & frequently folks say you MUST have a test ride before buying.


Do you guys expect a bike shop to stock every size of every model offered by a manufacturer? Just think of the inventory a Trek dealer would have to stock. Say 7-8 sizes of Madone, Domane, and Emonda. That's 21 bikes. Now you've got aluminum, entry level carbon, and top end carbon. Then you've got disc version of several of these.


My local shop rarely stocks high end versions and if they do, only one or two. I don't expect them to put the money into inventory to carry every size shape and model. I think that's why website reviews and objective (if that's possible from a forum) forum reviews are valuable in deciding which bike to get. I ride a small frame & I'd bet there's not a high end Madone around in the entire state - much less one where they'd let me test ride it very far.