I've bought most of my bikes as framesets. I bought my last two mountain bikes sight unseen, had to order them. My last road bike I bought used. I was able to road test it and it felt terrible but I knew I could make it work by changing the bars, stem, saddle, post, crankset, and cassette.
I think the last time I road tested a bike and it felt good and I bought it was in 1987.