Both REI and Bike Gallery in the Portland area let you test ride literally for as long as you want giving up your drivers license.
In Seattle, some of the shops simply swipe your CC when you go out. That way, if you ride off, they just assume you wanted the bike and charge the CC accordingly.
The test ride was what sold me on my last bike; without it, and before it, I would have just walked away as I wasn't planning to buy a new bike until the spring. I cannot believe there are bike shops that don't let you test ride.
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Cat 2 Track, Cat 3 Road.
"If you’re new enough [to racing] that you would ask such question, then i would hazard a guess that if you just made up a workout that sounded hard to do, and did it, you’d probably get faster." --
the tiniest sprinter