Good points, and in a way this is what I was doing. But I really need to ride a carbon-frame bike to see if I like it enough over my current aluminum bike to be worth the $2K+ that it will cost me. And in any case, this shop carries Cannondale but not Specialized. I'm interested in models from both those mfrs, so even if I were ready to buy on a given day, I would still not commit to anything on the spot.

I have had good experiences on my visits to the shop, and they were very accomodating last fall in holding a particular model & size of bibs just on my say-so over the phone, so I am sure that I'll return there in the future for some of my needs.