YoKev

Generally speaking, I will do a 30 mile RT commute to work on any bike I sell. Some rides have been death marches...oh the memories.

rccardr 

Yep, always. I try to put 100 miles on anything I'm selling, just to be sure it's right.

And just to be sure I REALLY want to sell it!

wrk101

Not often enough in the past, but I am making it a standing rule. More like a 3 mile ride around the neighborhood, including a steep hill (nothing flat around here).

+1 I have had some bikes that I could not ride due to size, mainly just a couple of 25 inch frame sized bikes. I explained this to the buyers, encouraged them to take an extended test drive. That worked well.

noglider 

I can ride a bike of pretty much any size. I just don't sit on the saddle if the bike is too tall. My jeans have a 30" inseam so I suppose I'm really 32" from pubic bone to the floor. In other words, I'm not long-legged at all.

And I can also ride a tiny bike with 16" wheels. I can make a spectacle of myself by riding it around the block in New York City.

miamijim

Always.....

I figure I've built well over 4,000 bikes in my time yet I still mock-up my build, tear them down for overhaul, re-assemble and test ride. There's always something that needs tweaking.

noglider 

Huh? You build each bike twice?

Juan Foote

Yes, I have to circle back the garage and adjust this, fix that, etc on any new or old bike I get. With oldies, I tend to go through them first in the garage, before I ride, just to be sure I won't be layed out on my rear from something I didn't notice.

RFC

And to make sure the rear skewer is tight. Made that mistake once and the rear wheel separated from the bike. Very exciting.

cudak888 

I've had that happen once, except that the skewer was acceptably tight. It was a squared-off Campagnolo Triomphe skewer, and I've learned since not to trust them.

-Kurt

sykerocker 

'50 Chief?

sykerocker 

Sounds normal to me - especially if you're doing something from scratch with a very unoriginal mish-mash of parts. This is normal procedure if you're building a chopper. Cut and drill everything, put together all the major parts, just enough to get it down the road for a test, then disassemble to send the frame and tinware to the painters.

RobbieTunes

I do almost the same thing. As I assemble, each part gets hung, things get checked out, then each part comes off and is re-hung, except for stem/bar assemblies. All BB/FD/RD/Crank arms/Calipers go on-off-on.

Glennfordx4

Yes only because the few times I didn't it came back and bit me in the a$$, no matter how good everything works in the stand something will need attention once it is put under a load. When I was thought I was close to having my Concord Pacer ss build done I took it out for a test ride just to see if I had the fit right, after about 5 blocks everything seemed to be going good then all of a sudden it started to become more difficult to pedal when I looked down to see what it was the bike just about stopped dead, my rear tire had popped of the rim and jammed into the chainstay. I was able to put the tire back on the rim but of course my frame pump was back at my shop on my bench

High Fist Shin

Always. Usually the only thing I need to adjust is the stem. I can never get it straight until I'm outside in the light, riding the bike.

-Shin

sykerocker 

Nice to know I'm not the only one with that problem. Somehow, you cannot tell dead center on a stem until you're moving.

High Fist Shin

Wierd how that works.

-Shin

froze

I'll chime, I also do shake down rides, of course I don't buy bikes every year, but when I do I shake them down. I'll ride it around the block a bunch of times to stay close to home and carry the same tools I always carry. Never had a problem though so I'm probably wasting time doing that, but better then sorry I guess.

cyclist2000

after I build a new bike, repair or install something on my bike I always do a shake down ride, and I don't like being stranded 20 mile from home with road shoes, then walking home.

noglider 

I can see both sides of the argument for and against test rides. When I worked in my shops, cow-orkers didn't do them and scoffed at me for doing them. Honestly, there wasn't time to test ride all of them. The argument against them, besides time, is that if you are prone to missing stuff before the test ride, then it means you don't check things thoroughly enough. And it can lead you to be more unthorough.

I do test rides when I have reason to, and it's hard to say exactly when I have reason to. When you become an expert, it becomes difficult to say just why you're making a judgment, because a hundred factors are at play, and you're not even conscious of how your mind touches on all of them rapidly.