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.

I wonder why things are so different in Australia for test riding? The bike shops where I live do sell both used and new bikes so maybe that does make a difference. They usually let you test ride without leaving an ID, but they do ask for it in some cases.

In Australia, you basically need a pawn license to sell used goods. Not to knock the place, but very few businesses will even accept a check.

When we were shopping for my wife, the LBS would have 4 more bikes ready for her to ride before she even got back with the first one. AND, they let me take a bike to ride with her even though I obviously wasn't buying for myself. They let me take expensive bikes that I would never afford, too!

The second shop was a little more reluctant but I told them they were crazy if they wouldn't let her ride a few, so they let her ride ONE. I thought that was pretty weird.

Needless to say, the first shop, where we ended up buying her bike, got all of our business until we moved.

Well that would obviously not be common knowledge in the States, and since the OP is posting from Australia it doesn't seem like it may be common knowledge there either.

I can't believe that letting people test ride a bike, test drive a car or try on clothes would make those goods "second hand". I don't live there, but did in the past (but didn't buy any bikes).

Meanwhile, you've got it backwards on the check issue: it's not because the stores are primitive and hidebound, it's because checks are primitive and a relic. Why would any merchant go through the trouble of taking a piece of paper, going along to a bank at the end of the day and waiting for a few days to see whether the funds actually clear when EFTPOS has been practically universal for a decade, more or less automatic and more or less instant? It's pretty much only the US (and the UK, a little) that still uses checks, isn't it? Everyone else has realized they're obsolete.

Allen, in all fairness, I worked at the shop he is referring to. I enquired about takeoffs, like when we swapped stems on a new bike, and was told that the takeoff could not be sold, for the reason mentioned above.

As far as the cheque/EFTPOS issue, I was under the impression that it may have to do as much with trust as technology. But that's for a separate thread.

Newcastle is a great place, (go The Knights!) but most shops would have to know the buyer before they would trust them.

That's not ideal, but it sounds like there isn't another option and that would be enough to get at least a feel for the bike. If the regs regarding "used" bikes are that tight I can understand why there's no test riding. I wouldn't buy one here (US) without a ride, and like some others have posted, the better shops I've been to are pretty insistent on them. The law seems a little narrow minded, any idea why it's written/interpreted that way?

Honestly, I don't know why things are like that there. Australians are over-taxed and everything is over-regulated. For a country that takes so much pride in their freedom, they sure do have a lot of laws on the books.

I'm not knocking it though, the missus would kill me. Even though she'll never move back.

Thanks for the insight brian!

i'll go back and try out the bike on the trainer

They'll take care of you. If you see big Dave, tell him that I said g'day.

Both of my LBS let me test drive, but only outside their parking lot.
They're both awesome with repairs/tune-up though, even though I bought my bikes elsewhere. ' never given me a hard time.

Wow, why buy a bike from a dealer at all in Australia? If I was in a country that didn't allow LBS to give test drives every single bike I bought would be off of ebay, craig's list or the classified.

LBS are next to useless without test drives; everything they sell can be had cheaper on the internet (that includes fitting).

Sweet, how do you get a fitting off the internet? Especially a free one by a state champ? Between them, the Hadley's must have at least 50 years racing experience, if not more.

But Australia is not the US. With all the import/shipping restrictions, you're not likely to get a better deal on a complete by buying off the internet, even ordering within Oz. And the free service that his LBS offers more than offsets any savings. Not only that, but have a look at ebayAU, and Craigslist over there. Slim pickings.

[edit] Full disclosure: I ran a mostly grey market import business/online sales of cycling gear, then went to work at Hadley's. I have a decent understanding of the business over there.

Oh, dear, Slim's reduced to selling bikes online, is he? I knew him when he was a champ...

Nah, that was Pickens. This Picking's guy is just riding his coattails.

Responding to OP: Would you buy a car without a test drive?

Do you like apples in your orange juice?

Yes, we all know your opinion on the subject, shill.

Shill? Right. It wouldn't be because I have visited every bike shop in Newcastle, and know all the owners. I may have worked at Hadley's, but that was over a year and a half ago, and now I'm on the other side of the world. Had he been looking for a downhill or freeride bike, I would have sent him to Drift, over on Hunter Street.

Buying a car is not like buying a bike.

Careful now! The server is kept in Brian's cage too. If you rattle it too much the search function quits working.

(Looking at the ground, shaking my head)
No one appreciates Brian....

Allen, I have no idea where the server is, and have nothing to do with it, or the search function. I know I can never replace Joe, but too many people on here don't appreciate me, or that fact that KB could have ended up in my place.

I also know that Civic bikes doesn't carry Giant, and the Trek would cost him a pretty penny more than the bike he's looking at. Just so everyone is aware, the average bike shop in Australia also charges about double what a US shop would charge. A pair of Electra cruisers - $1,200 at Civic Bikes. Haro Backtrail X3, $569 at Hadley's. Haro SX24, $899 at Hadley's. We have it cheap in the US.

I'm just giving you hell Brian. I'll owe you a beer if we're ever in the same pub.

whoa! small world (wide web)

I've got a few new "in progress" ditties on my myspace that are waiting for some real drums.
Were you also Nitram on sd forum?

Whoops... I didn't even think to check the OP's location.. lol

Here I was, all set to tell about how I've tested at least 6 bikes so far, except it turns out that I'm on the other side of the planet.

I can tell that both of the bikes I've bought this year have been ridden before, but they're in great shape nonetheless. I won't pretend that they're fresh-out-of-the-box new, though.