Help choosing new bike

So I demo'ed a Kona King Kahuna a couple weeks ago and fell in love with it. I didn't realize what I was missing on the crummy old bike I've had for years (my god, disc brakes? *faint*) . I'm also totally sold on buying a 29'er. Problem is, I have almost no idea what to look for at the bike shops, and the guys haven't been much help. A suggestion to demo half of their bike fleet sounds GREAT until they mention that, oh, they don't demo small frames. So what's the next step? How do I know what bike I want if no one even has one I can ride around the parking lot? Trust me, I'd love to just go out and buy the Kona but it's a few hundred beyond my price range.

I'd appreciate any advice - thanks everyone!

boy do I share your frustration... that is what is was like when I first was bike shopping.

"Sure try the medium, we'll order you a small, but you have to buy it without trying..."

No thanks. Keep calling around until you can find some thing to try that fits. It may require a road trip. Don't get stuck on one brand, either; there are lots of cool bikes out there.

You might call around too, expand the search area. Watch Craig's list, etc.
I finally found a nicely equipped, very lightly used bike being sold by a female lbs owner...

Patience, the right bike will come.

You might also want to see if there are bike events in your area that will have demos set up there...they might have more sizes? I'd keep looking, fingers crossed that you can find something to really test ride!

Watch for demo tours, I know Specialized and Trek are here regularly. Are there other shops that rent bikes? I was fortunate that my LBS does and had a full suspension (actually more than one type) in small, no prejudice against the short crowd there! What about driving to another bike crazed city (do you know someone with knowledge of Boulder)?

My LBS also ordered a bike without down payment and no obligation but we are very regular customers. Lucky for them I loved the bike, most here do require payment up front but some will not require you to buy but do charge a restocking fee. It is frustrating because I understand in my case I was looking at bikes with a $2500-ish price tag and those don't fly off the shelf in 15.5-16" but dang it I don't know what I want by reading a spec sheet!

Irulan is wise, patience is best. I rushed into my road bike and it isn't the perfect bike. :( Took quite a bit longer on my mountain bike and it is exactly everything I wanted. It fits and rides like a dream but it killed me to have to search so long and hard.

Do you have the option of buying second hand? If you're willing to travel, the sellers might be willing to let you have a go on their bikes before you buy. I bought both my mountain bike and road bike off friends who were the same build as I am so both fit pretty nicely.

I could buy secondhand, I guess, but I'm not sure I know enough yet. Secondhand 29-inch small-framed bikes are pretty hard to come by, too - even in Colorado.

I think what I will probably end up doing is buying the cheaper model of the Kona that I rented. It shouldn't feel that different, right? And I can always upgrade components later.

Or else one of the shops here has another demo day coming up this month and I can keep my fingers crossed for that.

Offhand, here's a funny little story. I stopped at a shop somewhere near Glenwood Springs (I think) on a trip the other day, to ask whether they demo bikes and what they usually carried. The guy looks at me suspiciously and says, "well, we do, but I don't have no women's bikes at all." It didn't even cross his mind that it might possibly be ok to ride a bike designed for a guy!

Shoot if you are in Colorado, get yourself over to Fruita/Moab. Lots of great shops over there, Over the Edge comes to mind as one I know of that used to have a great women's dept. These are specialty shops that cater to mountain bikers. Or, another thought. Ask at the Colorado forum of MTBR.com

http://forums.mtbr.com/forumdisplay.php?f=70 Front Range
http://forums.mtbr.com/forumdisplay.php?f=71 Western Slope.

These are heavily trafficked mountain bike specific forums, and you should get some great shop recommendations from the folks there.

Thanks Irulan! Might as well sign me out of work right now, that's far too much distraction for me to handle on a Friday! I wonder how long til those forums are blocked at the office...

DH has the King Kahuna. That is one sweet ride. I have the Big Kahuna and I like it a lot (I try not to have fork envy...). One plus for me is the Big Kahuna has the braze-ons for a regular rear rack. Besides, he needs the bike weight advantage since he has about 30 pounds on me. ;) I had a 26" wheeled MTB but I fell in love with the 29er and never looked back.

Deb

No need anymore...

Went over the handlebars on the bike I already had and broke my back. Guess I can wait and figure this out later...thanks so much, guys. See ya on the trails next year!

OW Ow OW!!! Yikes, take good care of yourself. SOrry to hear you crashed hard..ow..

:(

Get well soon!