Testing Bikes for the Road-Terrified Newbie

The overwhelming consensus to questions about what bike should I get is go to your LBS and test ride them, since that's the only way you'll get a good idea of fit and feel etc. I completely understand this.

But, does anyone have any advice when the bike-buyer in question is a newbie rider (who's terrified of riding on the roads and hasn't been on a bike of any kind in about 20 years) with access only to LBSs in the middle of a big city and hence on big, scary roads with huge intersections and heavy traffic?

Unfortunatley, A lot of LBS's won't let you out of the parking lot for theft reasons. :( Some will let you "roam" some more, provided you surrender something of value , I.e. Drivers license or credit card.

Ask your LBS if they can set up several different bikes on trainers. That will at least give you a basic feel for fit, before you try one on the road. You will notice that some bikes feel "off" almost immediately, and that may help in whittling down the possibilities. And try this with as many LBS as you can.

Once you get down to 2 or 3 you like, call around and see which shops have them in your size, and which ones will let you take them for a test. The bike manufacturers usually have a list of dealers on their web site, so just start calling them. I have a dozen bike shops in my area, yet still had to travel quite a ways from home to find a bike that fit, but it was worth it.

Good luck in your search!

I was in the same spot your'e in now -- hadn't been on a bike in a couple of decades, at least! Had NEVER been on a bike with handbrakes or gears, and was really worried about that.

The bike shops I visited let you ride on the parking lot. That was really good for me. The guy who helped me the most had me go round and round and do some figure 8s, then go the other direction -- he had me go over speed bumps in the parking lot, then "take that a little faster this time," etc. He was watching closely the entire time and calling me over to make adjustments, but for me, it built my confidence. Even having him direct me to ride over a particular bump or crack in the lot gave me confidence, because it told me, "Oh, I guess it's okay to do that -- it won't make me flip or anything...!"

I went and had never ridden a bike before. To my horror they sent me on the bike trail and told me to ride as long as I wanted. Actually it ended up building up my confidence (I felt naseous the whole time). The guy stayed with me for a few minutes and DH stayed the entire time. So, it helped that someone was with me. I do like the idea of asking them to place the bikes on a trainer for you. I would have preferred that. Long story short, I love bike riding, it just took me 37 years to figure it out. :)

I work at a bike shop, and I do test rides with riders all the time (I go out on my bike, they go out on the bike they're interested in). I'm surprised that more bike shops don't do this. With a new rider, the learning curve for the technology is very steep, so having someone there to guide you through shifting, etc is a great sales technique.

Tell your LBS that you're new and aprehensive and that you'd like one of the staff members to ride with you. I bet they'll do it (if they want the sale).

ps -- I don't do sales at this bike shop (I'm the business manager). But women contact me all the time because I'm a coach so I test-ride with them.

No suggestions. :) Just think it's very cool that you are buying a bike even though you are afraid of riding in the road. It's amazing to me how many of us started riding with different fears - riding alone or riding in the road or speed or whatever - and we still went out and bought bikes knowing we would have to work through our fears.

So, my hat is off to you for doing this even though you know already it's gonna take some work on your part. :)

Oh gosh, I remember my test ride... well, I only test rode one bike... it was the one in my PRICE RANGE.

Anyways, it was scary. I hadn't been on a bike in years, and that bike was FAST with skinny tires! I went slowly... but it can nerve racking! Especially if you aren't sure you can afford to break the merchandise!

So, after I am done with my test-ride-of-terror (OK, I'm being a little dramatic)... I go to get off... and I FALL OVER!

My stinking tennnis shoe (yea, the guy told me NOT to put my shoe in the cages) got caught and I wasn't able to get it out before I tipped over to the right.

That prompted me to buy clipless shoes and pedals. So, I have been riding with those since day 1.

Good luck bike hunting and hopefully you won't tip over like I did on the test ride. :D

My test rides. I went to REI and told the guy, "I want a weenie bike," and he looked startled and I said, "You know, not a bend-over-the-front-fast bike or a crash-down-the-trails bike -- just a nice little bike for riding around nice and easy."

Well, he was very helpful, showed me a few, picked out two or three and took me to the back parking lot to test them.

Mind you, I was not dressed to ride a bike. I had on a macabi skirt:

http://www.macabiskirt.com/

which I hitched up between my legs, clipped, and didn't bother trying to roll up to look halfway decent. I just took off.

Well, the bike was in too low a gear and it was scary -- my feet were spinning but I didn't feel like I had control of the bike. I went very slowly around the parking lot saying, "This is fuuuuun!" Then he adjusted the gears and suddenly it felt like it was supposed to, then it was REALLY fun.

I don't think I would have survived being turned loose on a bike trail, though! There would have been a trail of tumbling walkers, runners, and cyclists in my wake.

Thanks everyone for all your responses - I went into a LBS today and asked for advice. Everyone was very nice and, despite a really hardcore vibe (lots of bike messengers, bike parts and industrial decor), they weren't in the least patronizing, which was great.

They said that while they still recommended I test ride outside on the road, they could set the bikes up on their trainer inside so that I could at least rule out anything that was no good without going outside.

That's great! I'm glad they're willing to work with you. Sounds like a good compromise.

Do you think after working on the trainer, you'll feel more secure on the road?