Testing Bikes for the Road-Terrified Newbie

[baskingshark]

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?

[Fredwina]

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.

[Bluetree]

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!

[pooks]

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...!"

[Bikingmomof3]

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.

[velogirl]

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.