Really dumb test ride question...

[jfogy]

Kat,

I ended up with a Specialized Ruby Comp. As far as how I made my decision it was based on price, and just gut feel. The Ruby just felt right. Also, the bike shop I got her from is just fantastic. Excellent service is a valuable selling point with me as well. Almost a year later I still love her.

[Aggie_Ama]

I just joined and am looking to upgrade from my Trek 1000. In searching for posts on Scott Contessa CR1, Cannondale Synapse 3 fem. and Trek Madone 4.7 WSD, I came across this thread. Which bike did you end up with? What were the factors in making your decision? How do you like it almost one year later?

I find the test rides a bit confusing since all the new bikes feel so much better/different than my current bike, which I have been taking to my test rides since I don't have a car during the week.

All of these bikes are similar and different so I would just test ride them all to see what works for you. I think they are all carbon but that is where the similarities stop. I ride the Synapse and love it but I am not you.

[Jiffer]

Seems to me it would be the most normal thing in the world for someone to walk into a bike shop with cycling apparel on. Umm ... HELLO ... it's a bike shop! I just went to mine a couple of weeks ago with my friend, both in our cycling garb, having just done a ride that had driven to. We dropped off our bikes to be tuned up. I was wearing a jersey, cycling shorts with mid calf lycra pants over them and fuzzy winter boots! (In Southern California). It was an interesting look, but I strutted in there like I was all that and ... since I go to the greatest bike store in the universe ... I was treated like I was all that. The owner's face lit up when he saw me. He yelled hello and then gave me a hug. I got a hug! THAT was a first.

Anyway, I don't know what your shop is like, but I wouldn't think twice about walking in there with your cycling clothes on. You're a cyclist. Even if you weren't test driving a bike, you might be on your way to or from a ride and happened to stop by. But you should wear your stuff even MORE so if you're testing a bike. I wouldn't do it any other way.

Go in there with confidence. If you walk in feeling like you belong and that's it's perfectly normal to be wearing what you're wearing, then you'll feel better and won't appear to be self conscious ... which is the only thing that might make the whole thing awkward. Feel the lyrcra! Be the lyrcra! You look amazing in lycra!!!

[Fontinalis]

Headed for the bike store to test drive three different bikes I had picked a few days earlier, I did go there with all the clothes I'd be wearing was I to commute on my chosen bike. My only mistake is that it was mid-March and in Montreal, Quebec. I nearly froze my ears pedaling my way up and down the streets. So my humble advice : if its been a while since you were on a bike and this is not summer, do remember wind factor. ROTF