I guess the fact that the outdoor school classes can be tailored to the needs of each specific class can be a good and bad thing. The motto is "no rider left behind" so sometime instructors have to make the choice not to take the class on the roads with traffic, or not to complete the trail for the mountain bike class.

It would be really surprising to me that the instructors would try to be sales people on the outing. Even on the sales floor the specialists are not pushed to up-sell or sell anything that the customer doesn't need. They don't get commission or have any incentive to sell Novara (REI brand) bikes. However, many students are interested in buying a bike of their own and ask what to look for, or want to know details about the equipment they are using in the class. I think most instructors give their honest opinion, rather than just over promoting REI products.