I had this same problem with not being able to find small bikes in stock to test ride or even buy when I was looking to replace my first road bike.

For the budget you're talking about, it might be worth checking in with some custom builders and asking what kind of delivery times they are estimating for new orders.

When I ordered my Rodriguez I could have taken one home the same day but since I wanted a different color they said it would be about a 4 week wait. Four weeks later, I had an awesome new bike!