Test rides

[Linfitter]

Living in Kirklees I went to a Local Bike Shop (lbs) who happened to sell the odd electric bike namely a Stork Radar and I asked him if I could try one out. “I’ll let you have ago around the car park” said he to which I replied “that won’t be any good I want a bike that can climb the local hills and your car park is so level that even puddles can’t form on it when it’s been raining”! Can’t I just borrow one for a while, there’s a good hill just around the corner that would give me a good impression as to the bikes capabilities. No way said he. When you lend a bike out in such a way you are actually giving it away and you have no legal redress to get it back if the borrower decided not to return it.

So now my question is: was he right, and what do the dealers on here require from their enquirers looking for a test ride.

Just asking in case any potential buyer makes a long journey to try out a bike only to find that they have not got the necessary security to put down to enable them to ensure a test ride.

Yours sincerely
Linfitter.

 

[GORDONAL]

Its that bike again ggggggggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! No offence Linfitter , its a very poor show if thats all of a test ride/route they would allow especially as a very expensive potential sale for the lbs.

 

[Jeremy]

It's fairly easy for dealers to protect themselves from theft, or damage, during a test ride. Car dealers do it all the time. For example, I was undecided about buying a Prius when I bought my first one in 2005, and the dealer lent me a demonstrator for 24 hours. He had my Merc as partial security and took a photocopy of my driving licence, but that was all. In that case it worked, as I bought a Prius from them and have gone on to buy another.

Personally I'd be suspicious of any dealer who refused to allow a reasonable test ride. My thoughts would be "what is the dealer trying to hide?".

 

[jackhandy]

Shouldn't have mentioned Hills...... Don't mention Hills.

 

[Geebee]

In defense of the dealers, once its been tested a couple of times it becomes used/demo and the price has to reflect that.

 

[GORDONAL]

It might be me ...... but in no way would i spend upwards of £2k on a bike i have not had an extended test ride to convince me .

If the dealer is worth his salt he should have in a demo. bike - maybe not for the whole range but something representative at least

 

[Jeremy]

It does seem daft to me. Surely an ebike dealer has to budget for providing a reasonably representative demonstrator, in the same way as a car dealer. Ebikes vary so much, both in terms of performance and ergonomics, that buying one without a reasonable length test ride would seem to be pretty foolish,

 

[Cyclezee]

When people come to us for a test ride, they normally book in advance, come by car and have some ID which is good enough security for me.

 

[103Alex1]

Try buying a road bike from most LBSs. Or Halfords for that matter. Chance of a test ride ? Absolutely zilch. I even offered to put up the full price of one of their Boardmans to try it out. Not a chance. You might get to spin one on some rollers - if they can be bothered to fit pedals on (which most of the time they can't).

End result = no sale of any bike over £299 to me. Rather take my chances on a 2nd hand top-end bike with good reviews at 1/3 of original cost with a resale market which would get me my money back if I had to sell it on. It's a minefield with eBikes so worth seeking out a dealer with a proper range of demos and giving them your business instead. Even if it means making a weekend trip out of it.

Retailers are completely bonkers not offering test rides for pricier bikes. If there's any way of helping ensure serious buyers purchase from a discounted on-line dealer or import then this is it. Less to stand to lose on a resale. Take a damage/theft deposit off the buyer by all means but removing one of the remaining advantages you have is only going to damage sales.

I did ask 50cycles when they were canvassing for demonstrators for more info about what would happen if someone rode off on my bike ... or how that would be insured against - but so far no response. If Halfords won't let people ride their bikes for fear of them being stolen then how the heck am I supposed to take that risk as a goodwill gesture ?!!!

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The best is to go to events like the Bristol show and the various Kudos events, where you can try different bikes all day

 

[oigoi]

I have found my local shops very helpful with getting test rides on expensive bikes electric and non electric, I just left my wallet with all my cash and credit cards with them as security and they were happy for me to go off and do as I pleased

 

[muckymits]

In defense of the dealers, once its been tested a couple of times it becomes used/demo and the price has to reflect that.

I have one of these but it had been badly treated, burnt out wiring/connectors, bent carrier, cracked battery case, Hbars twisted, covered in mud and oddly an over tight drive chain.

 

[Electrifying Cycles]

Happy for anyone to try our bikes on a proper test ride i.e. not just the car park. It is very hard to tell which bike is best if you can not test ride different models! In terms of security for us a driving licence is normally sufficient.

 

[Atmosphere]

Here in Bristol I have a wide range of bikes to demo - and even our very own flavour of horrible hills to really see what they can do
Its essential that you try a bike out first as there can be so many differences that may or may not suit you. Size, power, delivery and just feel

 

[RobF]

Another retailer - and occasional contributor on here - to offer proper test rides:

Electric Bicycles - Penrith | Electric Cycle Centre

 

[Kudoscycles]

Test rides....a good test ride is an absolute essential to trying an ebike but I have sympathies to the local dealers who cannot afford to have both test bikes and showroom sales bikes especially if those bikes are high value.
I remember at the Tour de Presteigne we all let customers go on any bike and by the end of the day most bikes could no longer be sold as new. We had one couple,smartly dressed,who took the Duke and Duchess off for over 3 hours,I thought we had been done and lost 2 bikes but they turned up,having had a pub lunch! Customers wanted to try bikes up the hill,some distance away so it was necessary to have some latitude as to the distance away they could ride.
What we do at the Kudos warehouse is let testers ride around the concrete apron in front of our factory,if they are serious about a particular bike one of us will accompagny them along the seafront to try a hill.We have a sample of every bike,ready charged,available for testing but you cannot expect a small retailer to have such disposable stock.
The Kudos 'try an ebike day' at Redbridge,April7,is now over 12 suppliers-it is a wonderful race circuit for bikes,almost a unique facility for bike testing and I think the best circuit I have ever ridden,that includes the test track at Eurobike.
We are trying the Manifold Trail up in the peak district to bring our bikes north-if I could find a similar venue between say Manchester and Leeds I will try that next year.
But you must have sympathies for retailers,unfortunately the market for ebikes is not large in the UK,their investment in high value bikes is quite a risk and if every bike in their showroom becomes secondhand (some testers are very hard on bikes-I saw one guy power sliding my new Ibex crank drive round the corners at the London Excel show) then they will never make any money.
I suppose its all about looking after each other for the good of all.
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[Cakey]

I suppose its down to the dealer. Take Storck for instance, how many dealers have more than 2 bikes.
It also seems that ebike suppliers do not provide a discounted demo bike.
I know my dealer sells 20 ebco and wisper to 1 Storck. Lot of money to use as a demo .
I have heard most are happy to send a demo bike to the shop, but you just have to wait ...

 

[Ettica]

I did worry a bit at first but with hindsight, I needn't have wasted any sleep over it.

We have some of the loveliest lanes to take a teat ride for potential customers https://maps.google.com/maps?q=pr7+5pr&hl=en&ll=53.631025,-2.734952&spn=0.013971,0.038581&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=38.144864,79.013672&t=h&hnear=Heskin+PR7+5PR,+United+Kingdom&z=15&layer=c&cbll=53.631029,-2.734822&panoid=gT0_mvL6AqlcHmXhHsut2g&cbp=12,248.35,,0,10.22
and I usually ride out with them!

All six models are demo's so it is great to see people choose the right one for them. Usually the first choice is Folder or Full size, then step through or crossbar then how much they want in the way of levels of assist.

At the end of their testing, the CUSTOMER DECIDES! and they enter the world of ebiking happy and smiling!

 

[103Alex1]

The manufacturers should help the dealers out with demo kit. I know why small retailers can't absorb the cost of demo bikes but that doesn't help getting bikes sold. Without being overly unsympathetic - the fact a dealer is small and can't afford to offer demonstrators doesn't help me as a customer. In short - that isn't my problem it's theirs ! Dealers all pretty much still want retail prices for bikes whether they offer demonstrators or not so why would I want to buy from a dealer who can't service my most basic needs of trying out a bike before buying it ?

Very few people buy a new car without a test drive. No reason to assume it should be any different for a bike. Great as they are, 2 or 3 shows a year with huge queues for testing bikes won't suit many purchasers. Not everyone can get to them. Decent testing centres are a must - like Atmosphere bikes seem to offer.

 

[SRS]

With todays trading climate, we are lucky to have any high street stores at all.

That goes for all types of outlets, not just electric cycles.

In my opinion, it a brave man that opens up and runs an e-bike shop of any kind in this country.

Did every car dealer have a full range of demo's in the Henry Ford days. I don't think so!

Give it time and as the electric cycle culture grows, more and more dealers will be able to provide a greater range of demo machines and services.

Of course, in the meantime maximum support from the manufacturers can only speed up this process.

Until then, be grateful that they are doing their best to promote, what is essentially a new way of travel freedom in this country.