I have definitely ridden some very expensive mountain bike demos that felt like complete crap (IMO of course) despite reviewing well or having a big following.D Griff wrote: ↑Thu Oct 07, 2021 12:02 pmcoogles wrote: ↑Thu Oct 07, 2021 11:55 am
There used to be a big MTB festival at Brown County State Park every fall prior to COVID and they'd have probably ~10 different manufacturers bring in demo fleets and you could ride anything you wanted. It was amazing, and also how I chose the Trance. Unfortunately the trails there were much more suited to the Trance than the ones here within 30 minutes of my house, but something like that is 100% necessary to actually buy the right bike unless you're a YouTuber who does reviews and gets loaners all the time.
No different than cars, really. Everything will seem awesome when you're working with some old ass shit and try the new goodness.
That was what was cool with the demos I've seen at a local park here, taking out several bikes on a trail I've ridden dozens of times would be invaluable. But instead, I just order bikes online. That said, the Orbea and Ribble have treated me well, just curious if I would prefer a different style mountain bike. There is far less difference between road bikes in a particular category.
Some bikes right now can be re sold for nearly MSRP though so the risk is lower than it usually would be.