Mountain Bike Demo Days - are they for you?
"Get yourself booked on the Santa Cruz demo day" my husband said.
"But I'm not planning on buying a full suspension bike, I can't afford one, I don't want to waste the shop's time."
We'd had this type of conversation more than once over the last few years, but finally this week, after confirming with the bike shop that yes, it was more than ok to go on a demo day even though you weren't planning on buying, I went out riding on my first demo day.
The way we buy bikes has changed massively over the years.
Marin Bobcat Trail
The first bike I bought for myself was a Marin Bobcat Trail, lovingly named Bob. Bob had rigid forks and had been built with men in mind and then shrunk down to a small frame (forget female specific geometry back then). My test ride was 5 minutes in a car park before purchasing.
If I’m honest, I loved that bike, even if it was really too big. When I finally decided to upgrade, I couldn't bring myself throw Bob away and he now sits on my turbo trainer for the winter months.
By the time I upgraded Bob, manufacturers had started to produce a good range of female specific mountain bikes with that all important front suspension which was going to revolutionise my riding!
I looked at pretty pictures of bikes, but reading up on their geometry and components was like a foreign language in advanced physics. I knew what I wanted my bike to do and how I wanted to feel (comfortable and in control) but anything else was of zero interest to me.
I found that speaking to bike shop staff was the best way to find out more about each bike and checked out many options over a year or two before narrowing it down to a couple of choices.
Kona Kula Lisa
When a bike shop down the road had a Kona Kula Lisa on sale, it didn't take me long to swipe the credit card and take my beautiful new bike home.
It was no cheap purchase and the sum total of my riding experience on the bike before purchasing was the standard 5-10 minutes in a small car park.
I was looking forward to my first ride out on the Kona and ended up feeling totally gutted when I struggled with control on the technical trails of Dalby Forest. I persevered, thinking that my skill level was just poor, or maybe the rebound setting on the suspension was wrong, or that riding with front suspension needed time to get used to.
After some more aborted attempts on different trails, someone from the bike shop at Llandegla Trail Centre listened to the problems I was having and gave me options to tweak things around. It helped, but despite ongoing tweaks over the years I never really gelled with the Kona. On paper, it was a great bike but I always felt like it was a fight to ride.
I talked about the problems with the Kona and my husband helped me translate them into bike geometry to come up with options for a new bike. However, I knew that changing my bike was going to be another expensive purchase and I refused to buy again on the basis of 5 minutes in a car park.
Enter the demo day!
Orange Diva
The bike I really wanted to test was the Orange Diva and it just so happened that the Dales Bike Centre were holding an Orange demo day. Putting aside my fears about group riding, I booked a Diva, in my size.
To cut a very long story short, the new Diva's weren't available in the UK at the time, but Orange Bikes were good enough to send one up to the Dales Bike Centre at the first opportunity, so I got to test ride one at a later date.
I spent a few hours riding the Diva on trails which I'd previously ridden on the Kona and can honestly say that having done that, I would never buy a new bike again without testing it properly. Riding the bike you want to purchase (in the right size) is essential.
In my experience, bike shops often can't afford to hold stock of bikes in sizes which are not the highest sellers and, as a 5'2" woman, that often means my size is not even available to look at. I completely understand why and, in turn, bike shops usually appreciate my frustration - it's just how it is with such an expensive stock item.
Back to the demo ride. This was finally my opportunity to properly test out the bike I was interested in purchasing. It helped me to understand the difference between the geometry of the Kona and Diva on known trails and how riding each one gave me a totally different experience.
Despite there being absolutely no obligation or pressure to purchase, at the end of the day we drove home with a sparkly new Diva in the back of the van. It still brings a smile to my face when I'm out on the trails and I have never once regretted purchasing. To me, that's proof enough of the benefits of a demo ride.
So if I love my Diva that much, why did I end up on a Santa Cruz/Juliana demo day less than 6 months later?
Having spoken directly with the guys from Orange and chatted with the guys from Cotic when my husband had been on their demo days, I've taken much more notice of the demo day and the intent behind them.
I always thought that a demo day was for people who were serious about purchasing and one step away from digging out their credit card. However, I've since realised that the people running demo days are just happy for you to take out their bikes and give feedback about what you like/dislike.
There's never a hard sell, it's just people who design or sell bikes talking to other people who ride bikes.
The people running demo days are full of information. They understand how the bikes perform and what's best for the type of riding you do - and they're happy to talk in both technical terms for the gurus of this world and in more basic terms for those like me.
When the Santa Cruz/Juliana Demo Day was announced at my friendly local bike shop, 18 Bikes I checked that they were happy for me to go along for the hell of it and then booked myself to test out a full suspension bike in my size.
It was my first ever experience riding full suspension (unless you count 5 minutes on one which was way to big for me).
Santa Cruz Juliana and Furtado
I started out on the Furtado and loved it. I always felt in control and could throw it around easily. The fast rocky downhill was pure exhilaration. Next was the Roubion which, with extra suspension, I expected to enjoy even more.
However, it just didn't work for me.
If I'd been in a position to purchase one of the bikes, before riding, I would have automatically chosen the Roubion, which just shows how important test rides are when making such big purchases.
Chatting afterwards, I learned that more travel in suspension does not necessarily mean a better bike. The only way you can ever know which works better for you and the way you ride is by testing each one on rocky trails - and how often do you get the opportunity for a proper ride on different full suspension bikes with zero financial outlay?
The demo day is also the perfect opportunity to talk about any problems you have on your current bike and what might work for you in the future.
Many people fear that they’ll feel out of place if they’re able to talk about the technical aspects of bike purchasing. If that's your thing, you can happily talk away about angles and mm of travel, but it's not necessary. As long as you know what you want from a bike and what sort of mountain biking you do, you can have a great conversation and learn something new.
So, I'm officially a convert to the demo day. They're not just for those who like to ride gnarly trails on flash bikes. They're an essential way to test out different bikes and see what works best before committing to a large expensive purchase.
