Originally Posted by ksryder

Slightly OT but it drives me crazy when I hear stories of an LBS refusing to allow test rides, or only allowing virtually useless test rides, or refusing to try to find a bike in the right size that someone can test.

Would you buy a car if you could only drive it around the parking lot? Hell there are some dealerships that will let you take the car home for a few days to try it out.

I get that they're trying to protect their inventory but it's completely myopic and short sighted. As OP has shown, he's much more likely to buy a bike from the LBS that actually took the time to make sure he was on a bike that fit, rather than buy a bike from the store that did a cursory saddle height adjustment and then said "don't take that gravel bike off of the pavement."

I'm fortunate that my LBS will even order a bike in your size just so you can test ride it. No deposit or anything. LBS like the Giant shop that OP went to are shooting themselves in the foot--in a retail environment in which they can't afford to make mistakes like this.