Originally Posted by
bbbean
I respectfully disagree. You can learn a lot from a brief test ride, and a lot more from a longer ride. Short rides are a great way to narrow down several possible bites to the two or three that are contenders in your price/feature range. At that point longer rides are a great way to figure out which bike is the one for you and to confirm that everything is fitted properly and in working order.
Any information is better than no information, IMHO.
Bikes you're taking out for a test ride won't be properly fit to you in the first place.
Air pressure alone can make a bigger difference than anything else when it comes to "feel".
Working order is much ado about nothing. Any bike will work assuming there's not a defect and it's put together correctly.
All of the information is already available before even seeing the bike. If you don't know or understand that information, a test ride isn't going to change that. It's just going to give you a false sense of control in a choice that you're ill-informed to make. Fortunately for most, most bikes at most price-points are similar enough that it doesn't really matter which you go with.