topslop1

I'm curious if anyone has ever asked to test ride a bicycle from a bike shop and crashed the bike by accident.

Supposing you weren't interested in the bicycle and this happened.. what would protocol be? How would the shop deal with this?

dbf73

my lovely spouse did that once 5+ years ago, fell in the parking lot and broke her wrist, later requiring plate, screws etc. Nothing was ever said about the bike

Planemaker

I never crashed but, the seat tube on a carbon bike I was test riding broke at very bottom of the insertion point of the seat post. It broke in about in a perfect straight line about ¾ away around the seat tube. The LBS only asked if I was ok.

Elvo

I would contact my retained attorney and sue the shop, city, and salesperson

Ratzinger

I wonder if stores would have insurance to cover this. At least here, stores apparently have insurance to cover stuff that gets broken by customers by accident.

Shimagnolo

I was testing a used car a long time ago.
Cruising down a fairly busy 2-lane road at 45mph...the hood popped open.
So there I am driving blind, trying to brake hard, and guess where my lane is while I get it stopped.
The wind did some damage to the hood & hinges.
Closed it, then drove slowly back to the dealer.

dcsix

I have to believe that a shop's business insurance would cover damage, and probably more. That's not to say a shop wouldn't suggest to you that you are liable, since they'd rather just collect from you than hassle with insurance, but that attitude would be the exception, I think (I hope!). Our retail business insurance provider understands what we do and what our risks as a business are, that's why they're in the insurance business-not to worry.

Shuffleman

Off subject but I could not resist. A few weeks ago, my neighbor called me while I was at work. He was taking his new Jag in for its first service. He was waiting at the red light to turn left into a dealership. A lady was test driving a new Land Rover with a sales person and was stopped behind him. A box truck crashed into the Land Rover, which crashed into my neighbors Jag. All three vehicles were totaled but nobody was hurt. The diver of truck was an illegal immigrant with no license and no insurance. According to my friend, he did apologize though.
My poor neighbor had to drive home in one of my company vans that day.
And thanks for putting the jinx on the rest of us for the next time with test out a bike.

topslop1

No problem. I was thinking about test riding a bicycle that I know I couldn't afford without giving up a liver. Wondered how bad of a situation it would be if I perchance went down on it by accident.

Mostly I'm personally interested in trying DI2 just as a knowledge point.

topflightpro

Yes. Happened to me many many years ago. I was told to go ride around a parking lot, turned a corner and hit sand and the bike slid out from under me.

I was doing the test ride during my lunch break. I tore my work clothes up pretty good and ripped most of the skin off my hand. The bike suffered a scuff to the saddle and shift lever and one of the wheels was supposedly knocked out of true. Things got pretty contentious very quickly.

I was fairly young then, and ended up consulting with a lawyer, a friend of my father, who informed me that I was not liable for any of the damage, the shop was as part of its regular course of business. He also said that the shop should have had insurance to cover it, and that if I wanted, I was actually in position to sue the shop for my injuries and damages to my clothes... He also said I could sue the owner of the parking lot. The lawyer was also shocked that the shop did not require me to wear a helmet during the test ride.

I didn't want to sue. I ended up offering to pay the shop what I determined to be the difference between what they could get for the scratched parts versus what replacement parts would cost.

Nachoman

I went to an electric bike expo a couple weeks ago where there were over 100 different electric bikes to try.
They constructed a track around the parking lot that had ramps and jumps, which is not a good combo for newbies.
I was only there about 20 minutes and personally witnessed three accidents. No one seemed to care.

rmfnla

Are you hoping they will then sell it to you a discount since it had been in an accident..?

CNC2204

Protocol would be u just bought a bike ...

Ive raced & mechanic-ed motorcycles/bikes for decades.

We had a little old lady at a dealership pull out in front of a mechanic test riding a motocross bike.

Not only was he hurt and had medical bills but the owner took his paychecks to pay for the damage.

Legal, no but it was done.



I test rode one of these last summer at my dealership, nice bike electric shift 10K but i actually prefer my TARMAC.

If i wrecked the bike i would prolly had to get a loan to pay for it.

NILS14

Last summer, the manager of this shop I go to often insisted I try his Nibali S-Works Tarmac. Everything went well but I almost crashed when I came back. What happened is I declipped my left foot while slowing down, then started falling on my right side with the bike.

Thankfully, I was able to declip my right foot just in time!

StanSeven

And this is why I despise those ambulance chasing lawyer types and those people in our society that want to sue over anything and everything. Of course the lawyer would say that - he's probably thinking what a nice cut he could get out of the settlement.

bmthom.gis

Hmm, the only experience I have is we had a demo carbon mountain bike at our shop that the head mechanic was riding, but they also rented it out. Some guy rented it, took it to the mountains, and while it was on the back of his truck backed up into a tree. I'm fairly certain we charged him for a new frame (which, of course was discounted to the actual cost) and we moved all of the old parts onto the new frame.

rmfnla

Years ago I was in Austin and passed by a Harley Davidson shop. The belt-drive Low Rider had just come out and they had one on display.

When I expressed interest in the bike the sales guy tossed the keys and said, "take her out and see what you think!" Didn't ask for a license, insurance, or even if I knew how to ride a motorcycle!

Fortunately I did not crash but I've always wondered what would have happened if I had...,

topslop1

No, that's pretty ****ty.. but after looking at top flight's story I might make out with cash money instead of a discounted bike!!!

Doge

You could ask the dealer before riding the bike.

roadwarrior

You break it, you bought it.

BTW...a good salesperson will, with questions, prequalify you before you get on the bike. It is usually pretty easy to tell if you are serious versus a tire kicker.

roadwarrior

That paragraph is exactly why we don't let anyone test ride a bike outside of our test ride area. But if one peruses this forum, you will read that they want 50 mile rides, but afterward don't want to be held responsible, nor do they want to buy the bike they test rode. It's a used bike...blah...blah...

As far as a helmet, indeed we make people wear one. More knashing of teeth.

Retail...it is a blast, especially these days in the entitlement world.

BTW...we have signs on the top bike racks, "Do not take a bike off the top rack. Get a salesperson for assistance." Guy decides to take a Madone off the rack, drops the bike on to the rack and snaps the seat stay. Frame is toast. And the guy is trying to get out of the store as fast as he can.

rpenmanparker 

What a silly discussion! OP, why don't you ask the shop where you want to test ride the bike? Duh!

****

jsjcat

What did the dealer say?

f4rrest

The shop would be liable for your injuries. Even if you were an idiot rider.

Liability insurance is part of the coat of doing business-- which is factored into the mark-up.

f4rrest

Cost, not coat. Lol.