Why is it So Hard To Buy a Bike?

As you can see, I've ended up with a Cervelo P2.  

The route to that choice began months ago and was much harder than it should be.

I'd originally been looking at bikes around the £5k price range.  I'm only going to buy one bike for triathlon, so may as well make it a good one, right?

You wouldn't dream of buying a (second hand) car for that price without driving it, yet most bike shops expect you to buy the bike without ever having seen it, let alone ridden it.

It's not just because I live in the wilds of Scotland.  I started looking while house-sitting in Richmond, Surrey back in September.

Buying a bike requires a lot of faith, and I'm a little short on that.  So I bought the Cervelo P2 for £2k which, if I like it enough, I can upgrade the wheels, chainset and other features.

At the moment I'm struggling to get the position right.  Or perhaps it is right, and my aged body is struggling to cope with it!