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Say there's no sales person in a bike shop and you are just looking for bikes.
The criteria would be a good bike to ride to work on side-walks(paved or smooth) and the occasional off-road on the weekends. Female user, small budget, but the bike should have a kickstand, a good seat, lights and a bell.
What are the things to look for before purchasing?
(In Norway, bikes aren't too cheap but the buyer doesn't feel comfortable buying the cheapest)
New bikes are usually good to go. The LBS (local bike shop) will usually allow you to bring it back after a months time in order to readjust and tighten things that may have come lose. Ask about whether this is supported or not. Also ask about the guarantee and its exact details.
Also you could ask for a test ride (even in the parking lot) to make sure that the bike works.
Generally the bike should:
Generally speaking, and this is really general, there are two flavours of bike shop - the big brand, 'big box' shop like a supermarket and then the 'Local Bike Shop' (LBS), much more like the local corner shop where the shopkeeper is, allegedly, more interested in the customer. Gross oversimplification I know, but you get the idea.
From the LBS I would be absolutely shocked if they allowed a customer to buy a bike without asking some questions about the prospective use. That said, even in a big box store, it's going to be unlikely that you could pick up a boxed new bike and just take it to the till without any involvement from the sales person.
These days, the build quality on new bikes (especially on the known large brands), is close to perfect. Any defects you'll have will stem from local assembly - loose nuts, under-inflated tyres, etc. If the bike looks, even to the uninitiated, as if it will do the job, it probably will.
