Whilst I agree.... I do also feel that you can end up with the " wrong " bike for you..
Seconded, so many have done just that.
I think where some get confused is they want to tick the boxes for the type of riding they want to do and focus less on how they actually like to ride personally. For example, as matter of course I will ask a customer what they want to use the bike for, should that be touring often their train of thought is something traditional along the lines of a Dawes Galaxy. At this stage I will dig a bit deeper and ask them to tell me what a typical bike ride is or if they are new to cycling what they hope it to be. This is where I can get more of a feel of how they like to cycle, 'chill out' versus 'work out' for instance.
Often a bike will be a compromise. Thirty years ago the Audax style bike fast lightweight touring bike didn't really exist and like 'hondated' back then I bought a more traditional focused touring bike, which I intended to use for both touring and winter club runs. It was a Pearson- Dave Yates Reynolds 531 custom frame, a lovely frame and bike, that performed just how it was supposed to; but it just wasn't for me! Yes I wanted to go touring, but back then I was still racing and actually still wanted something that felt closer to my racing bikes than that focused tourer did, especially on winter club runs which often included a mad half hour which turned into a full on burn up! For me I had a made a compromise that thirty years ago when I bought it I was not quite ready for
After a wonderful tour of the 'Picos de Europa' (off topic but an area well worth visiting) I sold the bike to someone who actually wanted a focused touring bike, they still have it and still love it. I actually then commissioned a Pearson Dave Yates bike that had a geometry closer to my racing bikes but with mudguard clearance plus front and
rear pannier bosses, I confess if I carried heavy weight on the rear only it wasn't that stable; yet I loved it. The compromise of swapping loaded stability for a riding experience closer to my race bikes was the correct one; for me. In conclusion that's the key, it is so important to work out what it is that's actually important for each rider personally, from there you have a much better chance of working out just what is right; for them.
The compromises I made thirty years ago apply to this day, as although I have stopped racing I still covet a set up closer to my old race bikes. So much so I was actually instrumental in the design of the
Van Nicholas Yukon, I based it on my Pearson which I amended slightly to offer slightly more stability, I bike I have used since 2007; I also still use the Pearson as my
work bike fixie.