Component priority when buying a new bike?

Im not disputing that. at the same time its so easy to go down the rabbit hole of finding every review of a bike brand that someone had a bad experience with. I mean the aero space engineer trashes pretty much every mainstream bike brand. And sure bike manufactures do seem to such a tolerances. But every frame seems to be made in asia unless your spending 10K+. As some point you gotta pull the trigger. And yeah im part of a ribble facebook group and it seems like their problems have risen exponentially since the increase in demand. trying to fix problems with a UK company while living in the US does sound like a nightmare. I know it might sound silly but I dont want a Trek, Specialized, or Cannondale because literally everyone rides them here. Something like Orbea, Wilier, Chapter2 appeal to me a lot more, and obliviously they come with the issue of customer support from a distance and the big issue of not being able to ride the frame ahead of time.

A few things: knowing your size is not the same thing as a bike fit. A bike fit of course starts with a frame that is the correct size.

Regarding frame size, that usually does not change and you don’t need a bike fit. A good bike shop employee should be able to eyeball your frame size. I’m a size 56 cm in every road frame I have tested. Based on my height, 54 cm should be good or even better, but I have long limbs and so 54 cm frames feel crammed. Conversely, in Japan (which is where I live) most people ride smaller frames than suggested by their height as Japanese on average tend to have shorter limbs. So I suggest you first go by height and then try a size up and size down. (Of course, if, say, 58 cm feels crammed, you don’t need to try a size 56 cm, 60 or 61 cm will suffice.)

Nevertheless, you may sometimes land between two sizes and then you can make both frames fit your body (although the fit won’t be the same). But usually that’s not a concern. So you don’t need to ask every time you want to try a bike for a bike fit. Note that some manufacturers label size from XS to XL just like T-shirts. But then you need to look at the top tube length to know what frame size (in cm) this corresponds to.

Lastly, you also don’t need to overdo it. If you can “only” try 3 different bikes and one of them feels great (you seem to like the Roadmachine), then you don’t have to try 10 more. The combination of a bike you like with a bike shop you trust is better than buying a bike you haven’t test ridden. But what you can do is ride different styles of bike. It stands to reason that the bike shop that let you ride a Roadmachine also let you ride a Teammachine. While these are only two examples of an endurance and a more sporty frame, these will give you an idea what the difference between these two different styles is like.