If you really want, some of the smaller bowyers offer "test drives". I don't know what budget youre working with, but shops such as Black Widow do it if I'm not mistaken. My 2 cents would be to narrow your search (there a few thousand pages of pictures, reviews, and bowyers right here) and ask to try a few out. You may have to cover shipping, but its better than a shot in the dark. Maybe make a thread titled "Test Drive" with some parameters (recurve, R/D, Longbow, etc.) and see if any bowyers offer it?