I went to the bike shop after work today. The Marin Novato is all out. They do have some Marin Kentfield and Muirwoods, but all are in large size and too big for me.
The Muirwoods look sharp in matte black and feel light.
I tested the Giant Tran Sport DX (small size).
The seatpost is painted black and easily scratch when adjusting seat height. Handlebar is also painted black and has soft cushy foam cover (feel cheap to the touch and hard to clean)
There is no quick release for front wheel and seatpost. All those gave impression of low quality parts.
Shifter jumps more than 1 cogs at a time mostly from large to small cogs (it may need some adjustment).
Both racks have adjustable sidings (spring loaded hinges) that can fold up or down form a larger carrying surface (up 90 degrees) or to form the 2 sides (up 180 degrees) to hold things in the middle.
Overall the bike feels a bit crampy, but they don't the medium size for me to try.
For now I will wait and search around some more.
-G