Commuting - Buying a Marinoni, which one? Turismo or Fango

Hello all, thank you for reading my question..

I am buying a Marinoni next week, well ordering one anyway. I would like to use it to commute 15 miles to work, most of the 3 seasons. I will be riding half on streets, and half on a Rail trail, well packed stone dust.

My previous bike is a 15 year old norco hybrid, in rough condition...

I should not have alot of baggage, I am 6ft1, and 215lbs.

My local LBS fortunatly had a Turismo Disk for me to try, and I am choosing it over the Trek Portland, becouse it felt better, smoother even without a carbon fork, and somewhat faster.

Just wondering about the Fango alu. As it excepts slightly larger tires. But without being able to test ride one, I would like to here from someone who has compared a tourer to a cyclocross.

The low end fango alu retails for $1800 and the comparable non disk steel turismo starts around $1600.

So do you think I would notice a difference?

Is the Aluminum fango going to feel more like the Aluminum Trek?

Do you think the tire size would make a difference, from 32c to 35c or even 38c?

Thanks for your input, I never imagined even looking toward a road bike style, but 15 miles home after a 10 hour day, or 14 hour night shift, makes me think I want something faster than a Hybrid..

My commuter is a steel cyclocross, Jamis Nova (pics in my signature). It has a carbon fork and 700x32 tires (thinking of going to 28s when these wear out). I don't ride on crushed stone trails but the streets of Atlanta are much rougher than any trail.
Tire size is a personal choice. Get the size tire that feels comfortable to you. I have Panaracer Pasela Tour Guards. Nearly 3000 miles with no "you know whats" (don't want to jinx myself).

I don't see any way to mount a rack on the Fango, so I'd opt for the Turismo.
Either one should serve you well.
Be sure and post some pictures when it's built up for commuting.

Sounds like we're in close to the same boat. For my 8mi commute, I'm looking to add a touring/road bike to give my 15yo Bridgestone hybrid a rest/rebuild. The more I'm testing, the more sure I am of getting drops.

I haven't tried Marnioni's, but in the last few days I've been on cyclocross bikes (Trek XO-1, Bianchi Volpe, LeMond Poprad) and a touring bike (Novarra Randonee). The Randonee is rock solid, smooth, and heavy. I'm probably looking for something lighter with a little more pop because I have a relatively short ride with one big hill coming home. The XO-1 felt this way, but I'm a bit concerned that it would be jarring after a while. I'm leaning towards the Volpe, but want to try the Portland, which is not available anywhere here yet. Interesting to read your comments.

The tires will make a huge difference. Because my commute is on roads the whole way, I'll be replacing any knobbies probably with 28s. For your distance ride on trails, I still wouldn't go bigger than 32c.

They will put fender and rack mounts on the fango when they build it for you. I assume your having marinoni build it and your not buying a frame already made? You can have any mounts, including disc, added for you when they build it.

The fango Alu will feel a lot like the trek vibration wise.

They do make a fango in steel, with a carbon fork.

Tire size, for commuting im fine with 28's, which I believe a marinoni ciclo (sport tour) also is capable of using with fenders. Another bikeforums member, Machka, has one, maybe you can send her a message with some questions.

So you have 3 choices, Tour, cross, sport tour.

Tour - solid, heavy
Cross - middle of the road
Sport Tour - closest to racing bike with ability to still have fenders, etc.

A lot may depend on your location, and the weather you intend on commuying thru. Snow your gonna want the 35's. Pavement and hardpacked crushed limestone, you can do with 28's and prolly down even smaller.

Do you have a lot of hills? If so the tour will be the heaviest going up them, the ciclo the lightest.

Edit : If your looking for a nice bike, expensive (to you) purchase, to enjoy biking and commuting at its fullest. Id buy whatever marinoni I could, in steel not alu, and have all the mounts like fender/rack on it, complete with a carbon fork that has disc mount (for a future upgrade option without having to replace the fork, you can add disc to front and leave back as is)

Also, do you see touring in your future? or racing? or group rides?

Wow, great info, thanks...

I am in southern Ontario, and will be ridding uphill from downtown Hamilton to the Countryside. The hills can be rather steep and long, however, the rail trail is a long 3% grade for about 10km of my commute.

Weather is fairly good for most of the year, I wont be ridding in the snow.

There is only 1degree diference in the head tube angle and 1/2 degree more angle in the seat tube, and the head tube hight is 2cm more in the Fango than the Turismo.

So Mesurement wise they are really the same, Just an extra couple hundred for aluminum. But from your comments here and elswhere on this forum, I will Choose the Steel, and get the Turismo.

Good point about the Disks option. I didnt even realize I could order the disk model with v brakes. That would keep my cost down initially, and I have read some good things about the v brakes.

Plus the Turismo comes with the braze ons for racks.

Thanks again for your help. I will Place my order tommoro, and will post pics in 6-8 long weeks when it arives.

Next question, Is it worth $300 to upgrade from Campy Veloce group to Centaur group??

I dont know too manhy people that really ride very often, but I used too ride everywhere, 20 years ago, and living in the country, meant if I wanted to go somewhere, i would ride my bike. I now have a 3 year old and 2 month old boys, and would like to set a good example for them.

So I also will be pulling a trailer from time to time, probobly another good reason for the steel frame?

Not sure if $300 for Veloce vs Centaur group will make a difference. I am in the same weight range and really enjoy a long cage rear derailleur with a 9sp 13x28 cassette and 28/39/52 front chainrings. If it was me & assuming you are going with 10sp - I would spend the extra money to get the desired gearing like a 13x29 cassette & 28or30/40/50 front chainring setup.

Good luck.

Keep the veloce, use the 300 for a better saddle and maybe pedals, or a different wheel set.

Yes ... I have the Marinoni Ciclo ... and I'm VERY happy with it. :)

Yes ... I have the Marinoni Ciclo ... and I'm VERY happy with it. :)
Listen to Machka. She rides more miles per year than most people drive.