In late 2002, I started my hunt for a Randonneuring bicycle.

I searched all the websites I could find that had road bicycles which were not racing bicycles and not touring bicycles. I wanted something in between. I also had a whole list of requirements. I found approx. 50 decent-looking choices ... 50 different brands from different companies.

After looking over those choices, I decided that I would narrow the field by going with a custom-built bicycle, or possibly one that was a common name among Randonneurs. That narrowed my choices down to about a dozen.

Then I looked at price, since I am not made of money and already knew that I'd be forking over a fortune to participate in my cycling events.

Marinoni came out at the top of the list because I could get the exact bicycle I wanted (custom, as I mentioned before) within my price range. In fact, it was the least expensive of all the custom bicycles I looked at!!

I drooled over a few others but I'm not convinced they would have been worth the price. Take Seven for example. They made my list of a dozen because I could have gotten exactly what I wanted with them, but when I saw the price, I had to cross them off my list. They aren't called Seven for nothing!! I think the one bicycle I was looking at from them was something in the neighborhood of $7000!

My advice would be to have a look over several websites with comparable bicycles ... and make your own decision.

Meanwhile, I have to say, I am VERY happy with the choice I made. Machak has a custom frame, right down to the paint job, and I've continued to customize just about everything else on him too. He's definitely not an "off-the-rack" bicycle!! I've ridden him about 35,000 kms over the past three years here in Canada, where I live, and also in England, Wales, France, the US, and Australia on everything from little round-the-block rides to 1200K randonnees to a 3-month fully loaded tour ... and he has held up remarkably well through it all.