Marin Toscana

The Marin Toscana is one of a growing breed of 'cross derived urban bikes. It isn't pretending to be an actual cyclocross machine and as such it's only really fair to mark it on how it performs on road and path duties, which it handles with a good deal of assurance. It's well built, reliable and versatile. What it isn't, at £999 though, is cheap, especially when compared to similar machines.

Built around a an extensively hydroformed Aluminium frame the Toscana has a fairly long chassis and feels roomy for the stated size. The frame is married to a Carbon fork that's a pretty heavy duty affair, with inset low rider bosses for touring. There's bosses at the back too but only one at each dropout and because the Toscana is running Avid BB5 disc brakes you may need to do some fettling to get your rack to fit. Transmission is taken care of by Shimano's Sora kit, wheels are Deore hubs and Mavic rims, with Maxxis Overdrive tyres that are more town/touring than trail. Overall weight at 11.55kg (25.4lb) is about what you'd expect from a big beast.

Head off into the lanes and it's easy to see why the Cyclocross platform inspires so many commuting and general purpose bikes these days. The Toscana feels comfortable and rangy, the shallow, long-bottomed drops offering an alternative hand position that's easy to reach and very comfortable. I've never been a big fan of Sora shifters with their huge sweep and fiddly release but shifting performance is fine across the 9-speed rear cassette and FSA Vero triple at the front. Head off onto unsurfaced trails and the bike is well behaved on towpaths and the like, only finding its limits on more technical terrain where the tyres don't perform and the bike feels a little leaden.

Through town the bike isn't as manoeuverable as a tighter, shorter urban machine but it's happy enough on the city streets and the big tyres can deal with plenty of road debris and kerb hopping. The disc wheelset isn't the lightest, dulling acceleration from the lights but you'll be glad of the excellent BB5 discs when it comes to stopping at the next red. Handling is predictable and loading up the bike with a child seat and a cargo trailer didn't fluster it, suggesting that touring is well within its capabilities.

So far so good, but at £999 the Toscana looks a bit overpriced. Okay the Kona Dew Drop only gets Shimano's 8-speed 2300 kit and a steel fork (albeit the legendary P2) but it's much the same kind of thing and even scores the better BB7 discs, for the best part of £400 less. If you do have a grand to spend you could spend it on a Genesis Croix de Fer, which is a genuine 'cross bike with a steel frame and full Tiagra groupset. There are other options out there too. A quick search on Google throws up plenty of discounted 2009 Toscanas and no doubt you'll soon be able to pick up the 2010 bike for a bit less than RRP too. At full whack though it's a little hard to recommend.

Verdict

A well-built, versatile commuter that'll turn its hand to touring and a bit of offroad too. Scores better for preformance than it does for value, where it looks overpriced compared to similar bikes.