Price: $8,843

Weight: 1,255g (frame)

Components: Campagnolo Record

Frame & Fork: Starship aluminum & carbon fibre

Geometry: Custom

Sizes: 45cm – 58cm (tested 54cm)

Comments: “Ca-ching!”

www.marinoni.qc.ca

Canadian Pride: All Marinoni bicycles are completely made in Canada except
for the Rubato model, which is assembled in Canada.

Is it just me or does anyone else out there torture himself or herself each
March by looking at the most expensive offering in Pedal’s Annual Buyer’s
Guide, scanning through the pages to the back of the mountain-bike or road
section and fantasizing about lotto winnings and bike-buying sprees? Last
year’s top price tag in the road arena was sported by Colnago’s C40 Record
at $8,760, but in 2002, the high-end price tag award goes to Marinoni’s
Omega Extra, at a bank-busting $8,843. I’ll take two! Actually, I only took
one, but as I very quickly learned, once you’re on the Omega, you don’t
think much about owning another bike.

I know not everyone will be running out to snap up an Omega Extra. Most
people shy away at the thought of paying more than a few thousand for a
road bike, but isn’t it nice to have goals and to dream-Marinoni does.
Marinoni dared to dream about perfection, and the Omega Extra symbolizes
that quest. So what do you get for a whopping $8,843? You get
top-of-the-line exotic tube material from one of the industry’s best-known
tube manufacturers, Columbus. You get a top-of-the-line Record group from
one of the most respected parts manufacturers in the industry, Campagnolo.
And you get a masterpiece handcrafted by one of the top frame builders in
North America, Cycles Marinoni.

At the heart of the Omega Extra is a main triangle made up of Columbus
Starship 6000 series triple-butted aluminum. This
aluminum-silicium-magnesium alloy allows Columbus to create the
thinnest-walled tubesets to date without sacrificing strength. The result:
virtual weightlessness! Marinoni then takes these tubes and heat-treats
them in-house, a delicate process that is carefully monitored by computers.
Marinoni claims to be the only frame builder in North America heat-treating
Starship in-house, and while the result is an expensive frame, you also end
up with an amazing strength-to-weight ratio, a combination of stiffness and
comfort, and the ability to repair the frame if damaged. Starship tubing
also comes with a four-year warranty. Sandwiching the Starship main
triangle and adding even more stiffness to the Omega Extra is a Muscle
carbon-fibre chainstay and wishbone and Muscle carbon fork.

The component package on the Omega Extra is not compromised in the least. A
full Campagnolo Record group adds precision and reliability to both the
cockpit and drivetrain of the Omega, and a set of Campy Hyperon Wheels,
wrapped in a set of Verdestein Fortezza Tri-comp tires, adds confidence and
responsiveness. Top all of that off with an incredibly eye-catching Vert
Shogun Green main frame with carbon fork and rear triangle and you have
your recipe for $8,843.
The most immediate feeling you sense from the Omega Extra is speed. Even
stationary, the Omega Extra oozes an almost tangible aura of
lightning-quick responsiveness. The next sensation is that of lightness.
Maybe it’s the carbon front and rear or the candy-green paint that seems to
virtually float above the frame, but the result is a very light-looking
bike.

As you would expect with this kind of “armamentarium,” the Omega Extra is
responsive, especially on climbs. The Omega practically ignores grades,
floating up climbs as if they were nothing more than optical illusions. You
feel the bike’s power drive into the road on every pedal stroke. It takes
corners in its teeth and tears them up like yesterday’s breakfast. It
sprints like its life depends on it, and for a featherweight bike, it
descends with confidence and control.
Comfort is never an issue with the Omega Extra either, whether on a short
fast jaunt or an LSD. In fact, you could hardly convince me to get off
this bike. I would have ridden it into the shower post-ride if I didn’t
fear eviction from my landlord.
No, there is not much I can say about the Omega Extra that isn’t full of
praise and awe. Of course, some might question the lightness of the frame
material, its long-term durability, and its handling characteristics where
heavier riders are concerned, but for the majority of riders out there,
this is a bike we would all love to ride. The only negative I could come
up with can be described in one words-Ca-ching!