While actual bikes are still hard to come by, and media samples even harder, the new uber-bike Pinarello dogma F they does exist in the real world, and I found one right here in Vancouver at Veloholic Cycles – a shop specializing in high end European and custom road builds. Here’s a first look at this high-end dream machine.
See a short look at the Pinarello master painters finishing framesets in Treviso, Italy
I rode the previous version of the Dogma at the ‘23 Maratona dles Dolomiti, and can attest to the superior ride qualities of Pinarello’s flagship line of race bikes. It stands to reason that this one is even better, and based on the improvements Pinarello has made, there’s no reason to think anything less.
Consider the F model an evolution rather than a revolution… the Dogma line itself is the same age at PEZCycling – turning 22 this year. But with each year the bike has improved – much like their long standing sponsorship of the INEOS Grenadiers (nee Team Sky) and it’s much touted “marginal gains” – the refinements to the Dogma F may seem small, but add up to a top tier bike a lot of people will pay very dearly for the “privilege” to own. Priced at around $20,000Cdn dollars (US$15,000) for a full bike, it for sure appeals to a small group of buyers.
So while I haven’t yet had a chance to ride the actual, bike – I did get to see it up close and take a closer look at the refinements…
This Dogma F is finished in the Luxter Golf Red paint scheme – one of two Luxter versions offered – the other is blue.
The FRAME & Toray’s New MX40 Carbon Fibre
Pinarello pays off it’s claim that the Dogma is the “original all-rounder” by not offering an aero- or climbing- specific version of the bike – instead choosing to offer one frame shape and design to do it all.
The frame, one of the most eye-catching shapes in the peloton, is made with Toray Carbon’s latest M40X carbon fiber – which has the highest tensile strength of their high-modulus carbon fibres. This allows then to make frames that are lighter and stiffer than those made with Toray’s other famous T700, T900, and T1100 iterations of carbon. Pinarello designed their layups to make the frame measurably stiffer laterally – meaning more efficient power transfer from pedals and cranks to rear wheel drive.
The tube & frame shapes have been refined too. Pinarello’s research found that an increase in aerodynamic efficiency could be worth more than saving weight and the while they’ve shaved around 100+ grams from the frame weight (to come in at under a kilo for the frame itself), this new model also shows a reduction in the bike’s CdA by 0.2%. Their spec sheet claims the fully built bike weighs under 15lbs.
The completely redesigned down tube is now thinner, but retains its unique shape that cradles the bottle to least disrupt airflow and reduce drag.
Re-shaping of the downtube – bottom bracket section have resulted in a 1.2% aerodynamic improvement in this area.
Additional improvements to the frame shapes include reducing frontal drag with a narrower headtube – made thinner by 8mm by replacing the internal cable routing from the sides to the front.
Streamlining the seat stay shapes to reduce airflow disruption. Also of note is enough space for up to 30mm wide tires, but it looks like at least enough room to run 32’s if you want, which the INEOS crew were reported to be running at Paris-Roubaix.
Pinarello has looked everywhere to reduce drag – including integrating the right side fork dropout into the fork and drive-side through-axle mount in the back – seamless and smooth. The entire ONDA fork is slimmer as well, with rake now set at 47mm to improve handling.
The seatpost clamp is smaller and fully integrated in the seat tube, shaving a few more grams of weight, better sealing the area from contaminants, and just looking nice and clean.
The integrated cockpit is their latest version of the Talon Fast handlebar / stem design. To tops are wide and flat – curved to fit nicely to fit into my hands (I’ll bet yours too), and shaped to offer a secure and stable platform for steering and control. Shaping for lever mounts is refineed as well, allowing for some turn-in of the levers as we’re seeing around the pro-peloton these days.
PAINT IT !
If this list of refinements isn’t enough to impress your billionaire buddies on Saturday’s spin – maybe the paint finish will. I know it’s hard to tell in these photos, but this new Luxter paint finish really is something to see.
It appears translucent, and multi layered – so that depending on which way the light lands on the frame, the colors reflected back will be across wider spectrum than normal – giving the appearance of the color actually changing before your eyes. I wanted to know more about how they create a paint like this, but was told by Pinarello’s marketing head that it’s top secret. He did confirm that they mix all the colors themselves though.
The type of paint used for this is reported to be very expensive – I was told 1700 euro per kilo by a reputable source. Of course this adds a considerable amount to the cost of the bike, but then buyers in this realm likely aren’t too concerned with that. But I imagine getting that first scratch on the frame must be extremely painful…
The Pinarello Dogma F is offered as a a full build with SRAM, Shimano or Campagnolo groupsets, and as I mentioned – very expensive. Availability seems pretty rare right now – with a few models sprinkled around the country if you can find one. Timing to order one is also unknown, but hey – it’s nice to dream isn’t it?
Bike weight (size 53, no pedals, no bottles)
6.63kg – SRAM RED Etap AXS Princeton Peak 4550 wheels
6.77kg – Shimano Dura Ace Princeton Peak 4550 wheels
6.88kg – Campagnolo Wireless, Bora WTO 45 wheels
Pricing
• Complete bikes (with top end specifications) start at 14,500 EUR, 14,500 USD and 12,600 GBP
• Framesets (including fork and seat post) start at 6,700 EUR, 6,950 USD and 5,500 GBP
See the full presentation and request an order at the Pinarello website here.