INEOS Grenadiers riders Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Tom Pidcock have just had their new Pinarello Dogma XC bike revealed. It’s a full-suspension XC bike that will be tested between the tape at the opening round of the UCI Cross-country World Cup in Nové Město, Czech Republic, on 11th – 14th May.
Pinarello have a renewed focus on MTB, which should not be surprising given their signing of Ferrand-Prevot and the fact Pidcock was racing on a blacked out BMC Fourstroke for his Olympic win and World Cup campaign. Pinarello began developing the bike in autumn 2022 and did an intense period of testing with Ferrand-Prévot, Pidcock and the INEOS Grenadiers’ technical team. The result is the bike being presented has been designed for triumph from now to the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Ferrand-Prévot has already snared a victory on the bike’s debut in the recent French Cup and Pidcock claiming victory in last weekend’s Swiss Cup. Pinarello state that further testing will take place throughout 2023 with both riders continuing to be heavily involved in the development of the Dogma XC.
The Dogma XC will be available to buy in March 2024 and there is a second, hardtail frame also being developed to meet the demands of other World Cup circuits. Having the two options should suit Pinarello fans around the world.
Pinarello invest in mountain bikes
The new Dogma XC is far more than a stock frame design with a fancy paint job. Pinarello recruited a dedicated internal MTB R&D and kinematics team for the project. The development on the Dogma XC began with Pinarello analysing Pidcock’s feedback and data from his two previous years of mountain bike testing and racing.
This research revealed the requirements Pidcock felt were needed to produce a race bike that had the capability of competing at the highest level and being able to withstand the physical assault riders like he and Ferrand-Prevot would deal out when pedalling in anger.
- High stiffness in the rear triangle and bottom bracket
- Progressive kinematics to optimise travel and rebound
- The ability to match suspension travel to the unique demands of each circuit
- Light weight paired with exceptional handling capabilities to excel on technical descents
To achieve these goals Pinarello set to work with a few key design features.
Unique bottom bracket area
This design optimises the stiffness under pedalling load and allows for an oversized bearing for the main pivot – essential for frame stiffness and a direct response.
Flex stays
The Dogma XC’s geometry and integration of flex stays combine to enable travel in a more direct manner. There are weight savings as well with better stiffness.
Split rear triangle
This one is a bit unique. The rear triangle has two distinct semi-triangles fitted to a main pivot point using a unique design where two pins are moulded to the carbon frame (patent pending). It means each side of the swing arm is a seperate piece, there is no chainstay yoke.
By eliminating the yoke or bridge, Pinarello can have greatly reduced chainstays lengths, which would suit their small riders especially, while also adding greater clearance for mud and wider tyres. Interestingly, 2.35″ is still the maximum tyre size.
Kinematics
The rear suspension kinematics utilise the flex stays inherent characteristics to maximise energy transfer while pedalling, and to give the best compression and rebound on descents. It’s not the same as having a rear pivot so it needs to be designed around.
Pinarello used a mix of bearings and bushings at the pivots, depending on the friction demands. Bushings are used when there are low rotational forces, bearings where there are high rotational forces. The idea is a more efficient system.
The anti-rise and anti-squat values have been set to create a bike which excels on both the steepest climbs and most technical descents. Italians being Italian, no graphs have been supplied (nor a geometry chart).
Adjustable travel
It is not uncommon for modern XC bikes to have different travel options, typically based on altering the rear shock. Orbea, Factor and Norco are brands that do this, typically with a set eye-to-eye length, but different stroke lengths and tunes. But Pinarello have done something different, adding the ability to move the front shock mount forward, to suit a 190x45mm shock (90mm travel) or 210x55mm shock (100mm travel). This suggests very low shock leverage and likely quite low operating pressures as well. This is to be paired with a 100mm or 120mm fork respectively.
Cockpit
Pinarello have a fully integrated cockpit that saves weight and should offer increased steering precision compared with a two-piece alternative. The design incorporates fully integrated cable routing along with a specific headset bearing which features an internal stopper at 60° to prevent the handlebar from over-twisting.
This setup looks very neat, but our experience hasn’t been great with said integration, with ports in the top bearing cover allowing water into the frame, and bearings. It can also leave any outer or brake hose to rub a fork steerer.
Asymmetry
The rear triangle has a patented asymmetric design with the left-hand side being reinforced, allowing the bike to counterbalance the higher forces applied to it on the opposite side of the drivetrain. This results in balancing energy transfer, improved speed and traction.
Technical specifications
- Carbon fibre front and rear triangle, Ergal aluminium hardware
- Asymmetric frame
- Split rear triangle design (patent pending)
- Seatpost diameter: 30.9mm
- Seatpost compatible with seatpost dropper & internal cable routing
- Geometry developed for double travel setup:
– Front: 100mm – Rear 90mm (with 190x45mm rear shock)
– Front: 120mm – Rear 100mm (with 210 x 50mm rear shock) - Standard mount rear shock with 90° inverted fixing points
- Transmission 1×12 compatible, chainrings 32 T or 40 T
- Chain line: 55mm
- Maximum crankset arm length: 175mm
- Compatible with Stages power meters
- TiCr internal cable routing
- TiCr integrated headset with 60° internal stopper
- Boost Standard, 12mm diameter conical thru axle, compatible with UDH
- Standard flat mount 160mm, compatible with 180mm (adapter needed)
- Maximum tyre clearance: 29 x 2.35 inches
- Two bottle attachments
Our take on the Pinarello Dogma XC
This is a great looking bike. It would be easy to say it looks like other models on the market (like a Canyon Lux) but there are only so many places to put rear shocks to leave an open mainframe. It would be great to get a little more detail on the Dogma XC. What’s the geometry like? And why? Can we find out more about the electronic lock out for the Suntour suspension? What frame sizes are available?
It’s a beautiful bike and one clearly designed with a lot of thought – and hopefully we can learn more specifics through the year.