Pinarello is making its return to mountain biking in an appropriately dramatic fashion this week. After teasing a prototype dual suspension bike for the last couple of weeks at European races, the Italian brand is making it official. The Pinarello Dogma XC will return to World Cup racing in Nove Mesto under Ineos’ stars Tom Pidcock and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.
Pinarello Dogma XC returns
It has been a while since Pinarello made a serious effort to produce a cross country mountain bike that was competitive on the World Cup circuit. That changes with the Dogma XC. To create a race bike worthy of its stars, Pinarello hired a new design team and worked with Pidcock, Ineos team members and, when she joined the team at the end of 2022, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to produce the new bike.
“I’m really looking forward to trying this new Pinarello Dogma XC out at Nové Město,” Pidcock says. “I got my first look at it back in March and my initial impressions were positive. It handles brilliantly, is super-responsive, and ultimately is fast. It’s a bike that’s still in development, and it’s going to be fun working with Pinarello to make it even better. I’ve never really been involved in the development process of a bike before, feeding my thoughts and suggestions back in, but it’s something I’m definitely enjoying and Pinarello’s engineers are committed to producing bikes that help us win races.”
“To be working with Pinarello on developing the bike is super cool. It has a good mix of lightness, responsiveness and rigidity, and allows you to really put the power down,” Ferrand-Prévot adds. “Pinarello’s engineers are constantly asking us for feedback and it’s fun being part of the bike’s progression. I’m looking forward to going on a journey with this bike and it’ll be great to finally get the chance to ride it at the highest level of competition.”
Flex-stays, but different
The result is a cross country race bike that is a distinctly Pinarello twist on the familiar flex-stay dual suspension platform.
There are a few features beyond the stunning custom paint schemes that make these bikes stand out. Pinarello uses a distinctive bottom bracket area, oversize bearings and an asymmetrical frame design to make the Dogma XC’s rear end as stiff as possible. This lets Pidcock and Ferrand-Prévot get the instant power transfer they want for cross country racing and keeps the lightweight carbon fibre frame tracking true through…
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