Pinarello is one of the most storied brands in cycling. It was founded in 1952 by former professional cyclist Giovanni Pinarello, who used his severance payment from his team after he came last in the 1951 Giro d’Italia to start his framebuilding business.
Things really took off for Pinarello when its bikes were ridden to five Tour de France victories in the 1990s by Miguel Indurain. Another seven Tour wins came from the brand’s long-term association with Team Sky/Ineos, making Pinarello’s total of 16 Tours de France the largest tally of any bike brand.
It’s produced a peloton’s worth of classic bikes along the way too, such as the Espada time-trial bike that’s still the top bike you can purchase on Zwift if you have enough Drops.
Pinarello’s current apex model is the Dogma F, ridden by the Netcompany Ineos pros and carrying a pro-level pricetag. There’s a range of more affordable F-series bikes below the Dogma F though, which share many of its design features, including Pinarello’s unique highly asymmetric frame shape.
Sitting alongside the Dogma F is the Dogma X. Designed for endurance riders, its unique feature is the X stays found on higher spec frames, which are designed to brace the seat stays while adding ride compliance. Again, Pinarello sells more affordable X-series alternatives.
Here, we’ll run through the range of Pinarello road bikes and their features and suggest how to choose the Pinarello that’s right for you.
Pinarello road bike range key features
F-series bikes
- Dogma F and F7, F3 and F1 models sold in UK
- Racing geometry
- Keel ahead of bottom bracket to improve aerodynamics
- 32mm tyre clearance
X-series bikes
- Dogma X and X7, X5, X3 and X1 models sold in UK
- Endurance geometry
- X-Stays on higher spec framesets for added rear compliance
- 35mm tyre clearance
Pinarello road bike range: Framesets
Pinarello’s bikes are instantly recognisable by their curvy profiles, with a design language carried through right from the Dogma F8, launched in 2014, and distinguished too by the frame’s asymmetry. The frame is offset slightly to the right, seatstay shapes are different and the driveside chainstay is overbuilt relative to the left chainstay. This, Pinarello says, helps to compensate for the differential forces acting on the frame due to the drivetrain on its right side, leading to improved power transfer and lower overall frame weight.
It’s a feature that Pinarello carries through its entire range, not just its road bikes.
Another feature of all Pinarello’s frames is the use of the Italian bottom bracket standard. As with the more typical BSA bottom bracket, this is threaded. Its dimensions are subtly different from a BSA bottom bracket though and the left-side bearing is right threaded, while in BSA it is reverse threaded.
Dogma F
For its Dogma F, Pinarello uses a mix of carbon fibre that includes the latest high-strength M40X, which it says has allowed it to reach high levels of lateral stiffness. That in turn has allowed it to reduce the breadth of key frame members including the down tube, reducing frontal area and thus improving aerodynamics. The down tube expands lower down, shielding the bottles and cages from the air.
The narrow head tube has a ‘nose’ which protrudes forward to improve airflow and there’s a keel shape to the bottom bracket area ahead of the bearing, which Pinarello claims improves its aerodynamics.
Other aero features include thru-axle right ends that are enclosed under the carbon fibre of the fork and frame to reduce turbulence, while Pinarello has narrowed the fork legs for better aerodynamics and increased the fork rake for improved high speed stability.
Pinarello’s tyre clearance has gradually increased, with the current generation Dogma F offering 32mm.
F-Series bikes
While the F-series bikes retain the looks of the Dogma F and inherit many of its features, such as the aero keel and the fork geometry, there are differences in the framesets between bikes.
The main difference is in the carbon grades used, with the F7 made of T900, the F5 made of T700 and F1 made of T600 carbon fibre. Using these lower grades of fibre decreases the price of the frame, but requires more material, hence increasing the frame weight.
As with the Dogma F, the F-Series bikes also have clearance for 32mm tyres.
Dogma X
The Dogma X uses T1100 1K fibre, which helps Pinarello engineer compliance into the frame, without compromising pedalling efficiency. The seatstays include a set of X-shaped cross-braces that lend the bike its name. Pinarello says that this feature has allowed it to engineer compliance into the frame while maintaining its low weight, lateral stiffness and pedalling efficiency.
X-Series bikes
As with the F-series, there’s a cascade of carbon grades in the X-series bikes. The X7 is made of T900, the X5 and X3 of T700 and the X1 of T600 carbon fibre. The X3 and X1 also forgo the seatstay cross-braces of the higher spec frames.
Pinarello road bike range: Geometry
| Dogma F | Dogma X | |
|---|---|---|
| Frame size | 525 | 525 |
| Seat tube length | 560 | 560 |
| Seat tube angle | 73.0° | 73.0° |
| Head tube length | 154.5 | 165 |
| Head tube angle | 73.2° | 72.5° |
| Effective top tube length | 565 | 565 |
| Bottom bracket drop | 72 | 77 |
| Chainstay length | 409 | 422 |
| Frame reach | 390.8 | 384.6 |
| Frame stack | 570.1 | 588.4 |
| Wheelbase | Not provided | 1003.9 |
All dimensions in mm, except frame angles in degrees
Pinarello offers an unusually wide range of frame sizes, with both the Dogma F and Dogma X sold in 11 sizes. That drops to nine sizes for the F-series and X-series frames, although that’s still more than offered by most brands.
Pinarello follows its own size naming convention, with frame sizes designated by effective seat tube length.
As you’d expect, the race-oriented Dogma F has a longer reach and lower stack than the endurance Dogma X. Its chainstays are shorter and its headset steeper too, which should result in a shorter wheelbase, although Pinarello doesn’t provide figures, and hence faster handling. A 5mm smaller figure for bottom bracket drop should also increase reactivity.
There are small differences in geometry down the ranges, with the most significant being a shorter reach on X-series bikes than on the Dogma X, although the stack remains the same as the Dogma X.
Pinarello road bike range: Components
Pinarello fits parts from its Most component brand to its bikes. In Dogma bikes that extends to the one-piece bar/stem, seatpost, saddle and bottle cages, while further down the range Most also supplies wheels.
The latest generation of Most’s integrated cockpit, fitted to the Dogma F, is the Ultra Fast. This has a slight flare and is fashionably narrow, offering aero benefits. 17 different length/width combinations offer plenty of fit options and we were impressed by the ergonomics.
The Dogma X has the Most Ultra Light cockpit that was used on previous generations of the Dogma F. It’s very slighly flared, but still offers 16 length/widths.
Further down both bike ranges, Pinarello fits Most Jaguar alloy bars and separate Most Tiger alloy stems, which still allow it to route cables fully internally into the head tube using its TiCR design.
Dogma specs for the F and X are fitted with premium groupsets and wheels to match, the latter from Princeton CarbonWorks or Zipp. While most non-Dogma specs offer electronic shifting, Pinarello fits a mechanical Shimano 105 groupset to the F1 and X1.
All Pinarello’s bikes are now disc brake only.
Pinarello road bike ranges compared
Next we’ll run through the range of Pinarello road bikes available in the UK. In addition to the standard run bikes, Pinarello offers a number of limited editions, principally of its Dogma F, which have enhanced specs or different colourways.
Pinarello also sells the higher spec F9 and X9 in some territories other than the UK, which both come equipped with Shimano Dura-Ace or SRAM Red AXS and Most Ultrafast 40 carbon wheels.
Pinarello Dogma F
- Frameset: Torayca M40X
- Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace/SRAM Red AXS
- Wheels: Princeton Peak 455 DB carbon
- Cockpit: Most Talon Ultra Fast
- Weight: 6.7kg (as weighed)
- Price: £13,000
Pinarello F7
- Frameset: Torayca T900 UD
- Groupset: Shimano Ultegra
- Wheels: Most Ultrafast 40 carbon
- Cockpit: Most Talon Ultra Light
- Claimed weight: 7.8kg
- Price: £6,500
Pinarello F5
- Frameset: Torayca T700 UD
- Groupset: Shimano 105 Di2
- Wheels: Fulcrum Racing 800 DB alloy
- Cockpit: Most Jaguar XA Aero TiCR on Most stem
- Claimed weight: 8.25kg
- Price: £5,000
Pinarello F1
- Frameset: Torayca T600 UD
- Groupset: Shimano 105 mechanical
- Wheels: Shimano RS-171 alloy
- Cockpit: Most Jaguar XA Aero TiCR on Most stem
- Claimed weight: Not specified
- Price: £3,000
Pinarello Dogma X
- Frameset: Torayca T1100 1K Dream Carbon
- Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace/SRAM Red AXS
- Wheels: Princeton Grit 4540 DB / DT Swiss ERC 1400 carbon
- Cockpit: Most Talon Ultra Light
- Weight: 7.3kg (as weighed)
- Price: £13,300
Pinarello X7
- Frameset: Torayca T900 UD
- Groupset: Shimano Ultegra
- Wheels: Most Ultrafast 40 carbon
- Cockpit: Most Talon Ultra Light
- Claimed weight: Not specified
- Price: £6,500
Pinarello X5
- Frameset: Torayca T700 UD
- Groupset: Shimano 105 Di2
- Wheels: Fulcrum Racing 800 DB alloy
- Cockpit: Most Jaguar XA TiCR on Most Tiger Aero Alu stem
- Claimed weight: Not specified
- Price: £5,000
Pinarello X3
- Frameset: Torayca T700 UD
- Groupset: Shimano 105 Di2
- Wheels: DT Swiss A1800 30 DB alloy
- Cockpit: Most Jaguar XA Aero TiCR bars on Most Tiger Aero Alu stem
- Claimed weight: Not specified
- Price: £4,000
Pinarello X1
- Frameset: Torayca T600 UD
- Groupset: Shimano 105 mechanical
- Wheels: Shimano RS-171 alloy
- Cockpit: Most Jaguar XA Aero TiCR bars on Most Tiger Aero Alu stem
- Claimed weight: Not specified
- Price: £3,000
Pinarello road bike range: Which should you choose?
Well, we guess the first question is how much you want to spend. The Dogma F and X are both right at the top end of road bike pricing and come with weights and specs to match.
Lower spec bikes are still not cheap, but less eye-wateringly expensive. The F1 and X1 base models retail in the UK for around £3,000. Other brands offer electronic shifting and/or carbon wheels at a similar price though, whereas Pinarello is fitting mechanical Shimano 105 and basic Shimano RS alloy wheels.
Further up the ranges, Pinarello offers specs more worthy of its framesets, with electronic shifting and carbon wheels.
Next, consider whether you want an F-series bike with race geometry and stiffness or an X-series bike with a more relaxed endurance geometry and more forgiving ride.
Commenting on the Dogma F in his review for Cyclist, tech editor Sam Challis noted the firm ride and aggressive geometry, although he concluded: ‘It’s a particularly refined example of its category, which is perhaps representative of Pinarello’s decision to continue to forge ahead with one do-it-all bike when other brands were splitting their race bike categories up.’
Of the Dogma X, reviewer Charlotte Head commented on just how fast it felt. The rear of the bike is admirably compliant, but without bobbing, although she did feel some flex at the bottom bracket under hard efforts. The rear end comfort isn’t matched at the front though, which inherits much of its design from the Dogma F and feels firm.
Charlotte also noted the absence of mudguard mounts or in-frame storage, features increasingly found on newer endurance bikes.
Ultimately though, the Dogma X and X-series bikes are probably a better choice for UK riders who aren’t competing, with the extra tyre width and added compliance, along with the more relaxed geometry, providing a more comfortable experience on UK roads.
The Dogma F’s halo bike status and its distinctive shape still make it a prestige purchase that will reward the performance rider, however, making it among the best all-road road race bikes.