Pinarello has officially returned to cross-country mountain biking with the announcement of their anticipated Dogma XC.
It's been a long time since Pinarello last dabbled in cross-country MTB, but there is a renewed focus to develop a new XC race bike. Ineos Grenadiers' Tom Pidcock had a stand-out 2021 MTB season, winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics as well as some excellent performances on the XC World Cup circuit in 2021 and 2022.
At the time Pinarello, who are the bike sponsor for the Ineos Grenadiers, didn't have a cross-country mountain bike to race on, which resulted in Pidcock lining up aboard a blacked-out BMC Fourstroke.
With Pidcock's intentions to continue World Cup cross-country racing and defend his Olympic gold in 2024, as well as the Ineos Grenadiers signing multi-disciplinary racer and XC World Champ Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Pinarello needed to develop a new bike.
Pinarello's MTB R&D and kinematics team worked with Pidcock to develop the Dogma XC, a race bike capable of which the Italian brand says is capable of competing at the very highest level and being able to withstand the powerful riding styles. The bike is still in the process of development, however, it has already seen race success, with the unreleased bikes being ridden to victory by Pauline Ferrand-Prévot at the French Cup. The real test however will be at the Nové Město World Cup opener this weekend.
Fausto Pinarello said, “Seeing Tom and Pauline competing on the Dogma XC is going to be a landmark moment for everyone at Pinarello. We’ve worked tirelessly over the last months to build a bike that meets the demands of two of the very best cyclists on the planet, and we can’t wait to see how they ride it at Nové Město."
The new bike features a Carbon fiber front and rear triangle with Ergal (Al7075) aluminum hardware. In keeping with the rest of Pinarello's frames, the Dogma XC features an asymmetric design to offset pedaling and braking forces although the styling isn't quite as eye-catching as the brand's Dogma road bikes.
One interesting detail of the new Dogma XC is the small triangle structure by the bottom bracket. Pinarello claims that this setup stiffens up the bottom bracket and optimizes the lower pivot point to give better tire clearance and reduce mud build-up. The brand also states that the rear end has enough clearance to fit a 2.35in tire.
The suspension uses a flex-stay system which is becoming popular amongst cross-country mountain bike manufacturers as it saves weight and reduces maintenance. The suspension can be changed by switching out the shock and running in either a 100mm front / 90mm rear (with 190x45mm rear shock) or 120mm front / 100mm rear (with 210 x 50mm rear shock) depending on course demands
Geometry is in line with many other current progressive cross-country bikes. A 67.5-degree head angle and a 75.17 to 75.5-degree seat angle depending on the frame size. Reach is 455mm for a medium bike and balanced with a short 425mm rear end. Pinarello will offer S to XL frame sizes with size proportional handlebars and dropper sizes.
Finally, the new bike is dropper post compatible and uses SRAM's UDH so it can be run with the new SRAM T-Type Transmissions. the press release also specifically states two bottle attachments, although we can only see a single bottle position in all the provided images and race photos from last weekend.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot said, “I can’t wait to get out there and race the Dogma XC at Nové Město. To be working with Pinarello on developing the bike is super cool. It was exciting to receive and test the bike, my first impression is they’ve developed a remarkably fast bike. It has a good mix of lightness, responsiveness, and rigidity, and allows you to really put the power down. 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.”
If you want to buy one, you will need to be patient, Pinarello forecasts that the Dogma XC won't be available until March 2024. No pricing has been provided either but you can rest assured it's probably best you start saving now if you do want one. Pinarello has also confirmed there is also a hardtail frame being developed too.
Tech specs: Pinarello Dogma XC
With the bike still being a year away from being released we don't yet have the full specifications, but here are the details Pinarello have released so far...
- Carbon fiber front and rear triangle, Ergal aluminium hardware
- Asymmetric frame
- Split rear triangle design (patent pending)
- 30.9mm seatpost diameter
- Compatible with dropper seatpost 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-degree inverted fixing points
- 1x12 compatible drivetrain, chainrings 32 T or 40 T
- 55mm chain line
- 175mm maximum crankset arm length
- Compatible with Stages power meters
- TiCr internal cable routing
- TiCr integrated headset with 60-degree internal stopper
- Boost standard, 12mm diameter conical thru axle, compatible with UDH
- Standard flat mount 160mm, compatible with 180mm (adapter needed)
- Maximum tire clearance is 29 x 2.35 inches
- Two bottle attachments
