Pinarello Dogma X first ride review

Pinarello has revamped its endurance bike line-up with the unveiling of the Dogma X and X-Series.

The bikes feature a unique seatstay arrangement, claimed to improve compliance, with two sets of tubes that meet the seat tube in a triangle shape. The stays then have an X-shaped insert sandwiched between them.

Pinarello says this is to boost stiffness, explaining the seatstays would otherwise be too flexible.

Outside of those radical seatstays, there’s clearance for 35mm-wide road bike tyres (on 700c rims) and the bikes use a more endurance-focused geometry, which Pinarello says enables you to ride longer distances in comfort.

For full details of the new Dogma X and X-Series range, be sure to check out our news story on the launch.

My early impressions, based on a single 55km ride, are that there’s a lot to like and the X-Stays noticeably take the sting out of poor surfaces. However, I’m not so sure this is matched by the front end.

Pinarello Dogma X first impressions

Although the Dogma X appears very much like a Pinarello with its trademark asymmetric tubes, take a closer look and you’ll notice some differences from the Dogma F.

The top tube kinks at its mid-point, the bottom-bracket junction is less girthy in profile and the seatstays are totally different.

It’s an arresting frame, and the X-Stays look smart, especially the X-shaped inserts between the seatstays, which punctuate the bike’s personality. One thing’s for sure, it’ll certainly start conversations on group rides.

The Dogma X is said to have a 60g weight penalty over the Dogma F, weighing a claimed 950g in a nominal size 53cm (Pinarello’s sizing isn’t standard), unpainted and without hardware.

Like the Dogma F, it's constructed from Toray’s top-tier T1000 1K carbon fibre.

The front end is integrated, with the Dogma X inheriting the MOST Talon Ultra one-piece bar-stem found on the Dogma F.

The Dogma X’s geometry is more relaxed than the Dogma F, with a taller stack and longer reach. However, look closely at the numbers and you’ll see it’s still pretty race-oriented.

By comparison, the X-Series bikes use what Pinarello calls its Endurance geometry, which is further relaxed compared to the Dogma X.

Pinarello Dogma X build

At £13,300/$15,500/€16,100, the Dogma X Dura-Ace Di2 I test-rode is a pricey proposition.

As the name suggests, it comes resplendent with 12-speed Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200. The top-tier electronic groupset sees Pinarello spec 50/34t chainrings paired with an 11-30t cassette.

The rest of the spec is mostly courtesy of MOST, Pinarello’s in-house component brand, with a Princeton CarbonWorks Grit 4540 wheelset shod with 32mm Continental Grand Prix GP5000 S TR tyres rounding out the build.

My size-56cm test bike weighed 7.57kg, including two bottle cages and an integrated Garmin mount, but without pedals.

Pinarello Dogma X first ride impressions

To get a flavour of the new Dogma X, I was invited to the media camp near Pinarello’s home in Treviso, Italy. This first ride review is based on a single 55km ride with a shade over 1,050m of elevation.

The route involved laps of a circa eight-mile course (props to Pinarello for choosing this over a single-loop course, as I became more familiar with the route over each lap). It incorporated a gradual climb with sweeping views of the distant Venetian Prealps, followed by a Strade Bianche-like gravel sector and a closing descent passing the striking Castello San Salvatore, one of the largest castles in northern Italy.

Considering the previous night’s thunderstorm, the roads were mostly in fine condition.

There were a couple of foibles with the bike’s fit, which I would want to address prior to further testing. The MOST Talon Ultra bar-stem fitted to the bike was of a 46cm-wide handlebar bar and 110mm stem length.

While the bar may sound wide, remember Pinarello measures its bars from the outside of each drop (which are flared by four degrees), so in reality, the width is 44cm.

It became almost instantly apparent the stem length was around 10mm too long for me and I felt a little stretched out. I also typically run a 40cm-wide bar and my arms felt splayed out on this.

Unfortunately, the gauge on the track pump Pinarello provided wasn’t functioning properly prior to riding, so I couldn’t accurately optimise my tyre pressures.

A working pump was made available at the end of the test ride, where I discovered the front tyre had been pumped to 50psi/3.4 BAR and the rear 60psi/4.1 BAR.

I would typically choose more evenly matched tyre pressures and this may have affected the ride experience as a result.

For reference, I am 5ft 11in (180cm) and hover around the 73kg mark. I would usually opt for pressures of around 55psi/3.8 BAR with 32c tyres.

Out on the road, the Dogma X felt distinctly like a Pinarello, with its efficient ride quality. While I don’t have experience of the Dogma F, I have ridden the Dogma F10 and personally own a Pinarello GAN K Disk, one of the brand’s previous endurance road bikes.

Although the Venetian roads were far from as sorry a state as British tarmac, the X-Stays noticeably damped vibrations when intentionally riding through small potholes and divots in the road.

You’ll still feel larger hits, as I did on the light gravel sector when I unintentionally hit a cavernous pothole, but it’s a design that seems, on first impressions, to work.

What was also apparent was how quiet the bike was, even on gravel. This is impressive considering the Shimano Di2 wires are routed between the battery mounted in the proprietary seatpost and derailleurs, and the hydraulic hoses are routed through the MOST Talon Ultra cockpit and frame.

The 32c Continental GP5000 S TR tyres undoubtedly play a large role in the ride quality.

Pinarello says it was initially hoping to make full use of the available clearance and spec 35mm Pirelli P Zero Race TLR tyres but has now reverted to this flagship Continental rubber. Although I’ve not ridden the latest iteration of the Pirelli tyres, I had mixed opinions of their predecessors, which I found impressively puncture-resistant and fast but not particularly supple.

The GP5000 S TRs offer bundles of speed, grip and suppleness, and are a more than welcome last-minute spec change.

While the X-Stays and wider tyres proved a delicious recipe out back, my initial impression is the compliance isn’t matched at the front.

Outside of the wider front tyre, there isn’t an X-Stay equivalent out front to balance the rear-end compliance.

While the MOST Talon Ultra cockpit signals the bike’s racing influence, I believe it’s likely far too stiff for riding long distances in comfort and is where I felt most vibrations transmit through.

While the drops felt ergonomic, I couldn’t find a comfortable place to wrap my hands around the flattened, aerodynamic tops.

The Princeton CarbonWorks Grit 4540s could also be a culprit for the less forgiving front end. This was my first time riding this wheelset and Princeton CarbonWorks claims they’re designed as all-road carbon wheels that blend light weight, stiffness and a snappy, fast, stable feel.

They have a varying rim depth of between 40 and 45mm with a wave-like profile, while sporting an average 21mm internal rim width. I’d be interested to swap in a familiar wheelset once we have the bike in for testing to better understand the Dogma X’s front end.

The front and rear ends seemingly being slightly at odds with one another led to an odd climbing experience, where the front end seemed to wander a little. Opinion in the group I was riding with seemed to be split over whether the bottom bracket was stiff enough, but it felt taut and efficient for my legs.

Descending in a straight line was more positive with the X-Stays isolating the rear, although it took me a while to get used to how the bike handled around corners. A straight section on the final descent was exposed to a light sidewind and I could get the bike to oscillate a little.

Outside of its riding characteristics, the bike is deservedly specced with top-drawer components for the tall asking price.

Other than the fact I was able to elicit some pad rub when swinging the bike from side-to-side on harder efforts and after heavy braking, Shimano’s Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 is an impressive electronic groupset. The shifts were lightning-quick, with class-leading front shifting.

If you prefer SRAM Red eTap AXS or Campagnolo Super Record Wireless, Pinarello is offering these groupsets on other builds, but sadly not in the UK – you’ll need to opt for a frame-only at £5,500/$6,950/€6,700 and buy a groupset separately.

Pinarello Dogma X initial verdict

My early impressions suggest Pinarello has mostly succeeded in its goal of creating a more race-oriented endurance bike.

Although many lust for the Dogma F piloted by the likes of Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal, the Dogma X is undoubtedly the more sensible option for the vast majority of riders (if you’re lucky enough to have £13,000 burning a hole in your pocket).

Although I came away from my first ride feeling decidedly mixed, the Dogma X is still a bike I’m really looking forward to spending more time on.

I enjoyed my experience riding the bike more and more with each lap of the test course, despite it feeling rather alien on the first circuit, with a ride quality that was different from what I was expecting based on the geometry chart.

If you prioritise comfort over long distances, the X-Series bikes concurrently announced with the Dogma X look very appealing. With a slightly less exotic carbon layup that’ll very likely better absorb vibrations with a minimal weight penalty, they may well prove to be the underdog best bet for most riders.

Still, there’s plenty of promise for the Dogma X. I can’t wait to see how it performs over a longer testing period on the cracked British tarmac.