If you’ve paid attention to professional gravel racing in recent years, you’re probably aware that pro riders have taken to running drop handlebars on XC mountain bikes.
Now, Pinarello has fully embraced the trend, launching its new Grevil MX gravel bike at the Velofollies trade show in Belgium.
While this is an addition to the brand’s Grevil gravel range, Pinarello has gone one step further than combining gravel and cross-country tech. It says it has drawn from its road portfolio for this ‘monster’ gravel bike.
“The Grevil MX combines the aerodynamic efficiency of a road bike with the stability and control of an MTB, enabling it to excel on steep climbs, rugged trails, technical descents and long endurance routes without compromising responsiveness or stiffness on hardpack ground,” Pinarello says in its press release for the new bike.
The bike’s geometry takes the 67.75˚ head angle and 101mm trail of the Pinarello Dogma XC, but adds the Most Talon Ultra Light cockpit found on Pinarello’s top road bikes. This handlebar setup provides a “lower, more compact and faster position” than running a flat mountain bike bar.
The frame uses Toray’s 'best-in-class' carbon fibre and has a threaded bottom bracket. The BB area features the double-triangle design found on the Pinarello Dogma XC for added stiffness.
The rear triangle uses Pinarello’s asymmetrical design. The left-hand side is reinforced to counterbalance the forces produced on the driveside of the bike.
“This architecture creates more balanced energy transfer and improved traction and acceleration on loose or variable surfaces,” Pinarello says.
“The chainstays and seatstays have both been specifically shaped and reinforced to withstand the high torsional forces typical of aggressive gravel riding, steep off-road climbs and explosive accelerations.”
The bike can fit 50mm tyres for traction and comfort, and comfort is further aided by the 10mm suspension fork.
Elsewhere, the bike has a SRAM XX SL Eagle drivetrain with a 38-tooth aero chainring and a 10/52 cassette. Pinarello says these gear ratios provide better climbing ability than the gears you typically find on gravel bikes, while also improving on descents compared to mountain bikes.
A Pinarello spokesperson at Velofollies told BikeRadar that the Grevil MX can fit a rigid fork and that it has only made 50 of the bikes worldwide. Yet, future developments of the Grevil MX are already in the works.
