The Italian manufacturer has become a staple at the luxury-end and elite performance sector of the market, and its successful long-standing partnership with Team Sky/Ineos has seen its Dogma series of bikes become one of the best selling top-end road bikes.
In its latest releases – the race focused F and the endurance X line – Pinarello is taking aim at another segment of the bike buying market. Make no mistake, these are still premium, expensive bikes, but with them Pinarello hopes to attract riders it might previously have failed to with its respective Prince and Paris ranges that backed up the Dogma.
Like those two ranges, the new F and X ranges take learnings from Pinarello’s prized piece, the Dogma F, and are designed to provide the quintessential Pinarello-feel that has won so many Grand Tours for a chunk less money than a Dogma would cost.
F series overview
The new F series is the most Dogma-esque of the new bikes. It’s still a bike aimed at those who want competition (or at least to feel like you’re competitive) and is “created to offer extremely high performance in a package that’s accessible to a wide range of cyclists”.
The new Pinarello F9 (Photo: Pinarello)
That’s why the F series – split into three new bikes the F9, F7, and F5 – is designed as “all-round” performance bikes, Pinarello says, with as much focus on aerodynamics and handling as there is on weight and uphill speed.
All three of the new F bikes feature Pinarello’s “competition” geometry, again based on that of the Dogma, and each one has the option of nine sizes and a selection of bar/stem that Pinarello hopes will mean an almost perfect fit for every rider who wants one.
F series specifications
The top of the pile in the F series is the F9. It’s built out of a Toray T900 carbon frame, as is the F7 (cover image), which Pinarello claims is ideal for “reactivity, low weight, and vibration absorption”. It has a claimed weight of 950g in a size 53 with a raw finish.
Photo: Alessandra Bucci
The key difference between the F9 and the F7, aside from the price, is the spec. The F9 features top-of-the-line groupsets, either SRAM Red AXS or Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200, while the F7 is equipped with SRAM Force AXS and Shimano Ultegra Di2 R8170. Aside from that, and a different Most (Pinarello’s component company) saddle, the F9 and F7 are the same.
For UK readers, the F9 is unavailable, perhaps straddling too close to the Dogma F to be worthwhile releasing here.
Photo: Alessandra Bucci
The F5 is the last in the range, featuring a T700 carbon frame instead, which has “greater capacity to absorb road vibration”, Pinarello said. That has 40g more weight than the frames of its sister bikes, weighing a claimed 990g in a size 53.
Aside from the frame, the significant difference here again is the groupset, equipped with Shimano’s latest electronic 12-speed 105 groupset. Other savings compared to the F9 and F7 include a lower grade seat post and a two-piece bar and stem rather than the integrated Most cockpit on the top two bikes.
Photo: Alessandra Bucci
All bikes in the F range feature the Most Ultrafast 40mm deep carbon wheels, shod with Pirelli P7 Sport 25mm tyres. In the UK, you can also opt to buy a slightly cheaper version of the F7 equipped with Fulcrum Racing 500 wheels and the F5 will feature Fulcrum Racing 800 wheels.
Elsewhere the frames all contain the same design features. There’s clearance for 30mm tyres front and rear, while there’s full cable integration so each bike has a completely clean look.
Photo: Alessandra Bucci
Pinarello says it has included some neat Dogma-like aerodynamic features in the frame, including an aero head tube, tapered seat tube, and a recessed down tube to cover the bottle cage.
Unlike the Dogma F, the new F series has a (possibly user friendlier) seat clamp located in the top tube, rather than the two bolts in the rear of the seat tube. Pinarello says that not only is this lighter, but it’s proven to be more aerodynamic as it has allowed the seat tube to be narrowed.
Photo: Alessandra Bucci
Removing the Di2 battery from the seat post has also allowed that narrowing. The battery for Shimano equipped bikes is now hidden in the bottom bracket, accessed underneath the bike. The bottom bracket itself is Italian threaded on all the frames.
The rear of the frame features an asymmetric design, intended to improve handling and ride feel. Both the seatstays and chainstays are designed like this to compensate for the torsional force on the drive side and the disc brake on the left side, claims Pinarello.
Pricing
Pinarello F9 Dura-Ace Di2 - not available in the UK / €11,900
Pinarello F7 Ultegra Di2 (Most wheels) - £7,000 / €8,850
Pinarello F7 Ultegra Di2 (Fulcrum wheels) - £6,500
Pinarello F5 105 Di2 (Fulcrum wheels) - £5,250 / €6,150
Pinarello X series
Photo courtesy of Pinarello
While the F series might be targeted at those of us with a head full of racing dreams, the X series is designed for “pure pleasure”. Pinarello says its new endurance range, made for “fun rides and all-day comfort”, still packs in some new technical developments.
Made up of the X3 and the X1, the X frame features a more upright geometry than the racy F series, with a higher stack and shorter reach. It also boasts a wealth of sizes, with nine options to choose from along with customisable bar/stem sizes.
The frame is made up of Toray T600 carbon, which Pinarello claims has been specifically picked for comfort, while it has also “significantly reduced vertical stiffness” compared to the F models.
The desire for comfort stretches to the rear of the frame too, where curved seat stays are designed to try and dampen road vibrations and provide “more long-distance comfort”.
Pinarello has clearly tried to equip the X bikes with some versatility too, allowing clearance for 32mm tyres to be fitted; enough for some light gravel paths and cobblestone roads.
The X frame features similar aerodynamic shaping to the F frame, and like that frame also features the new seat clamp and integrated cabling.
Both the X3 and the X1 feature the same frame, but are different by their spec. Pinarello offers only three variations. The X3 is fitted with either SRAM Rival AXS or Shimano 105 Di2, with both bikes equipped with Fulcrum Racing 800 wheels.
The X1 makes savings on the groupset, fitted with mechanical Shimano 105, as well as the wheels, which are Shimano WH RS-171. All the bikes in the X range come with Pirelli P7 Sport tyres.
Pricing:
Pinarello X1 Shimano 105 Di2 - £4,500 / €3,680
Pinarello X1 - TBC
Cover image by Alessandra Bucci
