Winston Churchill is often credited with coining the maxim: “To improve is to change, to be perfect is to change often”. It’s a philosophy many bicycle manufacturers have taken quite literally in their product cycles.
If you were to glance at the new 2025 Pinarello Dogma F, that change for improvement might not be plain to see. On the face of it, it is exactly what you expect from a Dogma; the signature frame and fork shape with its sweeping curves and asymmetrical rear end. But Pinarello promises that the updates it has made in this iteration are significant, even if they are (in the brand’s own words) “marginal”.
Rather than list every change to the newest Dogma F here, I’ll focus solely on the make-up and performance, but you can read in more depth about the exact changes to the bike in our launch story.
Naturally, a bike of this historic pedigree (and at this price point) comes with high expectations. It is, after all, made for racing at the highest level and was built with more input from riders at Ineos Grenadiers than ever before. I was fortunate enough to have some months riding the Dogma F following its early summer launch to see if it could justify a hefty investment from the more amateur riders among us.
Build and frame
Pinarello offers a selection of builds and colours in the new Dogma, but mine arrived in launch spec, with Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 groupset throughout and the distinctively-shaped Princeton Peak 4550 wheelset adorned with 28mm Continental GP5000s TR tyres. Although, it is hardly the wheels that initially turn heads. The “luxter blue” colourway is one of most eye-catching in the new range, and will certainly draw a lot of attention on group rides if that’s something you enjoy.
Pinarello continues to build its Shimano-equipped bikes with 50/34 chainsets and 11-30 cassettes. As I mentioned when testing the lower-tier Pinarello F7 last year, I think a bike positioned as a racer would benefit from a 52/36 front chainset as standard, especially given that 12-speed now allows you to easily switch out to an 11-34 cassette if you need an easier gear.
The handlebars are an updated version of Pinarello’s in-house Most Talon Fast bars. These have been reshaped and made narrower and lighter than the old versions, which I think is one of the major design improvements of this bike. My size 57.5 bike came with 44cm bars (outer to outer) and a 120mm stem, however, the new distinctly flared shape means that width is only felt at the edge of the drops. The tops came in closer to 40cm and the natural inward position of the levers meant the width on those was 38cm. More on how they affected the ride of the bike later, but it’s worth mentioning that you are now bound to use these bars for the latest Dogma F due to the proprietary oval steerer that has been installed to aid cable routing.
The head tube has been made slimmer to contribute to an extremely marginal 0.2% CdA improvement of the bike overall, though the more notable alterations to the frame design will be the beefed up “aero-keel” bottom bracket, which is also reportedly more aerodynamic.
The weight of this particular build came in at just over 7.6kg with pedals, computer mount, and bottle cages attached. That’s hardly one for the weight weenies, but it’s competitive amongst most of the disc brake superbike market at it stands.
The ride
Let’s start with the overwhelming positives of the Pinarello Dogma F. I’d confidently say this has the best handling of any bike I’ve ridden in recent memory. I had similar feelings about the previous model (albeit with much less riding time), but this iteration is absolutely outstanding in this aspect. On descents or firing it into fast corners, I definitely don’t recall ever being inspired with this much confidence from a bike. It just feels planted, secure, and like you’ve somehow just graduated to WorldTour level descender. It’s hard to know which aspect of the bike to put that down to – Pinarello has made a slight adjustment to the fork rake on the newest model – but whatever it is should be maintained into future iterations.
The Dogma F also seemed to excel on the flat. Given the numbers quoted in Pinarello’s literature are so marginal, I don’t think this is simply down to aero gains. But it’s the combined package of the frame and the excellent Princeton wheels that just makes it feel extremely fast, like every pedal stroke is really having the maximum effect it could have when you’re in a hard, sustained effort. The narrower cockpit also gave a greater sensation of speed here too. In fact, its only let-down in this respect was the 50-tooth chainring, where on fast ends to group rides a 52 would have felt much more efficient.
The frame is one of the stiffest I’ve ever ridden; there is very little give here in any area. I’m happy with that, and I didn’t feel any more road buzz or chattering because of it. However, if you’re moving from a lower-end bike to this in one go I think it will definitely take getting used to if you’re used to a bit more flex when out of the saddle or sprinting. Speaking of which, I think the Dogma F could be a sublime sprinter if not for the handlebars. While I liked the shape and feel of the cockpit, there is a level of flex in the drops which creates quite a strange contrast against the immensely stiff frame when sprinting. It’s far from a dealbreaker for me given my distinct lack of sprinting prowess, but I could imagine a WorldTour sprinter feeling more affected by this sensation.
Uphill, the Dogma F flies. But it’s in the same vein as its abilities on the flats. By that I mean it feels superb on a long climb in the saddle with consistent power through the pedals; it just rewards every sustained effort. It’s not exceptional in fast accelerations out of the saddle, but it's no slouch either. I think there’s certainly more responsive bikes out there if that’s super important to you for short, steep climbs, but you might have to sacrifice some of that straight line speed to get it. The Dogma F is attempting to be all things to all riders, but ultimately I think that means it will come up short in some areas compared to more specifically designed bikes.
Verdict
I’ve so far neglected to mention price, which, starting at £12,600/€14,500/$14,500, puts it right up there in the luxury bracket. It’s a hell of a lot of money, but it’s in the same ballpark as competitors.
What you get for that money is a bike that hasn’t cut any corners. It’s top tier throughout and it has clearly been thoughtfully designed and made worthy of carrying the Dogma F torch onwards.
(Photo by Alex Luise/Pinarello)
The Dogma F is an outstanding and exciting race-orientated bike that genuinely makes me more eager to go out riding, which is not the case for every bike that I’ve tested. I think the best-in-class handling has a lot to do with that, but truly this is an exceptional bike that will surpass the expectations of all but the very pickiest riders.
To improve is to change, but I hope Pinarello keeps many parts of this bike the same in the next version.
For more information visit the Pinarello website.
