Pinarello has revealed its new Dogma XC mountain bike, currently still in its development phase with the Ineos Grenadiers team.
Alongside the MTB XC Olympic gold medallist Tom Pidcock, Ineos acquired quadruple 2022 World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot at the end of last year. Both have been spotted racing as Ineos riders on unbranded BMC cross country mountain bikes in the past so it’s unsurprising that Pinarello, as the team’s bike supplier, was keen to get the pair on sponsor-correct equipment as soon as possible.
The new Dogma XC is the bike the both riders have been using incognito for the last few weeks, having made several appearances at the likes of the French and Swiss Cup, where Ferrand-Prévot and Pidcock took wins respectively.
Roberto Bragotto
Although it won’t be available commercially until March 2024, aimed for general sale ahead of the Paris Olympics, Pinarello has chosen to launch it officially now, considering will make its UCI World Cup debut at Nové Město this weekend.
The focus is, understandably, on race performance and centres around the bike’s adjustable travel, special ‘flex’ stays and suspension kinematics.
Belying the brand’s road-leaning roots, Pinarello says the Dogma XC also features full cable integration and enhanced BB stiffness too.
As it’s a bike-in-progress so to speak, there are no prices or weights available as of yet, so keep an eye out for updates in these areas closer to the time of release.
Adjustable everything
Pinarello
Mountain biking terrain varies greatly from circuit to circuit, so modern pros need bikes that are similarly versatile. It is typical for riders to switch between full-suspension and hardtail setups as a result, a fact that Pinarello notes and says a ‘front suspension’ only Dogma XC frame is currently being developed to fulfil these needs too.
On the full-sus Dogma XC, adjustability is said to be one of the highest priorities. The bike features two mounts on the underside of the top tube to allow for different sized rear shocks, thus different amounts of rear travel.
Pinarello
Pinarello says the geometry was designed specifically to accommodate either travel setup, with either 100mm and 90mm for the front and rear respectively, with a 190×45mm shock, or 120mm and 100mm, with a 210×50mm shock.
The Dogma XC’s rear suspension uses a flex-stay design with just three pivots that Pinarello says creates a better bike-to-rider connection than the alternatives while providing the desired amount of travel.
Race bikes are stiff bikes
Pinarello
The Dogma XC features a new and pretty wacky looking bottom bracket junction, which allows for an oversized bearing and, according to Pinarello, increased stiffness and improved energy transfer.
The left side of the rear triangle has been reinforced in a bid to counterbalance the force put down through the drivetrain, and as such the bike hinges around an asymmetric frame just like Pinarello’s road designs.
The rear triangle has more to stories to tell however, as it is constructed from two separate semi-triangles instead of more traditional complete shapes. The sides are connected to the frame via two pins moulded directly into the carbon, which Pinarello says removes the need for a standard bridge.
This should provide several benefits, namely allowing for shorter chainstays, while Pinarello says it eliminates mud accumulation areas and allows for wider tyres to be fitted – the maximum tyre clearance is stated as 29 x 2.35”.
The finer details
Pinarello
As its first new MTB since 2012, it’s nice to see that Pinarello has brought many modern flourishes to the Dogma XC. The bike has a fully integrated cockpit that, while almost the norm in pro-level road bikes, isn’t hugely common on mountain bikes. The headset itself uses a proprietary bearing which supposedly caps out at a 60° angle to prevent over-turning the bars.
The Dogma XC builds Pidcock and Ferrand-Prévot are using also look to be test beds for some as-yet-unreleased wheels from Princeton Carbon Works, because the brand doesn’t currently sell any MTB-specific products.
Roberto Bragotto
The core of the build used on the Dogma XC seems to consist of a Shimano XTR mechanical set up, though Pinarello says the bike is compatible with electronic groupsets. The bike is also using the Shimano’s top-tier road flat-mount brakes. Vertical’s Helium dropper post sits alongside Pinarello’s in-house Most finishing kit, with a Suntour Axon suspension fork and Continental Race King Pro Ltd 29×2.22in tyres bringing it all together.
While the Pinarello Dogma XC looks relatively complete, we imagine there will be ongoing changes to it as the season progresses, with the full bike expected to be available to the public in March 2024.
Tags: GravelIneos GrenadiersTom Pidcock
