Pinarello’s R&D manager explains the tech behind the Dogma X

The Pinarello Dogma F is a dream bike for many cyclists, with its distinctive profile, performance ride and WorldTour pedigree.

The Dogma F is a pure race bike though. It’s designed for the pros, while the new Dogma X is the first Pinarello Dogma designed around the needs of consumers, says Pinarello COO Maurizio Bellin.

“It retains the DNA and the high-end ride feel of Pinarello’s flagship Dogma road bikes, but provides a more comfortable ride for endurance cyclists looking to take on longer rides but still retain the freshness to ride that final hill after maybe five hours in the saddle. It’s also the bike for those who are newer to cycling but want the Dogma experience,” Bellin says.

Bellin and Pinarello’s R&D manager, Massimo Poloniato, explain more about the thinking behind the design of the Dogma X and how it delivers comfort while still providing Dogma-level performance.

Designed around wide tubeless tyres

When Pinarello started to design the Dogma X, it considered the bike’s geometry, materials and desired behaviour, Bellin continues.

It also considered what the industry can offer today, while Fausto Pinarello, the brand’s boss, was adamant that the new bike had to share the looks and handling characteristics for which the Dogma F is renowned.

Bellin explains Pinarello started not with the Dogma X frame alone, but by considering the whole system and what wide tubeless tyres could deliver in terms of ride, compliance and rolling resistance.

“For an endurance bike, a 35mm tubeless tyre can provide enough shock absorption, so the frame itself doesn’t need to include active compliance features, but the designer can rely on the frame materials and geometry to provide the vertical compliance and lateral stiffness required,” Bellin says.

He emphasises Pinarello’s huge experience and the enormous amount of data it brought to bear on the design of the Dogma X, helping to ensure the bike’s behaviour met its design objectives.

The Pinarello design team took a long, hard look at the bike’s geometry.

“We need it to be higher and longer, with a different fork rake and longer chainstays, to produce a balanced total system to work with the larger 35mm tubeless tyres,” says Bellin.

“The wider tyres require a longer chainstay and result in different handling, and the bike’s higher stack and shorter reach help compensate for this.”

Compliant rear triangle

The Dogma X is made from the same stiff, premium Toray T1100 carbon fibre as the Dogma F, Bellin explains, and Pinarello had to work on the design to ensure it retained the Dogma DNA and ride feel.

Pinarello’s initial studies when developing the brief for the Dogma X showed back pain is a common problem for many riders. The very thin, curved seatstays are an attempt to address this.

The Dogma X’s distinctive X-shaped seatstay braces are unique to the bike. They aren’t only a design flourish, but enable Pinarello to provide the necessary balance between vertical compliance and lateral stiffness.

“The X-shaped bridge was the cherry on the cake to provide the perfect balance in the bike's behaviour. The Dogma X has a different behaviour to the other X-Series bikes,” Bellin says.

“The other X bikes [the X9, X7, X5, X3 and X1] have a higher stack and shorter reach than the Dogma X and the behaviour of the carbon fibre is different.”

Subtle differences from the Dogma F

Although the design of the Dogma X’s seatstays is the frame’s most distinctive feature, and the design is focused on the back of the frame for added comfort and tyre clearance, there are subtle differences throughout the bike to provide an endurance-focused ride.

“The seat cluster is almost the same as the Dogma F,” explains Pinarello’s R&D manager, Massimo Poloniato. “We just changed the position of the clamp so that it’s ahead of the seatpost.”

Why? “It allows us to add more tyre clearance, especially for smaller sizes,” he says.

“Many endurance bikes are ridden on white gravel roads, so moving the clamp from behind the seatpost cluster helps keep it from getting dirty and adds protection,” Bellin adds.

And Fausto Pinarello wanted to keep a strong Dogma family feel for the new Dogma X.

“That’s why we kept the same Talon Ultra one-piece bar/stem, which is a must for a Dogma-level bike, and the same 1.5-inch upper and lower steerer bearings as in the Dogma F,” says Bellin.

“Although the fork design is the same aesthetically, we increased the rake of the fork and reduced the head tube angle so that they provide more vertical compliance and consistent handling with the Dogma X’s larger tyres. We also have a higher stack for more comfort,” Poloniato says.

“The front of the bike needs to work with the integrated carbon handlebar, which is pretty stiff, and provide the compliance for shoulder comfort for the rider over hours of riding,” says Bellin.

Asymmetry for a reason

Pinarello has been building asymmetry into its frames for years, Bellin explains, so this was also a fundamental design principle for the Dogma X. It helps to optimise the frame behaviour and handling under the differential loads between the driveside and non-driveside of the frame.

Pinarello also uses an Italian threaded bottom bracket in its bikes. Bellin says it’s the only brand that continues to do so, but it takes pride in continuing the tradition and the legacy of the standard’s use.

Bellin points out the decision to work with a 35mm tyre impacts the aerodynamics overall, relative to a narrower tyre.

“Aerodynamics weren’t the first requirement for this bike,” says Bellin. “The bike of course is aero because it keeps the features of the Dogma, including the design of the front and the down tube, but with the 35mm tyres it’s not as aero as the Dogma F.”

A better choice for many riders

Don’t think the Dogma X fails to offer top-level performance, though. Bellin points out Connor Swift chose to ride the Dogma X at the 2023 UCI gravel world championships, where he placed third, because the bike had the same ride feel as his Dogma F road race bike. The Dogma X’s geometry is very similar to a fast gravel bike too.

So if you were looking for a high-end road bike, how would you choose between the Dogma X and the Dogma F?

“It’s an easy answer for us,” says Bellin, “and it’s about the way you live your experience of cycling. We need to look at ourselves in the mirror and recognise what we need from our bike.

“If you need a pure performance and racing experience, go for the Dogma F. If you want to look like a pro, if you watch the races on TV and want the same bike as Tom Pidcock, then buy the Dogma F.

“But if you still want to have the Dogma experience, but you live cycling with a different approach, you’re not into racing but enjoy spending hours riding with your friends on a Sunday and you don’t want to have a stack of four or five spacers under your stem to make your ride more comfortable, then the Dogma X is the answer,” Bellin concludes.