Pinarello’s Dogma has been a constant companion to Team Sky (now Team Ineos) since the 60.1 was announced as its team bike shortly after Bradley Wiggins joined in 2010, and this year the riders will be on the latest incarnation, the F12, at the Tour de France.
It seems that the Team Sky/Ineos connection has been as fruitful for the Treviso brand as it has been for the British based team because the acceleration in development of successive bikes over the years (along with the K-series and the X-Light variants) has pushed Pinarello’s technical success to match its distinctive styling.
- The Pinarello Dogma F10 Disc Dura-Ace Di2 is one of our Bike of the Year bikes for 2019. To read reviews of the other contenders and the categories tested across road, mountain and women's bikes, visit our Bike of the Year hub.
While Team Ineos still doesn’t seem to have fully committed to racing disc bikes, those of us that have will be pleased to see that the F10 hasn’t drifted away from the very high watermark set by the rim braked model.
In fact, the geometry is pretty much identical, the wheelbase is around a metre, the stack a low (for a 57.5cm frame) 584mm and the reach is 397mm (3mm longer than the rim brake model). The head angle is a steep 73.7 degrees and the seat a sharp 73 degrees.
Pinarello Dogma F10 Disc Dura-Ace Di2 frame and aero claims
The frame design started with the two-Tour winning F8 (and over 90 professional race wins) and added design lessons from the Bolide time-trial bike. The radical down tube is the most obvious element, with its blunted-kammtail shape that widens at its midriff and has a hollow on the top to shape around a water bottle.
Pinarello claims this design offers a 12.6 percent aero gain over the F8’s down tube, contributing to a 3–4 percent overall gain in aero performance. The top end of the bottle hollow houses the junction box for the Di2, keeping things clean and contained and easy to access.
The fork has been reshaped and strengthened for a direct mount disc brake, though it still has its distinct bow-legged shape and retains the small wing-like tabs behind the fork dropouts, which help condition noisy airflow from this bulky bit of forward-facing material — another small improvement.
Also, by removing the need for a brake mount, the tyre clearance is generous, so you’ll have no trouble fitting wide tyres for special days riding cobbles.
Pinarello Dogma F10 Disc Dura-Ace Di2 ride impressions
On the road this F10 has all of the classic Dogma traits; the steep angles mean a front-end that unlike a lot of the latest generation of aero-optimised road bikes is feathery light and superbly swift to respond. Yes, it’s certainly a bike that you have to keep your wits about you when riding quickly, but it inspires masses of confidence at the same time knowing that corrections will be met with lightning fast responses.
The 50/34, 11-30 gearing is what you’d usually find on a more endurance-biased bike, but I got on with the wide spread gearing really well and it’s very easy to like Dura-Ace Di2 with its impeccable shifting.
The companion brakes are full of feel that’s backed up with progressive power, though I did get the occasional noise out of them when braking hard, but this does tend to die down once the brakes are fully worn in — but it never fully goes away.
The aero-shaped, dedicated carbon post combined with a Fizik Aliante does an excellent job of keeping your posterior comfortable after hours in the saddle
The choice of Mavic Cosmic carbons is a little unusual for the Italian marque, in recent times it’s used Fulcrum or other Italian wheels more often, but the Cosmic Carbon Pro, tubeless-ready wheel is damn fine and a stellar return to form from the 130-year-old French brand — they retail for nigh-on £1,700 a pair.
These fine handling, light and aero hoops are shod with Pirelli’s brilliant P-Zero 4s tyres in 25mm — the 4s is, as the name suggests, a four season tyre and it's among my very favorite treads for poor weather, and I have the 28mm versions on one of my own bikes. Pirelli’s compound is both tough and compliant, and holds firm where lesser tyres start to slip and slide.
The Cosmic's balance stiffness laterally with a smooth rolling feel, the freehub picks up quickly and the wide blunt shape handles crosswinds with confidence. The wheels combined with the chassis make for a bike that rides firm, which suits the rapid handling, but cleverly road vibrations are transmitted through the chassis.
Up front, Pinarello wants you to be fitted for the F10 because it offers, as standard, the Talon aero carbon bar/stem. As stem length and bar width are critical, test bikes come with a combination of the Tiger aluminium stem and semi-wing-topped XA aluminium bar, which do tend to push through bigger jars and bumps to your hands more than a carbon bar would. I’ve experience of the Talon on a previous model and liked it, but if you don’t favour the Talon there's also options for the Jaguar aero (Di2 specific) carbon 1k bar and the Tiger aero ultra-lite stem.
At the rear the aero-shaped, dedicated carbon post combined with a Fizik Aliante does an excellent job of keeping your posterior comfortable after hours in the saddle. However, like the aluminium bar up front, I was surprised to find the Aliante is the base model R7 rather than a higher grade and lighter model.
That the F10 manages to be as light as it is with some of these more modest components is evidence that this F10 disc chassis is a light combination.
Pinarello Dogma F10 Disc Dura-Ace Di2 overall impressions
Overall, the F10 Disc is a damn fine machine; the razor-sharp handling makes it an almost obscene amount of fun to ride and Pinarello’s once controversial styling — the kinked Onda fork and swoopy lines — has aged well, unlike a lot of its contemporaries.
There is also no doubting the Dogma F10’s assured place in history, even if a base level saddle (albeit from a premium brand), five-figure bike is a bit incongruous when compared to its superbike competition.
Pinarello offers the F10 Disc in three versions: another Dura-Ace Di2 bike with upgraded wheels and a few higher spec components for £10,250, a SRAM Red eTap model with Zipp 303s for £10,750, or you can by the chassis alone for £4,600.
Pinarello Dogma F10 Disc Dura-Ace Di2 specifications
- Sizes (*tested): 44, 46.5, 50, 51.5, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57.5*, 59.5, 62
- Weight: 8.04kg
- Frame: Torayca T1100 1k carbon
- Fork: Carbon
- Chainset: Shimano Dura-Ace, 50,34
- Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace, 11-30
- Derailleurs: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2
- Shifters: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2
- Wheelset: Mavic Cosmic Carbon Pro UST
- Tyres: Pirelli P-Zero 4s 25mm
- Stem: Most Tiger Alu
- Bar: Most XA alloy
- Saddle: Fizik Aliante R7
- Seatpost: Dogma carbon aero
- Brakes: Shimano Dura-Ace hydraulic disc
Pinarello Dogma F10 Disc Dura-Ace Di2 geometry
- Seat angle: 73 degrees
- Head angle: 73.7 degrees
- Chainstay: 40.8cm
- Seat tube: 55.5cm
- Top tube: 57.5cm
- Head tube: 17.9cm
- Bottom bracket drop: 7.2cm
- Stack: 58.4cm
- Reach: 39.7cm
- Price: £10,000
BikeRadar would like to thank Stolen Goat, Lazer, Northwave and Effetto Mariposa for their help and support during our Bike of the Year test.
