Pinarello unveil the new Dogma F10 - Gallery

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Pinarello has revealed its new Dogma F10 frame that will be used by Team Sky for the 2017 season, with riders using the new bike at the Tour Down Under in Australia and at Team Sky’s training camp in Mallorca.

Pinarello has used its influence in the bike industry to also secure some of the very first Shimano 9150 Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, and so the Team Sky riders will begin the 2017 season the newest technology. Team Wiggins will also ride Pinarello again in 2017, with the Continental development team bike equipped with SRAM components.

Pinarello presented the Dogma F10 to a select group of media, including Cyclingnews, at a special event on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily in December, a few weeks before Chris Froome visited the area to film a video and test the bike himself. His sighting sparked rumours in Italy that he could be planning to ride the Giro d’Italia, but he was more interested in the bike he will use when he targets a fourth victory at the Tour de France.

Pinarello usually reveals its new products during the Giro d’Italia when the race passes near its Treviso headquarters in late May, showing off the bikes that will be available later that year. The Dogma F8 was revealed in May 2014, but Fausto Pinarello wanted to do things differently this time and, inspired by Apple product launches, Pinarello aligned their new bike launch with the new road racing season and Team Sky’s debut in Australia. In the meanwhile, they did everything they could to keep the new bike a secret.

The Dogma F10 is available immediately and will be in the shops within days. Most of the first 500 bikes, many equipped with Shimano 9150 Dura-Ace Di2, have already been shipped to Pinarello dealers around the world. The Dogma F10 was quietly added to the UCI list of approved frames and forks on January 9, meaning it is ready to race.

"We're relatively small compared to some of the giant brands, so the best way to beat our rivals is to be fast and flexible,” Fausto Pinarello said proudly at the presentation. "In the time they produce one model, we can do three and so constantly update our design and technology."

An evolution rather than a revolution

The Dogma F8 is the best-selling bike in Pinarello’s history and will still be available going forward but the Dogma F10 is now the top of the range road bike. There is no Dogma F9, with the Dogma F8 Disc filling the gap in the range. Cyclingnews understands there will be no Dogma F10 disc brake model, at least in 2017, with Pinarello still firm believers in caliper brakes.

The Dogma F10 is considered an evolution rather than a revolution, with some clever design changes to the F8 inspired by the Pinarello Bolide time trial bike, the specially developed Bollide HR track bike used by Bradley Wiggins to a set a new Hour Record and the bikes created to help Elia Viviani win a gold medal on the track at the Rio Olympics. Input from Team Sky has also played a key part, with Pinarello pointing out that their bikes have won more than 90 major races in the last three years. Team Sky recently extended their agreement with Pinarello until 2020.

During the presentation, the Pinarello engineers explained that their goal was to maintain the famous Pinarello handling, while increasing stiffness, reducing weight and aerodynamic drag. The white paper Pinarello issued for the Dogma F10 claims it is 6.3% lighter and 7% stiffer, with a 53cm raw (unfinished) frame weighing 820g.

The curved frame tube shapes look very similar to the Dogma F8 but have been redesigned using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to ensure aerodynamics and strength in combination with the athlete in motion. Final shaping was made thanks to 3D printed samples and traditional sandpaper, with Pinarello insisting that final aesthetics come before any tiny gains in aerodynamics.

Much of the reduction in drag of the Dogma F10 comes from the concave rear of the down tube first created for the Bollide models. Combined with a snugly-fitting smaller bottle, the concave tube shape helps reduce drag by a claimed 12.6% around the down tube area. The seat tube of the Dogma F10 also has three bottle cage bolts, with the lower option also helping to reduce drag and allowing for an oversized bottle for summer.

Other aerodynamic touches include the adoption of the fork flap shape behind the dropouts. These are smaller than on the Hour Record bike but Pinarello consider it a Team Sky-style "marginal gain" thanks to a reduction in drag for the fork. The fork is again bowed for better aerodynamics and so the flaps are arguably a way of distinguishing between an F8 and F10. If you can afford a Pinarello F10 you probably want people to recognise it.

Pinarello again use Torayca T1100 1K carbon fibre for much of the Dogma F10 frame and fork. They believe it is the best on the market and a Torayca logo is another badge of honour on the down tube. The Dogma F10 has carbon fibre dropouts, removable front and rear derailleur hangers, an Italian threaded bottom bracket and the Think 2 system that allows the same frame to be fitted with mechanical or electronic gears.

Pinarello believe in their asymmetric design and have edged the Dogma F10’s centre a further 2mm out towards the crankset side of the frame to counteract the forces on the chain and gears, thus providing a stiffer and more balanced bike. Pinarello tests their frames and fork to ISO 4210 standards in their in-house lab and is how they obtained the 7% increase in stiffness.

The geometry of the frame remains the same as the Dogma F8, with 13 different sizes available between 42 and 62cm, with one-centimetre increases in the middle of the range. It comes in eight colour ways including the most popular black on black, a black and gold Wiggins edition, and the new Team Sky design decorated with thin white and blue lines that signify the team’s major success.

Designed for the new Shimano Dura-Ace Di2

The Dogma F10 frame is designed specifically for the latest version of Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 electronic gears, which is scheduled to go on sale in February.

After years of hanging the junction box under the stem, the combination of the new Shimano Dura-Ace and the Dogma F10 means it all disappears into the down tube, with the so-called E-Link allowing a simple plug-in position for recharging and updating the system. It is a solution that one or two other new frames brands also include but one that should have come much sooner. Unfortunately, it means that older versions of Dura-Ace cannot be accommodated in the same space in the down tube. However, the battery and control can also be hidden in the handlebars.

A first ride

Cyclingnews rode the new Pinarello Dogma F10 with CEO Fausto Pinarello and Team Sky riders Elia Viviani and Gianni Moscon. First ride impressions as we tried and failed to stay on their wheels were of a high-end race bike with superb performance.

The roads around Mount Etna include some rough surfaces and long cobbled sections made from the black lava stone. The Dogma F10 allows for 25mm tyres and they were needed to soak up some of the bumping and banging that the frames passes onto the rider in exchange for transmitting the power to the road.

The Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 zipped quietly from gear to gear despite thick gloves making it occasionally difficult to get a great feel of the paddle gear levers. The chunky head section of the lever makes for great one finger braking and the stiffer calipers never left me wishing for disc brakes.

Despite my size the Dogma F10 never let me down on the twisting descents and accelerated quickly when I got out of the saddle and pushed for more speed.

The performance of the Dogma F10 fitted with the new Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 is far too great to fully understand and appreciate on a single two-hour ride, leaving me envious of Team Sky and whoever else gets to ride one in 2017.