Pinarello Dogma XC goes public with full consumer release

Last year, Pinarello announced its return to mountain biking with the Dogma XC. There was, in quick succession, a hardtail and full suspension version. Today, the storied Italian brand released the bike to the world.

This is not a “release” in the UCI-mandated sense of  “Tom Pidcock and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot need to race this at the Olympics so we need to allow people to buy it, sort of” sense of released, like some track bikes that will be raced in Paris this year. All of us can actually go out and buy these bikes now. In fact, we actually rode the full suspension bike, briefly, this week at Sea Otter. The Dogma’s are still  Pinarellos, and pricing is still in the “If you need to ask, it’s probably too expensive” range, but it is now a very real bike that you can buy.

Pinarello Dogma XC: The details

If the Dogma XC hardtail and dual suspension bikes look familiar, that could be because Pinarello announced them last year. Or because both Pauline Ferrand Prevot and Tom Pidcock quickly went on to win world championship titles abroad their Dogmas. Two, for Ferrand-Prevot. While many of the main details were covered in the full suspension and hardtail launches,  there are a few details that come with the full consumer release, though, that weren’t shared at that time.

The full suspension bike still uses a split rear triangle design, where the two sides of the rear triangle are moulded separately and then joined at the frame instead of by a traditional bridge. This lets Pinarello get very short chain stays. There are two travel options: 100 mm fork with 90 mm rear wheel travel, or 120 mm fork with 100 mm rear wheel travel.

Both bikes use what Pinarello is calling a “Power Triangle” to get more efficiency out of the Dogma’s at a lower weight. This mini-triangle near the bottom bracket adds stiffness for better power transfer. There’s also an integrated chain guide on both bikes.

Geometry on both is very XC focused, with relatively steep head angles. Chainstays, seat angle and even head angle are size-specific to make sure the fit and feel of the Dogma XC is consistent between frame sizes. This is a level of detail very few other companies are going to, and surely helps keep the XC consistent with Pinarello’s level of performance.

Pinarello adds a Most Taloon Ultra XC integrated bar/stem for maximum efficiency sprinting or climbing. This comes with a bearing with an internal stopper that prevents the bars from turning past 60 degrees. That keeps the frame safe in case of a crash.

First Ride: Running out of excuses on the Dogma XC

We had the chance to briefly ride the full suspension Dogma XC at Sea Otter in California. While definitely not enough to call a proper test, there are a few first impressions to take away from the experience.

From the first pedal stroke, the Dogma XC is as light and snappy as you’d expect from a world championships-winning race bike. It feels effortless to get the bike rolling. It remains near effortless to climb, with some slight movement in the rear suspension when the shock is open and you’re really standing no the pedals. Locking out the Fox Float SL via the remote, the Dogma cruised up the steep road to the trail like a road bike.

Off-road, the size-speicifc geo helped keep our XL  Dogma XC feeling balanced on both very steep pitches of climbing and the fast, sweeping California single track of Laguna Seca. The Pinarello is light and stiff on the pedals without feeling rigid and dead, like some ultra-light XC race bikes. It didn’t chatter or bounce around through corners, making it more comfortable to commit to speed through loose corners. With just 90mm rear travel, you’re definitely going to be picking your lines with precision, not just pointing and praying. But this is an Olympic’s bound XCO race bike, that is what it was designed for. Finding the fastest line around a single lap and riding that again and again as fast as possible.

Overall, the Dogma XC is an impressive return to mountain biking. For a brand not known for its off-road bikes, Pinarello’s clearly done the work to make this worthy of Pidcock and Ferrand-Prevot.

Pinarello Dogma XC Pricing and availability

Two models of the full suspension and the hardtail are available now.

Dogma XC uses Toray M40J carbon fibre construction, for both version of the bike. This top-end build comes in two colours: black and red or the white and rainbow world champion livery earned by Pidcock and Ferrand-Prevot.

It is USD 6,000 for the full suspension frame alone or USD 13,000 for the complete bike with Fox Factory kit, DT Swiss XRC 1200 wheels and SRAM XX SL Eagle T-type wireless shifting. The Dogma XC full suspension is a claimed 10.45 kg (1.75 kg for the frame plus 252 g. for the rear shock).

The hardtail Dogma XC Frame is USD 4,500, or USD 11,200 for the top end build. That bike is a feathery 9.20 kg.

The lower-priced XC frame use Toray T900 UD carbon fibre. These are built with SRAM GX T-Type, Shimano XT brakes and Fox Performance Elite series suspension. A black and silver colour way matches the parts kit. That drops the full suspension to USD 7,900 and puts it at 11.30 kg. The hardtail is USD 6,600 and bumps up in weight slightly to 10.20 kg.