ProCycling`s Marcel Wüst Reviews the Pinarello

The bikes of the peloton
sky
rocket
Chris Froome and his Team Sky compadres
will be tackling the 100th edition of the Tour
de France on Pinarello’s distinctive Dogma
65.1 Think2. But what does Marcel think?
Writer: Marcel Wüst
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Photographer: Kai Dudenhöfer
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ProRides
Pinarello Dogma 65. 1 Think 2
The seat-tube
and chainstays are
asymmetric to deal with
the different forces on
each side of the bike
The one-piece Pinarello
handlebar and stem also
houses the Di2 junction
box – though you might
want a bit more bar tape
O
f all the bikes I’ve tested for
Procycling, Pinarello’s new
Dogma 65.1 Think 2 is one
that stands out. And not just
because of its quirky name. It’s ridden by
the world’s leading team, it has a design
as distinctive as its name and a price
that’s astronomical by any standards.
But there’s much more to it than that…
The Dogma’s first big plus is that it is
available in 12 sizes. This makes it easy
to find a machine that will be the perfect
fit and it should be equally able to satisfy
the needs of both a Sky professional and
the rest of us mere cycling mortals.
There’s no doubt that the curvaceous,
radical design is a real head-turner, even
if that also means that it may not have a
universal appeal. But the Dogma is much
more than just a set of tubes and sinuous
curves, as its asymmetric design is one of
the most extreme on the market today.
Pinarello’s thinking behind the bike’s
asymmetry is that to handle chain forces
the right side of the bike has to be stiffer
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Although it looks
very similar to the
Dogma 2, this bike has
been re-engineered
based on pro feedback
and stronger than the left. But not
only have Pinarello beefed up the right
chainstay towards the dropout and
reinforced the left chainstay up to the
bottom bracket, they say that the toptube
is also asymmetrical to compensate for
the pull on the handlebar that comes
from the lower left of the toptube. More
surprising still, even the right fork blade
is significantly sturdier than the left.
Does all this make a difference that
you can actually feel? Well, riding the
Dogma there’s no doubt that your
pedalling force is being transformed
into speed at all times but while a
laboratory might well be able to measure
the advantage in speed or power, on a
normal Sunday ride I honestly couldn’t
the new dogma is a real headturner. Its asymmetric design
is one of the most extreme on
the market today
detect any difference between this and
a more symmetrical machine.
This wasn’t quite my usual test ride
though, as I’d had to swap Majorca for
the cooler climes of Cologne this month,
which did at least allow me to revisit my
former training routes by the Rhine.
For the first half an hour I was able to
cruise at a leisurely pace along riverside
cycle paths. These are traffic-free but a
lot bumpier than the roads. The Dogma
proved to be extremely comfortable in
spite of the bumps, which made me look
forward even more to climbing and
descending on the area’s quiet rural roads
with their perfectly smooth surface.
When I did finally hit the tarmac
I initially found it hard to switch from
dealing with more considerate Spanish
motorists to their German counterparts
but even these are better than those in
Britain – as I discovered last year riding
the ‘old’ Dogma 2 around Surrey.
That was the Movistar bike and
though the carbon used by Pinarello
Dura-Ace Di2 offers
slick shifting and even
copes well with the
sort of chainlines
you should avoid
is stronger in the 2013 model and the
frame weight has been reduced a little,
it still felt like I was riding a Pinarello
Dogma. Different team, different specs,
but still a great bike.
I found the large diameter and slightly
flattened profile of the handlebar tops
very comfortable but I had forgotten my
gloves and the surface became slippery
when my hands got wet – even a little
rain was enough. The effects wouldn’t
be quite so extreme if the handlebar
were taped the whole way, which I’d
always choose anyway.
The drop is also very shallow, which
means that getting really low isn’t easy,
and the one-piece handlebar and stem
means you can’t change the angle of
either… The drops are too long as well
as too shallow for my preference.
The Dogma’s
smooth, flowing lines
extend to the elegant
seat-tube/toptube/
seatstay junction
Specifications
The name refers to
the new carbon fibre
developed by Toray
especially for this bike
Frame: Pinarello Dogma 65.1
Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2
Crankset: Shimano Dura-Ace
Brakes: Shimano Dura-Ace
Chainrings: 50/34
Cassette: 11-25
Wheels: Mavic R-Sys SLR
Tyres: Mavic Yksion Pro
headset: Pinarello
Handlebar: Most one-piece all-carbon
stem/handlebar
SeatPost: Dogma
Saddle: Selle Italia/Most
Fork: Onda 2, full carbon
weight: 6.82kg (without pedals)
PRICE: £10,200, $12,565
Web: www.pinarello.com
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I do appreciate that bike manufacturers
want to use their own in-house kit but
I feel that nothing beats the traditional
bar and stem. The Dogma’s one-piece
cockpit is suitably stiff, of course, but
I just couldn’t find a good sprint position.
Along with the cockpit the seatpost is
one of the few things about the Dogma
I’d change. I’m not sure how big a part it
plays in the bike’s comfort, as it isn’t that
flexible. The twin-bolt head is also a
pain when it comes to adjusting the
saddle position. You can only reach
the front bolt using a spanner but with
the saddle in place there’s no room for
the spanner. Once you have got it in
place, everything’s fine, but a redesigned
seatpost would not only save time, it
would also improve the bike’s looks.
I have no such reservations about the
Dogma frame. I passed 60kph on the
first descent and it was very reassuring
to have such a reliable frame under me.
I leaned into a wide hairpin and the
bike did just the right thing, perfectly
following the intended trajectory.
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Shifting my weight onto the outer, lower
pedal in the next switchback, I felt that
I could have let go of the handlebar and
the Dogma would have still managed the
turn – which is exactly how a race bike
should corner in high-speed sections.
Thrilled by the performance I got
to the bottom and went straight into
a climb that featured in this year’s Rund
um Köln. My legs were in good shape and
thanks to the compact chainset I was
able to climb in the big ring. The bottom
bracket stiffness is very good, though it’s
a surprise that the Dogma comes with
a conventional Italian threaded BB; a
press-fit or BB30 would add more
stiffness in this crucial area.
On one of the steeper sections, when
I was starting to run out of sprockets,
Mavic’s R-Sys wheels
sacrifice aerodynamic
features in favour of
low weight and high
stiffness for climbing
I felt that I could have let go of
the bar and it would have still
managed the turn – exactly
how a race bike should corner
I punched through the pain barrier and
gave it everything I had in an out-of-thesaddle effort just to keep it on the big
ring. In spite of the chain being at a poor
angle – which I don’t recommend – there
was no noise at all from the drivetrain.
When I got to the top I then did a test
shift onto the small ring while putting
a lot of pressure on the pedals. The
result: Shimano’s electronic Di2 changed
just as smoothly and sweetly from the
big ring to the small as it had the other
way. Even the 16-tooth difference
between the two rings proved no
ProRides
Pinarello’s Dogma
descended beautifully
– direction changes
were carried out with
the minimum of fuss
my average speed was well over
45kph. And when a scooter
passed me at about 55kph, it was
time for a motor-paced session!
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well over 45kph. And when a scooter
passed me at about 55kph, I decided to
do some motor-pacing! Though it is
always nice to be reminded of the old
days, I was happy on this occasion that
I didn’t have to sprint around the scooter
every two kilometres, as my coach used
to make me do. I reckon I could have
managed it once but I’m not sure that I’d
have got onto the wheel twice…
Mavic’s R-Sys wheels feel great on the
climbs. They’re very light for clinchers
and offer excellent braking, especially
with Shimano’s superb new Dura-Ace
callipers, but at the much higher speeds
I was now hitting on the flat I could feel
that they aren’t very aerodynamic. Their
overall performance is still very good
and the Mavic tyres inspire confidence.
The new Dogma is extremely agile and
the faster you ride it, the more confident
you’ll be with how it reacts. Negotiating
corners at high speed is great fun and the
more skills you have the more you’ll get
out of it. It’s certainly stiff – though I’m
not sure how much of that is down to the
asymmetrical tube shapes – but it’s also
pleasingly comfortable, which is equally
important for riders at all levels.
Chris Froome and his colleagues have
something much more than a mere tool
for their job. Pinarello’s passion for bikes,
engineering and design shines through
whenever you ride the Dogma.
And just for the record: yes – I made it
home dry, and of course I out-sprinted
the scooter to the Cologne town sign.
Old habits die hard…
Ridden by…
Grand tour multi-stage winner
Marcel Wüst
Born: Cologne, Germany
6/8/1967
Residence: Frechen,
Germany; Majorca, Spain
Pro Career: 1989 — 2001
First Team: RMO
Career Highlights: 14
grand tour stage wins
(1 Tour, 1 Giro, 12 Vuelta)
During his career as a top sprinter Marcel
won stages in all three major tours. A bad
crash in 2000 forced early retirement.
He now works as a journalist and television
pundit, as well as running cycling camps
from his base in Majorca, Casa Ciclista.
He stays enviably fit and pushes every test
bike to its limits.
Panel Image: © Offside/L’Equipe
obstacle to swift electronic shifting. It’s
arguably Di2’s most impressive trait.
All the Di2 cabling is routed internally
and the frame is also compatible with
mechanical groupsets, though the plastic
cap on the headtube looks a little out of
place. Surely for this price a neat carbon
plate wouldn’t be too much to ask?
Exhausted from my first workout,
I took it a bit easier and enjoyed the bike’s
smoothness for the next 20 minutes until
the weather took a turn and threathened
to spoil my ride. The sunshine vanished
and dark, heavy clouds began massing
overhead, making me wish that I was
riding in Majorca like usual. Without
a rain jacket I had no desire to get
drenched, so I changed my plan and
skipped a couple of hills.
Instead of climbing again I shot along
the valley with the wind at my back,
getting my average speed in this section