2015 vs 2021: Comparing Richie Porte's Pinarello bikes

Richie Porte
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Six seasons since his departure from Team Sky, Richie Porte has returned to the British team now known as the Ineos Grenadiers.

In that time, the team has unsurprisingly undergone various levels of change: Behind the scenes, the team has seen a restructure of management duties following the death of Nico Portal; Froome's recent departure means the end of an era with regards to team leadership; and with the departure of Sky as a sponsor, the team has since been given two new names, firstly Team Ineos, and more recently the Ineos Grenadiers. Dave Brailsford has even spoken of a new, more exciting and less clinical approach to racing.

However, during all this, the team's equipment sponsors have remained largely unaffected. In fact, the majority of differences come in the form of technological advancement, rather than switching to another sponsor or supplier. 

The team has remained aboard Pinarello ever since its inception in 2010. During Porte's final season, the team rode the Dogma F8 for road racing and the Bolide TT for time trials. Porte has skipped the team's era on the Dogma F10, and will return to the team's third season aboard the latest Dogma F12. 

The Dogma F12 is available to the public with disc brakes, however, for reasons pertaining to weight, Ineos Grenadiers are once again committed to the bike's rim brake variant for the 2021 season and Porte will be one of very few riders making the transition back from disc brakes to rim brakes, following his departure from the SRAM-equipped bikes of Trek Segafredo

For training, Porte and co are supplied with wheels that feature an aluminium brake track, as opposed to carbon. This is no doubt cheaper for whoever foots the bill, but it undoubtedly also offers better performance during bad weather. When racing resumes, the team will return to Dura-Ace C60 or C40 tubular wheels, and the hyper-light Lightweight Meilenstein Obermayer wheels for the mountainous days.

Geraint Thomas warms up on his Pinarello Dogma F12

Geraint Thomas warms up ahead of the 2019 Tour de France, on his Pinarello Dogma F12 equipped with notably different wheels (Image credit: Stephen Farrand)

For time trials, Porte left the team as the reigning Australian National time trial champion, and for his final season at the team, he rode a custom-painted Pinarello Bolide TT. That bike has been given a small update in Porte's time away, and the team has invested in Princeton Carbonworks sinusoidal (wavy) rims.

Another change comes in the form of the Shimano groupset. In Porte's final season, Team Sky were running Dura-Ace 9050 Di2. After two years using SRAM Red eTap AXS, Porte returns to the most recent iteration of Shimano Dura-Ace, R9150. That said, Porte was always partial to hacking in a pair of Shimano sprint shifters to work with his SRAM groupset.

However, rumours of a new Dura-Ace groupset continue at full steam and by the time the season ends, Porte and his Ineos teammates could be running an altogether new drivetrain. 

Richie Porte Pro Bike

Porte had mechanics wire up Shimano sprint shifters to his SRAM equipped Trek Emonda (Image credit: Colin Levitch)

In all, there are just two changes when it comes to equipment sponsors, but even they come due to innovations and advancements from pre-existing sponsors. Porte's power was previously measured by Stages, but since Shimano introduced its own Dura-Ace crank-based power meter, Ineos have taken advantage. In addition, since Pinarello's bikes started being equipped with components from MOST, the brand's own components subsidiary, the team has used MOST components in place of Pro. 

The other big technological advancement that has swept the peloton in the time since Porte left Team Sky is the introduction of tubeless tyres. But even despite Porte's 2015 Giro d'Italia experience, Ineos remain steadfast in their commitment to tubular tyres. 

Simon Clarke gives Richie Porte his front wheel

After puncturing with 7km to go, Porte received an illegal wheel change from Orica Greenedge's Simon Clarke and was later docked two minutes by the race jury (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Swipe to scroll horizontally
2015 vs 2021: Head to head
Header Cell - Column 0 20152021
FramePinarello Dogma F8Pinarello Dogma F12
GroupsetShimano Dura-Ace 9050 Di2Shimano Dura-Ace R9150 Di2
BrakesShimano Dura-Ace 9000 RimShimano Dura-Ace R9100 Rim
WheelsetShimano Dura-Ace C35 tubularShimano Dura-Ace C40 / C60 tubular
StemProMOST
HandlebarsProMOST
Power MeterStagesShimano Dura-Ace
PedalsShimano Dura-Ace 9000Shimano Dura-Ace R9100
SaddleFizik AlianteFizik
TyresContinental Pro Ltd TubularContinental Pro Ltd Tubular
ComputerGarmin Edge 520Garmin

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Josh Croxton
Tech Editor

As the Tech Editor here at Cyclingnews, Josh leads on content relating to all-things tech, including bikes, kit and components in order to cover product launches and curate our world-class buying guides, reviews and deals. Alongside this, his love for WorldTour racing and eagle eyes mean he's often breaking tech stories from the pro peloton too. 


On the bike, 30-year-old Josh has been riding and racing since his early teens. He started out racing cross country when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s and has never looked back. He's always training for the next big event and is keen to get his hands on the newest tech to help. He enjoys a good long ride on road or gravel, but he's most alive when he's elbow-to-elbow in a local criterium.