Pinarello Dogma X: First ride review

Pinarello released the new Dogma X endurance bike this week and I headed over to Italy for the launch of the new model and to test ride the new bike. The Dogma has a rich history that doesn't need much introduction and the model in various different iterations has taken countless professional wins over the years, including seven of the last 11 Tour de France overall titles. 

The last Dogma update came in 2021 with the launch of the Dogma F and earlier this year, after something of a range restructuring, the Paris and Prince bikes were retired and replaced with the new F and X series models. 

The Dogma X is a new endurance-focused addition to the range. Pinarello itself calls it an endurance model, though its Dogma name gives clues as to the level at which the brand is pitching the bike; right at the premium end of the market. 

The bike features clearances that can accommodate up to 35mm tyres, and a new slightly more relaxed geometry with shorter stack and reach numbers. The most obvious design feature has to be the new 'X stays' at the rear of the bike, which see additional material in the form of two seat stay 'supports' joining the seat tube and an 'X' seat stay bridge. This is said to reduce the amount of vibration reaching the rider allowing them to ride further in greater comfort. 

We've covered the launch of the new bike in our accompanying news piece where you can read more about the new bike's details and Pinarello's claims. Here though, this first ride review contains my thoughts on the bike following a two-hour ride on the roads around Susegana, North of Pinarello's home in Treviso, Italy.

Design and Aesthetics 

The Dogma frame design has slowly evolved over the years, but has long been an easily recognisable silhouette that looks bang up to date design-wise and is pretty popular I think it's safe to say. 

The Dogma X retains a lot of the Dogma F styling with one glaring exception which is the 'X-Stay' rear seat stay design. I'll discuss this regarding the aesthetics of the bike straight off the bat because it's almost certainly going to be a major talking point. Summed up, it may not be for everyone and is probably going to divide opinion but in the flesh, I don't think it looks too bad. I think the design fits in well on what is otherwise a futuristic-looking machine with plenty of angular tubing. Were it tacked onto a frame with more classic tubing profiles and design it would probably be a different story. 

It also blended in well when riding the bike and I didn't find myself staring at the seat stays of surrounding riders' bikes. Colour may well affect how bikes present with it too, but on my gloss and matte black Dogma X, it fitted in pretty well. 

Beyond that feature, and considering the bike as a whole, my own test machine looked purposeful and racy. I rode a size 53cm frame that arrived with 30mm of spacers under the stem. The headtube on my bike didn't look super tall though and it still looked like a race bike. 

It was finished in the grey, black and silver paint you can see in the photos and when paired with the dark Dura-Ace 9200 groupset and Princeton wheels looked purposeful and pretty futuristic. It certainly all worked together, X Stays included for me.  

Elsewhere, the new bike gets boosted tyre clearances as is the current thinking regarding a lot of endurance bike design. It's designed with riders who aren't racing every weekend in mind, so there's a less aggressive geometry than the Dogma F. Pinarello mentioned not wanting to replicate what the pros use for consumers and being influenced by rising popularity in longer distance and ultra events. 

There are still a lot of features and design cues that Pinarello fans will appreciate though, and given this bike is still a member of the Dogma family, that makes sense. It's a more comfortable alternative to the brand's top-tier race bike and it doesn't feel like a huge sidestep into a super relaxed, comfortable platform. More of a controlled revision to provide more usability and comfort for regular riders. 

As such, the bike shares a fork with the Dogma F12 and the MOST Talon one-piece handlebar and stem. There's still the aero-profiled head tube and seatpost, which really stands out looking at it head-on with a super narrow profile. Specs and build options are also premium with top-end groupsets and wheelset options which also signal the bike's intent. 

Specs and build

The Dogma X will come in three groupset choices and they are the top offerings from Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo. My test bike came with Dura-Ace R9200 Di2 but with the non-power meter chainset option. However, I believe bikes will ship with Dura-Ace power meters included which I'd hope for given the bike's premium price tag. Gearing was 34/50T up front and 11-30T at the rear. 

Wheels were the Princeton Carbonworks Grit 4540 rims laced onto black White Industries hubs. The 4540 is billed as an all-road wheelset with a 21mm internal width. The rims were shod in 32mm Continental GP5000 S TR tubeless tyres, though I believe consumer bikes will ship with wider tyres.  

My MOST Talon integrated bar was a 100mm / 440mm size. Though for me it felt closer to a 42cm or even a 40cm bar. I'm not sure how Pinarello measure their bar sizes but this one seemed to size up small which I was happy about. My own bike has 38cm bars and these didn't feel too wide. 

The seatpost was proprietary to the frame, and as mentioned really has a narrow profile when viewed head-on. The Dogma X also has a snazzy titanium saddle clamp up top. The saddle was a MOST Lynx unit that I had no problems with.  

First ride impressions

I found my 53cm test bike, installed my pedals and set the saddle height. Luckily, that was all I had to do and a quick lap around the car park told me I was good to go straight away. A combination of geometry and the lucky (or expert) setup of contact point positions and angles meant the bike felt pretty much perfect for me from the off. Even within the first few miles, it drew a nod and a couple of grins from me. I really felt at home and comfortable straight away. Which was doubly convenient as it let me focus on riding and thinking about the bike and not worry about faffing with my setup. 

We were riding the new bike on a rolling test loop which was just under 10 miles long. It featured around 700ft of climbing per lap and opened up with an 8-10 minute rolling climb, flowy descent, flat to draggy gravel section with some decent sized rocks and ruts and finished with another sweeping descent with some nice curves to test the bike on. There wasn't a massive amount of flat and it was an excellent test for the bike. The only thing I'd have liked was some more flat riding to see how the bike felt rolling along on the flat, something I would have liked when I rode the Specialized Roubaix SL8 recently. 

After a steady enough sighting lap to get our bearings and see what was coming up a faster lap was ticked off and I worked hard on the longer climb. I was only two beats shy of my max heart rate at one point, and riding the bike in anger helped me really get a clearer idea of what it was about.

The geometry and handling of the bike jumped out straight away and I felt it was excellent over the whole ride. I'm yet to have a proper deep dive into the geometry numbers but for me and my relatively short arms, the reach was pretty much perfect, I could hunker down on the hoods and drops and get aero, but also ride on the tops comfortably. I think if you wanted an aggressive position from the Dogma X you still wouldn't be disappointed it's going to be plenty racy enough for most. 

Aside from the excellent handling, in the two hours I had with it, the bike felt fast and stiff and absolutely like a high-end road and or race bike. Some high-torque uphill sprints in a big gear drew a good response from the bike and it certainly didn't feel wanting there. 

The Dura-Ace groupset was set up perfectly, I can't say much more than that. Shifting and braking were fantastic, I tried to scrub my brakes in on the first couple of flat miles as much as I could and come the twisting fast descents they were spot on. The MOST Talon handlebar was a bit of a standout for me, and though I could detect a bit of flex in the drops of the bars in use, they felt fantastic. The ergo drop section has a slight teardrop profile which feels really nice to grip and hold, similar to our comments on the Vitus Venon Evo handlebars we tested recently. 

It was hard to try to isolate the feeling of the wheels in just two hours but they contributed to the fast overall feel and felt plenty stiff enough. I'm familiar with Continental tyres and felt comfortable on the GP5000 tyres. I let a little air out of my rear tyre after a small slide about halfway through the ride and believe my tyres were set up with around 50-60 PSI in them. 

We had a good gravel section to test the bike on which was a couple of miles long. It was mostly fine, white gravel but there were some larger, sharp stones thrown in and some ruts. I did nail a couple of these bigger stones and really felt the hit but stayed puncture-free. This was as good a test as I had to test the vibration-damping claims regarding the X Stay feature. 

For me, the bike felt a little harsh on the gravel and I could feel plenty of feedback and vibration through the handlebar and elsewhere. Of course, larger volume rubber the bike has been designed for and lower pressures would surely add comfort but my initial impressions were that the Dogma X retains the Dogma race pedigree and performance DNA. It's not a soft, slack endurance bike and seems to just urge you on. I felt very comfortable position wise and a longer day in the saddle would be the next thing I'd look for to test the endurance and comfort claims and design brief.

Early verdict 

I was impressed with and had a good feeling riding the Dogma X pretty much from the off. As mentioned within the first couple of miles, it had drawn a grin or two from me. 

The geometry is comfortable and the reach and setup were perfect for me. But the bike absolutely does not feel sit-up-and-beg or slow. After my first ride, I feel pretty sure the Dogma DNA is there and the X is a really fast bike, especially equipped with it's top flight range of componentry.

I'm not sure how effective the X Stay vibration damping at the rear is just yet, the bike still felt stiff and race like and I felt a good amount of feedback over rougher ground. Though the position and geometry itself made me feel very comfy. 

The Dogma X is an incredibly expensive bike at £13,000 / $15,500 / €16,100, so you'd be mightily disappointed if it wan't fun and engaging to ride. 

Luckily it is, I really had fun on it and pushed the bike fairly hard climbing and descending during my time with it. I don't think I'd have qualms racing it, riding a hard chaingang or riding a long sportive. If riders need a faster, more aggressive bike the Dogma F is ready and waiting but my initial impression and feeling is that if you can afford the sizeable price tag, the Dogma X would be more than enough for most of us.