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Editorial Review

Regular readers may be familiar with Bicycling's love of Pinarello's Prince. Our editors think this is one of the best race bikes ever built.

While the Prince continues, it has been deposed as Pinarello's top-of-the-line carbon race bike, replaced by the Dogma. The new Dogma looks a lot like a Prince at first glance, from the distinctive proboscis on the head tube to the arcing, ribbed tubes and signature shaping of the fork and chainstays. But closer inspection reveals distinct differences. The Dogma's frame has bigger and more substantial tube shapes: The seat tube is aero-shaped, not round, and the chainstay bends are more complex.

With the Dogma, Pinarello introduces its Asymetrical Frame System concept: A rider's pedalling inputs are fairly symmetrical, but a bicycle's single-sided drivetrain turns those symmetrical inputs into asymmetrical loads on the frame, says Pinarello. A combination of shaping and layup tweaks balance the bike, says Pinarello, for "a more stable frame under severe loads such as sprinting." A few other frames have asymmetrical chainstays for similar reasons, but Pinarello modifies most of the frame. Not only are the chainstays asymmetric, but the seatstays and top tube as well; Pinarello calls it out with a graphics treatment, in sparkly silver on our test bike.

Pinarello had exclusive use of Japanese carbon-fiber supplier Toray's 50HM1K (used in the Prince and several tri models) and, with the Dogma, it has exclusive use of the more-rigid 60HM1K. Additionally, the new material has what Toray calls "nanoalloy" which, the company says, "disperses nanoscale elastomers between the carbon fibers. These elastomers absorb impacts and prevent the propagation of cracks as they occur." The result: Pinarello claims the Dogma frame weighs about 860 grams, 40 grams less than the Prince, but is 23 percent more resistant to impacts.

The Dogma offers a phenomenal ride, with a balance of the drivetrain stiffness and effi- ciency that racers demand, with the comfort we'd expect from a plush bike. The handling is balanced: Whether you're banging a hard 90 in a crit, screaming through sweeping turns or sitting up in a pack, the Dogma is composed and confident. We can think of no other bike that accelerates, climbs and sprints so well, yet feels so comfortable, pleasant and enjoyable to ride.

The Prince has an airy, ethereal ride, one that some testers considered comparable to the bikes in our Editors' Choice dream-bike category. The Dogma feels like a more substantial bike and has a bit more of a traditional race-bike feel than the Prince, and while it damps road noise a bit more than the Prince, it also transfers hard hits more directly. While both bikes convert the rider's power into forward motion efficiently, the Dogma has a bit more kick and jump when you pour on the power, and ultimately, a little more top-end speed.

So, yes, we love yet another Pinarello. The Dogma is the kind of bike that, if you owned it, you would be happily let other people ride so they could know not just how good, but how great a bicycle can be.
—Matt Phillips

BUY IT IF:

You want race-bike speed, plush-bike comfort and dream-bike feel in one package

FORGET IT IF

If you believe race bikes need to be all business or your definition of dream includes custom sizing

Watch a video review of the Pinarello Dogma