The First Affordable Pinarello? | Cycling Weekly - video Dailymotion

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Pinarello's two ranges of bikes - F series and X series. The F series is to be made their new affordable race bike while the X series has gone on to become their endurance offering.

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00:00 Today, Pinarello has launched a brand new range of bikes. In fact, what they've really done is

00:05 thrown out most of what they did have in their mid-tier range offering and have replaced it with

00:10 two new lines of bikes to target a more affordable price point. The dogma has remained, but the Paris

00:16 and the Prince, well, they've gone. Instead, Pinarello has opted for a more simplified lineup

00:22 and one which appears to have more consistency throughout the range. I have been lucky enough

00:28 to ride one of the new bikes and there is a lot to like, but sadly, there are some things which

00:34 I'm not the biggest fan of. So be sure to stay tuned later on in the video for my first ride

00:39 impressions. First up, let's get into what was actually launched. We'll start with what the brand

00:45 is calling the new F-Series. This takes the place in which the Prince used to sit. Now, this range

00:52 of bikes is designed to mimic the same ride characteristics as the top-end dogma F. So,

00:57 think racy and aggressive. Initially, the series is being launched with three models, the F5,

01:04 the F7 and the F9. And the reason behind the numbering in this series is to differentiate

01:09 between the different models. So, the higher the number, the higher the spec. You'll also not find

01:15 a painted number on the frame itself because, as we all know, parts can be upgraded. So, while you

01:21 may have bought an F7, you could then upgrade the parts to match that of an F9 and voila, you've got

01:28 an F9. Now, while the group sets are the main differentiating factors between the bikes,

01:33 the wheel options also change along with the handlebars. On the F7 and the 9, you'll get the

01:40 Talon Ultra Carbon integrated bars and on the F5, you'll get an integrated two-piece alloy setup.

01:46 Both F7 and 9 will be rolling on in-house brand Most Carbon wheels, while the F5 will be making

01:52 the best of some alloy fulcrum racing wheels. Looking past the components for a moment,

01:58 the carbon layout in the F series itself will slightly differ. The F7 and the F9 will use the

02:04 same Touray T900 carbon fibre, however, the F5 will use a slightly lower grade T700 carbon fibre.

02:12 Now, to put that into context, the top end, Dogma F, uses T1100 carbon fibre. So, when you start to

02:19 line the models up next to each other, you can really start to see the natural progression of

02:24 the carbon fibre used throughout the entire range. As mentioned, the geometry is similar to the Dogma,

02:30 however, when you look at the numbers, it's not exactly the same. But this is down to the fact

02:35 that the Dogma is available in 11 sizes and the F series is available in 9. So, they had to shimmy a

02:43 few bits around just so they knew that each size was right. F series to one side, in place of the

02:49 old Paris, we now have the X series. Now, the X series range of bikes now sits as the brand's

02:56 endurance offering and, at the moment, will utilise the same carbon layout. In this initial

03:02 launch, we have the X1 and the X3, which will wear mechanical 105 and 105 Di2, respectively.

03:10 The X3 will also be available in a SRAM Rival build. Both the X1 and the X3 will use the same

03:17 T600 carbon. When you start to look at the specification that's offered here, you can start

03:22 to see a bit of a pattern emerge. Put it this way, I wouldn't be surprised if, in the future, we start

03:29 to see more bikes in the X series range. Maybe an X5, an X7 and an X9, which then match the F series

03:38 in terms of spec offering and an increase in grade of carbon fibre. And, likewise, I think we'll see

03:44 more affordable versions of the F series. So, think F1 and F3. I can imagine what's stopping

03:50 Pinarello from coming out with those bikes right now is the availability of parts from component

03:55 manufacturers. And they may also not want to have the models competing with each other at this

04:01 initial launch. So, those are the specs of the bikes and what Pinarello is actually releasing.

04:07 But what are they like to ride? Well, during my time at the launch event, I was able to have a

04:12 really good go on the F7. And, well, there were a lot of good things to say about it, but also

04:18 some not so great things. So, let's get into them. First up, we'll start with the good stuff. The

04:24 bike looks the part. There's no question about where it's come from and where it's drawn its

04:29 inspiration. The clean colourways generally look really good across the range. And I think they'll

04:35 stand the test of time. The F series has done a really good job at replicating the same ride feel

04:41 that the Dogma gives you. And while I did have about 30 millimetres of spaces underneath my

04:46 handlebars and it would have been really good to ride it slammed, I will say it provided a really

04:52 similar experience. The bike itself came alive when it was at speed. It felt really balanced and

04:58 it beckoned me to really lean into the corners without making me worried that it was going to

05:02 twitch out. However, on to what I believe are some of the downsides of this bike. And this goes for

05:08 both F7 and F9. It really is let down by the wheels and tyre choice. The most carbon wheels

05:16 that are fitted really are just rebadged wheels from Vision. And they certainly sit in the mid

05:21 range of the wheel market. They numb the ride and they feel harsh. When you pair that with the

05:26 Pirelli P7 tyres, the losses, well, they go even further. It's a real shame that Pinarello didn't

05:33 fit a pair of Pirelli P0 tyres. I did question them about the decision and they said that they

05:38 didn't fit Pirelli P0s because that's what comes on the Dogma. To me though, that doesn't really

05:45 stack up. The F series is designed to sit below the Dogma, but that doesn't mean that you can't

05:50 fit top tier tyres, especially when you consider how much this bike is likely going to cost.

05:56 Really, Pinarello is forcing the end user to upgrade those tyres right from the get go. New

06:02 tyres really would help this bike. And even though the wheels aren't great, it would be a step in the

06:06 right direction. Other things that I'm not the biggest fan of is that as the bike sizes get

06:12 bigger, the frame starts to look a little bit weird. To my eye at least, the smaller frame sizes

06:18 definitely look much better. And luckily, I ride quite a small frame, so it works out well for me.

06:23 But for some of my colleagues, the shapes do start to look a little unwieldy.

06:28 Lastly, as I mentioned earlier, the bike comes alive at speed. It's a real joy to pilot on the

06:34 descents, climbs and open flat sections. However, when riding around town or just at more sociable

06:40 paces, it doesn't feel quite as special. It feels rather normal and a bit samey to everything else.

06:46 Now, perhaps this is too harsh and the same argument could be applied to most other top

06:51 end road bikes out there. But when you compare the two different personalities of the F-Series,

06:56 the difference in riding experience is really large. If anything, it just makes me want to

07:02 push harder to chase that feeling you get from riding fast. I think if you do buy the F,

07:08 then bear in mind that you'll probably want to change the wheels and maybe get something a bit

07:13 more premium and something that's just more attuned to the level that that bike is on.

07:17 New wheels, I think, would help the bike at slower speeds. And actually,

07:21 I think they would also allow you to push even harder at higher ones. I believe new tyres are

07:27 a must. Again, you'll want range topping rubber to make sure that you get the most out of that bike.

07:32 Happily, the F-Series has clearance for 30mm wide tyres and the X-Series has clearance for 32mm

07:38 wide tyres. So you're not going to be limited by the frame. The F-Seven is the model that makes

07:44 the most sense to me. I believe that anyone wanting Dura-Ace would probably just take the

07:49 extra step and buy a full blown Dogma. The F-Seven second tier Ultegra groupset matches the second

07:56 tier nature of the F-Series. The models that sit below the F-Seven simply provide more value and

08:02 allow more people to get onto the F-Series platform. But my recommendation of upgrading

08:07 the wheels and tyres will probably ring true even sooner into any ownership experience.

08:12 At the moment, I've only ridden the F-Series, but the X-Series will be coming in for test

08:18 very soon. Given that the X has roughly taken the Dogma geometry, but reduced the reach by

08:24 around 13mm and increased the stack by over 30mm, it should make for a fairly relaxed

08:31 riding experience. But the effects of those changes remains to be seen.

08:36 We have seen pricing for the bike and I've put a little graphic on screen so you can have a look

08:41 at some of the build options offered. The entry level F-Five comes in at £5,250 here in the UK,

08:48 which is less than half the price of a Dogma F. So, if you've always wanted something that

08:53 performs like the range topping F, then maybe the F-Five is for you. Different bikes will be made

08:59 available in different parts of the world and this table also doesn't show all builds that Pinarello

09:04 will be making available. But, parking that to one side, what do you make of this new range of bikes?

09:10 Have the new changes made the range any easier to understand? Do they still pull on your heart

09:16 strings as much as the Dogma might do? Let me know down in the comments below. If you enjoyed

09:21 the video, then please do drop it a like, subscribe to the channel for more content,

09:24 and I'll see you again very soon.

The First Affordable Pinarello? | Cycling Weekly

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