Pinarello Dogma XC Ride Review

Pinarello Dogma XC Ride Review

Written by Isaac Boyden, on January 22, 2025

Bike companies with a road heritage moving into mountain bikes seems like a trend, right? Cervelo released the ZFS-5 and ZHT-5, and other companies on the scene followed suit. This is no surprise when you look at the race scene and the number of athletes who have become multidisciplinary.

Both MTB Olympic gold medalists from 2024, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Tom Pidcock, will focus on the road for 2025. Ferrand-Prévot returns to the road signing with Team Jumbo Lease-A-Bike.  Alan Hatherly, the 2024 MTB world champion, has also swapped programs to one that will provide him the stability of a road team while still competing in a more condensed MTB schedule. The list of MTB riders making this switch seems to be growing. As MTB racing is only lucrative to a very small group, several of the multi-faceted riders riders have been focusing on road racing and only doing a handful of mountain races.

Very few riders, however, start in road and decide to do MTB in addition. Tom Pidcock is one of these riders. Starting in road racing and then adding Cyclocross (CX) and MTB to his repertoire, Pidcock is one those riders who can do it all. He has two Olympic MTB golds, several CX world cup wins, a Strade Bianche victory and a Tour de France stage as well.

Pidcock, racing for Ineos Grenadiers the last several years, won the 2021 Olympic Gold MTB medal on an unnamed bike (a BMC Fourstroke stealthed-out in all black), as Pinarello had stepped away from MTB. Knowing Pidcock would continue to put his stamp on the MTB scene, Pinarello jumped back into the competitive mountain bike world.

The Dogma XC 

Enter the Dogma XC. Pinarello's engineers working with the INEOS Grenadiers, designed this bike largely with Tom and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot in mind. Even before it was released to the public, the Dogma XC won both world titles in 2023 showcasing its capabilities.

Well, is it just another flex-stay XC bike? Well, yes, but it's not quite as copy-and-paste as a lot of bikes these days. Sometimes, when we look at four new XC bikes side by side, it's hard to tell which is which besides the paint and branding. As expected from an Italian company, Pinarello gave the Dogma XC a very distinctive shape that is instantly recognizable as a Pinarello. The kink in the top tube and the nose on the headtube scream Pinarello.

Probably the most unique thing on this bike is the design of the rear triangle. Most XC flex-stay bikes have a triangle with a “bridge” in it. Usually, that sits right behind the BB. This bridge is a carbon piece that connects the left and right sides of the frame to increase stiffness and hold the bike together. The Pinarello does not. Instead, it has a half-axle shaft on both sides (a Hirth Axle) pinned together in the middle of the frame above the BB. This shaft is oversized to increase stiffness. No bridge opens up more room for tire and mud clearance on this bike. For those bike mechanics out there, if you have ever worked on a Campagnolo Ultra-Torque crankset, this triangle fits together in a very similar way to the Campy spindle.

Speaking of the BB, the BB on this bike is very unique, featuring an extra support strut in the frame. This helps further increase stiffness in the frame. 

This frame also has adjustable rear travel offering a choice of 90mm or 100mm. The shock's mounting strut can be unbolted and moved forward to increase travel. This bike also requires a Most XC one-piece flat handlebar, routing the brake, dropper, and lockout cables through the bar into the frame. 

Climbing

The best way to sum up the Dogma XC's ability to climb is “Oh my.” This is by far one of the most responsive under pedal power bikes out there. Sprinting, quick line changes, navigating tech with quick pedal responses— all of it. So snappy, it almost feels like a hardtail. The bike shines on our Local Utah climbs such as Dry Creek, Jenny’s, or Armstrong. Long climbs with punchy sections, smoother surfaces, and tight switchbacks are perfect for this bike. Power transfer is as good as it gets, and the steering is very direct. In the same manner,  the stiffness of the frame holds speed through fast rolling sections. Pedaling out of a corner, the bike's quickness urges the rider to stay on the throttle. 

On technical climbs, this bike might start to get outgunned by some more progressive and less "aggressive" XC bikes. But this depends on what makes the climb technical. Climbs with technical straight features, like up-rolls on rocks, bumpy rock gardens, or root fields, may benefit from the additional travel of a 120mm XC bike. The extra tire traction provided by more travel can help in these sections.  The Dogma's stiff rear triangle might cause more frequent slip-outs in sandy or wet conditions. In that same breath, the Dogma will perform better on technical climbs with tighter corners. The longer wheelbase of "bigger" XC bikes may get hung up here, while this bike will power through and help maintain speed.

All of this makes a lot of sense considering the riders and the type of riding (racing) this bike was designed for. Riders such as Tom Pidcock have incredible bike handling skills and demand a bike that immediately reacts to any input. This bike's ability to react is magnified by this bike’s low stack height and “over the BB” pedal feel. 

This bike makes very quick work of smooth descents, faster than most. The stiffer nature of the bike and suspension curve means it gives more back to the rider when pumping through rollers or into the lips of a jump. Pumping through a smoother section feels super fast, almost speeding the bike up. Jumping and keeping the bike low for speed feels like second nature; getting the bike into the air is no problem. In tight corners, this bike is low and stable. While most modern XC bikes have a 42mm BB drop (in size large), the Dogma XC has 46mm of drop. This extended BB drop means a lower center of gravity for the rider compared to the center of the wheel axles. Cornering, high speeds, and getting over the front of the bike all feel natural. In other words, it offers more of an in-the-bike sense 

Where this bike does require some finesse is in rough chunk. For the same reason it's such a fun climber, the Dogma XC is extremely stiff in descents, and it seems like you are only using a portion of the available rear travel. Even when looking down to check the sag ring and notice that the bike is still utilizing all of the available travel, it still feels like less. Remember earlier when we said this bike climbs like a hardtail? That might generally apply to descending too. It almost feels more like a hard tail on the downhills than it feels like a normal 120mm XC bike. The Dogma XC rides and racers closer to the Specialized Epic World Cup. In chunk and rough terrain, the rear end of this bike tends to skip at high speeds and does not quite have the same traction or relief. But just like the Epic World Cup, there is a very specific use case for this bike and the riders it suits. Because while it does descend like my hardtail, the rear shock does break into its travel and give way to reduce bumps and hold traction when really needed. Going off a drop or plowing through a rock garden, the shock opens up and helps with the roughness, but lower-speed compressions, like corners, have a slightly tougher time of causing the suspension layout to move farther into the travel. This bike very much favors a rider with a very direct and skillful descending technique.

Wrapping Up

Overall, the Dogma XC is a fantastic piece of equipment, one of the best climbing and most responsive XC bikes out there. It is so clearly designed for the demands of top-level racing.  Even the geometry is suggestive of this, with an extremely long reach and a long stem, to where the bikes feels more similar to Pidcock's CX and or road bikes. The stiff suspension leverage ratio (2:1) and short chainstays make descending on this bike a very active experience. Watching the world cups and seeing how they just rip the rock-gardens and technical sections just showcases the riding skills of Pidock and Ferrand-Prévot.

Climbing on this bike feels like a rocket ship and is sure to get you local KOMs. This bike is great for anyone looking for an aggressive race bike or for smoother race courses in general that would favor a stiffer pedaling platform. Events such as Wasatch 50, Tahoe Trail 100, Sea Otter, Leadville or Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival will all bring out the best in Pinarello's Dogma XC.

Looking to build one of these for yourself? Reach out to info@contenderbicycles.com


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