The Dogma Canon Continues With the New Pinarello Dogma F12

The Dogma Canon Continues With the New Pinarello Dogma F12

Written by Cody Wignall, on March 03, 2021

Few bikes are more sought after than the Pinarello Dogma. It's not usually the bike that everyone needs, but it's certainly the bike that everyone wants. From the start, the Dogma was the culmination of Pinarello marching to the beat of their own drum, eschewing all number of trends to build the best race bike they can. The Dogma F-line of bikes (F8, F10, F12) is a model of success, both in Grand Tours and as a race bike that you can easily live with day-to-day. It's safe to say that after our first look and quick ride, the new Pinarello Dogma F12 is once again among the best road bikes available anywhere. Pinarello Dogma F12 Contender Bicycles - Salt Lake City, Utah People love to complain about the chase for incremental gains. The outgoing Dogma F10 touted small improvements in aerodynamics, stiffness, and ride quality, and while many keyboard warriors rushed to lament the lack of substantial upgrades, we found the Dogma F10 to have noticeable differences that made for a much more well-rounded bicycle than before. Sadly, if you thought Pinarello didn’t go far enough with the F10, then the F12 isn’t for you. It's a continual refinement of what Pinarello sees as their ideal race road bike, with better balance than before without taking away from what makes the old bikes great. Pinarello’s focus with the Dogma may always be with performance at the highest levels in mind, but they were also mindful of the Dogma's versatility, though it may not be what we usually think to be traditionally "versatile." Both F12 rim and F12 Disk fits a larger tire, but the Italian brand has designed the bike to be both forward-thinking while using the most recent standards of the time. It also works cleanly with mechanical and electronic drivetrains, including Shimano Di2, Campagnolo EPS, and SRAM eTap. The frame is designed to work best with the Most Talon Ultra handlebar (not pictured, more on that later), but any handlebar and stem combination works nicely with the frame. Pinarello Dogma F12 Contender Bicycles - Salt Lake City, Utah Here’s the nitty-gritty: F12 uses Torayca T1100 1K Dream carbon fiber, which Pinarello says has the highest tensile strength of any carbon in the business. The new F12 Disk is a claimed 10% laterally stiffer, 10% lighter, with a 7.3% reduction in drag totaling an 8-watt improvement over the Dogma F10 Disk at 40 km/h, or one second gained per kilometer over the last bike. The F12 Disk’s updated fork resists twisting by 40% more under hard braking, resulting in more stable handling while descending at speed. Both rim and disc-brake forks are more aerodynamic than before, though the Disk fork has 15.7% less drag than the F10 Disk. Pinarello Dogma F12 Details - Contender Bicycles Both rim brake and disc brake models fit a 28c tire with room to spare. Part of that is thanks to the F10 rim brake going to direct mount brakes, which provide greater tire clearance and up to 25% better braking in the wet. Thirteen sizes are available like before, though sizes 53 cm and up feature a headtube shortened by 5 mm. Like the F10, these are small but significant improvements for pro riders at the speeds they’re accustomed to riding their bikes. How did they go about making all of these updates? Part of it comes down to a simple refinement of ethos. A lot of energy was put into the bike's Flat Back tubing profiles, now slightly narrower in width to improve aerodynamics without sacrificing strength. Their asymmetric chainstays are now more square in profile to improve stiffness without adding weight, and the non-drive side chainstay drops down and curves upward near the rear caliper. The bottom bracket area is redesigned to accommodate lowering the seat tube water bottle cage 5 mm, as well as to improve airflow around the pedals and crankset. Pinarello Dogma F12 Integrated Cables - Contender Bicycles A big part of the Dogma’s aero gains comes not only in the frame but the new MOst Talon Ultra handlebar. The new integrated handlebar-stem combo allowed Pinarello to house as much of the cable inside of the frame as possible (F12 Disk has every cable hidden internally, rim brake models have the front brake cable peeking out), with a channel for the cables to go through the rear of the stem and directly into the frame. Combined with the new handlebar and super stout headtube, Pinarello claims 85% less cable drag than the F10 Disk, with 5% of drag reduction attributed specifically to the handlebar stem combo. We’ve always had an affinity for the Pinarello Dogma, even in its days as a magnesium wûnder bike. Each bike was better than the last, amounting to the Dogma F10, which struck an excellent balance of light on its feet handling while feeling extremely solid under the rider. It was a bike that made the rider feel that even in the heat of a difficult ride that there is always more to give. With the changes made to the Dogma F12, we are confident that the trend will continue. Pinarello Dogma F12 Stays - Contender Bicycles The Pinarello Dogma F12 will be available at the beginning of June 2019, initially as complete bikes in Disk configurations with SRAM RED eTap AXS or Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9100 builds. Frame-only options are available in mid-August in rim brake and Disk options; the Most Talon Ultra integrated handlebar-stem combos will be available alongside framesets. This RED eTap AXS-equipped bike features Zipp 303 Firecrest wheels and the new MOst Lynx Carbon saddle, though it is missing the MOst Talon Ultra handlebar stem combo. Pinarello Dogma F12 SRAM Red AXS Crank/Derailleur - Contender Bicycles We’ll have a number of complete Dogma F12 builds and framesets available as soon as they are available. Contact us for availability, either by phone during business hours, or any time at info@contenderbicycles.com.

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