From the Montello to the Paris to the Dogma 65.1, F8 and F10, Pinarello continues to develop and refine their top of line road bike frameset. The current version, the Dogma F12 is no exception.
Considering a new road bike/upgrade to the Dogma F12? There are five major improvements that this F12 review will center around - developments that keep Pinarello at the forefront of modern road bike design.
1. The first is the ability to run wider tires. Science has proven that, in the real world, wider tires run at a lower pressure are more comfortable, smoother, faster, grippier, ...just better. The declared max tire width is 28mm. *depending on specific wheel/rim and tire combination
2. The second emulates a trend that we’ve seen a lot in the last two years - completely hidden cables. (The Rim brake frameset features a single cable to the front brake.) Aesthetically, the look and feel of hidden cables is amazing. It removes the detracting mess of lines allowing you to focus on the simple beauty of the bike. Pinarello design offers this magic to mechanical as well as electronic groupsets. Headset spacers have been designed to smoothly connect and integrate the various Most stem and handlebar combinations to the frameset. The spacers ‘snap’ together or apart so raising or lowering the cockpit doesn’t require fully disassembling the cable routing.
3. The third improvement revolves around braking, both rim and disc version framesets. For riders who prefer a more traditional braking experience, Pinarello increased braking power by using direct mount brakes. Since direct mount brakes are braced between two points, instead of one, they are stiffer, offering greater stopping power. Direct mount also capitalizes on the Dogma F12’s larger tire clearance. Most brands can fit a 28mm tire and some can fit up to 30. *depending on specific wheel/rim and tire combination
With the disc version, Pinarello designed its Dogma F12 Disk around the fact that disc brakes exert very different forces on a frame. During testing, Pinarello found the front fork tends to deviate to the left under heavy braking load. The Dogma F12 Disk’s new fork shape controls this twist, reducing it by up to 40% when compared to the Dogma F10.
The left chainstay also received a new shape; one that differs entirely from the drive side. A prime example of Pinarello’s Think Asymmetric approach to frame design and function. There’s a whole lot more on the right side of a bike than on the left side. No reason to mirror the two sides.
4. The fourth improvement is a more aerodynamic frame. The new Dogma F12 saves 8 watts at a very achievable 40kph (24mph), which translates into 1 second every kilometer. Much of these savings comes from hiding the cables and cleaning up the front end. More aero gains come from a newly shaped headtube, downtube and a lowered seat tube water bottle (tucking it behind the one in front of it). All this results in a 7% aero increase over the F10, more in crosswinds.
5. The final improvement is stiffness. As mentioned before, Pinarello looks at a frame as an asymmetrical problem and then tackles it that way. Driveside and non-driveside have different needs and therefore different solutions, thus creating the asymmetric lines Pinarello bikes are known for. For the Dogma F12, Pinarello strengthened the BB area and drive side chain stay with new tube shapes which resulted in a 10% increase in stiffness while dropping weight compared to the F10. An unpainted F12 frame of the same size, weighs 820 g (rim) and 840g (disc).
SUMMARY: Everything added up, the Pinarello Dogma F12 is more aerodynamic, lighter and stiffer than the Pinarello Dogma F10, a bike with an already astounding reputation. Pinarello’s generous use of curves, angles and shapes make this an extremely easily recognizable brand even if there was no name on the frameset.
The short answer to the question; is this a worthwhile upgrade from the bike I have? ...an unequivocal YES.
La Bicicletta Toronto is an authorized Pinarello dealer.
Contact us to discuss your custom build.
La Bicicletta Toronto: 416-762-2679 or via e-mail info@labicicletta.com
See our PINARELLO CUSTOM BUILD INFO page for more details.
