First Look: New Pinarello Dogma XC Race Bike for Pidcock and PFP

What do the women’s marathon, short track, and cross-country mountain bike world champion (that’s one person) and the men’s cross-country gold medal Olympian have in common?

Until recently, they didn’t have a team mountain bike.

This year, Ineos Grenadiers rider and world champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and multi-disciplinarian teammate Tom Pidcock will hop off their BMC frames and onto a brand new, full suspension Pinarello Dogma XC development bike.

The bike will officially debut at the opening round of the UCI Cross-Country World Cup in Nové Město, Czech Republic this weekend, although both riders have already been spotted riding — and winning — on it.

Ferrand-Prévot won the French Cup XCO race a few weeks ago, and Pidcock last weekend’s Swiss Cup on the bike, which was then camouflaged. According to Pinarello, further testing will take place throughout 2023 with both riders continuing to be heavily involved in its development.

“To be working with Pinarello on developing the bike is super cool,” said PFP. “It was exciting to receive and test the bike, my first impression is they’ve developed a remarkably fast bike. It has a good mix of lightness, responsiveness and rigidity, and allows you to really put the power down. Pinarello’s engineers are constantly asking us for feedback and it’s fun being part of the bike’s progression.”

Frame Details

As part of the Italian brand’s renewed focus on MTB, Pinarello began developing the bike in autumn 2022 and underwent an intense period of testing with Ferrand-Prévot, Pidcock, and the Ineos Grenadiers’ technical team. The brand recruited a dedicated internal MTB R&D and kinematics team that analyzed Pidcock’s feedback and data from his two previous years of mountain bike testing and competition.

The study highlighted the requirements Pidcock felt were needed to produce a race bike capable of competing at the very highest level and being able to withstand his and Ferrand-Prévot’s powerful riding styles.

Pidcock requested extreme stiffness in the rear triangle and bottom bracket to offer maximum reactivity, simple yet progressive kinematics to optimize travel and rebound, the ability to match suspension travel to the unique demands of each circuit, and lightness paired with exceptional drive and handling capabilities to excel on technical descents.

While both Ferrand-Prévot and Pidcock will both race the same frame and components, each of their Dogma’s will come with a personal paint job. The gold flourishes on Pidcock’s bike are a tribute to his gold medal-winning performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, while the rainbow stripes on Ferrand-Prévot’s model honor her four World XC Championships victory in Les Gets, France, last August (she also won the gravel).

With regards to Nové Město, both Pidcock and Ferrand-Prévot are well-versed in winning in the Czech Republic. Pidcock is the defending XCO champion having beaten Vlad Dascalu to victory there in 2022, and Ferrand-Prévot has two wins at the hallowed venue.

“I’m really looking forward to trying this new Pinarello Dogma XC out at Nové Město,” Pidcock said. “I got my first look at it back in March and my initial impressions were positive. It handles brilliantly, is super-responsive, and ultimately is fast.

A modular shock mount allows the bike to be set up with either 90 or 100mm of rear travel depending on the shock size.

The brake line and derailleur housing are routed through the headset, but there’s still a port in the side of the frame for the electronic suspension.

The Dogma XC will be available commercially in March 2024, and a hardtail frame is in development.