This weekend sees the season opener for the 2022 UCI XC World Series in Nové Město, Czech Republic, and as well as some of the fastest, fittest racers on the planet, you’ll be able to get an eyeful of the new Pinarello Dogma XC mountain bike.

Need to know:

• Carbon fibre front and rear triangle
• Asymmetric frame with patent-pending split rear triangle design
• Dropper seatpost compatible
• Designed to work with two suspension setups: 100mm/90mm and 120mm/100mm, front and rear
• Compatible with stages power metres
• UDH and 1×12 transmission compatible
• Fits two water bottles

Tom Pidcock will be racing the new Dogma XC at the Nové Město round

Pinarello states that this new bike represents a return to mountain biking for a brand that has been synonymous with road cycling and racing in recent years, not least because it’s been the bike sponsor for the Ineos Grenadiers. That team officially branched out into mountain biking in 2022 with Tom Pidcock as its only – and very successful – rider. Pidcock had already made his debut in the XC World Cup the previous year. For 2023, the Ineos Grenadiers welcomed its first female rider in the form of four-time World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. Both are racing the new bike at Nové Město this weekend.

“Seeing Tom and Pauline competing on the Dogma XC is going to be a landmark moment for everyone at Pinarello,” says Fausto Pinarello. “We’ve worked tirelessly over the last months to build a bike that meets the demands of two of the very best cyclists on the planet, and we can’t wait to see how they ride it at Nové Město.”

Both Pidcock and Ferrand-Prévot have been instrumental in the development of this bike, with work beginning back in autumn 2022, and will continue to provide feedback and testing as refinements continue throughout the season. Currently, this bike is only a development model and as such isn’t available for retail, but Pinarello states the goal is to make it commercially available for March 2024.

Nové Město has positive associations for both riders, with Ferrand-Prévot scoring multiple podiums and wins over her career at the Czech Republic venue, and Pidcock securing an impressive four for four golds. Can they both add to their tallies with the new Dogma XC this weekend? Pinarello will certainly be hoping so, and based on recent performance – a recent win at the French Cup for Ferrand-Prévot, and at the Swiss Cup for Pidcock – things are looking positive.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot in action on the Dogma XC

Designed specifically for XC racing

Anyone who’s been following the XC World Cup over the last few years will know that it’s tougher, more technical (and more brilliant to watch) than ever. Riders face jumps, drops, chunky rock gardens, messy root sections and punishing climbs. Such is the technicality of trails that many XC riders have been getting a little extra coaching from their downhill and enduro-racing compatriots, the better to handle what the courses throw at them. And that’s before we get into the length of the race, where fitness, stamina and efficiency are critical.

As such, XC bikes have a very specific set of performance requirements, and Pinarello took Pidcock’s feedback from two years of racing and bike testing as the starting point for this bike. These included extreme stiffness in the rear triangle and bottom bracket for maximum reactivity and efficiency, progressive kinematics and light weight; so far so normal. But interestingly Pidcock also asked for a bike that could have suspension travel tweaked to suit the demands that different race venue circuits placed on bike and rider.

“I’m really looking forward to trying this new Pinarello Dogma XC out at Nové Město. 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,” Pidcock says. “It’s a bike that’s still in development, and it’s going to be fun working with Pinarello to make it even better. I’ve never really been involved in the development process of a bike before, feeding my thoughts and suggestions back in, but it’s something I’m definitely enjoying and Pinarello’s engineers are committed to producing bikes that help us win races.”

This adjustability has been built through the suspension shock mounting. The connection point below the top tube allows for different shock lengths to be fitted, offering different amounts of travel. So built up with a 190x45mm shock, the bike runs with 100mm front travel and 90mm rear. With a 210x50mm shock, travel can be boosted to run with 120mm front and 100mm rear, which is ideal for some of the more technical trails riders will face in the season ahead.

That stiff and sprightly feel has been engineered in with the physical design of the bottom bracket area, which also accommodates an oversized bearing and pivot point for the rear triangle.

Pinarello has also opted for flex stays. Superfluous you might think, what with there being a rear shock and all, but the brand says that these, in combination with the bike’s geometry, give a more direct feel between rider and bike, plus save weight and increase stiffness.

There’s more than flex stays going on with that rear triangle though; it is in fact two ‘semi-triangles’ – triangles missing one side – fitted to a pivot point via two pins which are moulded to the carbon frame. The benefits this design provides are, Pinarello says, better mud and tyre clearance, and reduced chainstay length for snappier, more reactive handling.

The rear triangle also has an asymmetric design with a reinforced left side to counterbalance the forces coming from the drivetrain side, with the goal of better, more balanced energy transfer and greater traction.

Suspension kinematics for cross-country are a delicate balancing act, and will have been refined to give the optimal blend of climbing efficiency and traction but support on technical descents. Pinarello says it has minimised internal system friction by using bushings at high-impact, low rotational force locations in the system, with bearings at low impact, high rotation points.

Other features include dropper seatpost compatibility, 175mm crank length, UDH- and 1×12 transmission compatibility, and flat mount brakes with either 160mm rotors or up to 180mm with an adapter.

And of course, the all-important cockpit, which on the Dogma XC is fully integrated, with integrated cable routing and a special headset bearing with an internal stopper at 60 degrees to prevent the handlebars from twisting around too far.

Paint fit for a World Champion

While Ferrand-Prévot and Pidcock will be riding essentially the same bike down to component level, what will differentiate them is the decoration. Each will have a specific paint job. Pidock’s Dogma XC has gold elements that reference his Olympic gold medal at Tokyo, while Ferrand-Prévot has the rainbow stripes of the World Champion.

“I can’t wait to get out there and race the Dogma XC at Nové Město. To be working with Pinarello on developing the bike is super cool,” shares Ferrand-Prévot. “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. I’m looking forward to going on a journey with this bike and it’ll be great to finally get the chance to ride it at the highest level of competition.”

Looking for something that’s available a little sooner than 2024? Check out our guide to the best cross country mountain bikes. Or if you like short travel but prefer to get a little rowdy, how about our tried, tested and reviewed down-country mountain bikes?