Pinarello is a relative newcomer to the world of XC racing. Until 2021 the Italian brand had most of its attention focused on producing road and cyclocross bikes for the INEOS Grenadiers World Tour team. However, when Tom Pidcock started making waves on the cross-country World Cup circuit, Pinarello answered the call with the release of Pinarello’s Dogma XC FS full-suspension race bike. The Yorkshire-Italian combo has since proved to be one of the dominant forces in the world’s biggest XC races, being ridden to Olympic gold in Paris last summer.

The Pinarello Dogma XC HT is a distinctive design, developed to maximise power transfer.

Pauline Ferrand-Prevot pushed for Pinarello to develop a hardtail too, and in the run-up to the 2023 World Championships, Pinarello would bolster its MTB offerings with the announcement of the Dogma XC HT. Sharing many of the signature features of the full-suspension bike, the hardtail would quickly prove itself to be equally prolific. In the hands of Ferrand-Prevot, the Dogma XC HT would secure both XCC and XCO 2023 World Champion titles before going on to win XCO Gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics a year later.

Despite the Dogma XC HT’s short time on the scene, it has quite the palmares already, proving to be the perfect tool for the job when powered by Pidcock or Ferrand-Prevot. You can now buy a Dogma XC HT of your own, but does the Olympic-winning performance translate to grassroots success when piloted by a mere mortal? I took to the trails to find out.

An aggressive riding position mimics the road bike set-up ridden by Tom Pidcock.

Pinarello Dogma XC HT need to know

• Striking asymmetric carbon frame design
• Ultra-stiff bottom bracket drives every drop of power to the rear wheel
• Integrated Most Talon handlebar and stem
• Two spec levels with prices starting at £6,200
• My test bike weighed just 9kg

Frame and Geometry

The Dogma XC HT shares much of the same striking design cues as its full-suspension counterpart, with a frame that was developed heavily utilising direct feedback from Pidcock and Ferrand-Prevot.

The triangulated BB area is designed to enhance lateral stiffness.

The front end features the same slightly hunched, broad top tube and large box-section down tube. Moving to the bottom bracket area, the Dogma XC HT has Pinarello’s distinctive and unique triangulated junction, which is said to bolster stiffness. Just like Pinarello’s road bikes, the rear end of the XC bike has an asymmetric design in which the left-hand chainstay is reinforced to manage forces from the drivetrain. Where the two mountain bikes differ significantly is the seatstay configuration. Gone are the linkages of the full-suspension system, and in its place is a bold offset seatstay configuration which pushes the asymmetric concept to the extreme. While the non-drive side seatstay joins the seat tube in line with the top tube, the drive side kinks close to the centrepoint to meet the seat tube below the non-drive side seatstay and top tube junction.

The hunchback top tube and negative rise stem creates a low front end – just as the pros like it.

The XC hardtail frame comes in two carbon lay-ups that are identical in shape and spec. The Dogma XC HT bike I tested uses a premium Toray M40J carbon weave and is claimed to weigh a respectable 960g, available in either a True Red (tested) or True White colour scheme. There is also a second-tier XC HT, which is built using TORAY T900 UD, and is equipped with a lower-spec build for tighter budgets, and comes in a True Carbon colour, aka black.

Without all the rear suspension linkages in the way, the Dogma XC HT has a standard bottle cage arrangement, with bosses on the down tube and seat tube. There is clearance for a 40t chainring if you want to start hustling gravel bikes, and the stays splay wide enough to fit a 2.25in tyres comfortably. Cables are routed internally, entering through the Most handlebar. Due to the nature of MTB controls, and the positioning of the ports, it’s not the neatest solution as the cables and hoses need to loop down a little to enter the handlebar. There’s a 60º steering lock built into the frame, although it would benefit from a few more degrees, as I found it to be a little restrictive on very tight turns. While your local bike mechanic won’t be impressed with the added fuss of all the cable management, they will be relieved to hear Pinarello has specced a threaded BSA bottom bracket. Frame protection has been kept to a minimum to keep the bike as svelte as possible, with only the chainstay receiving some rubberised protection.

The asymmetric seatstays are also a stiffness-enhancing feature.

Geometry is noticeably more conservative than the numbers seen from many other brands recently, with Specialized’s Epic 8 and Cannondale Scalpel verging on trail bike figures. It’s possibly a bit of an unfair comparison though as the Dogma XC HT is marginally more progressive than the vast majority of XC hardtails, such as the Canyon Exceed CFR and Cervelo ZHT5 which still stay true to more classic XC shapes. The Dogma XC HT’s head angle starts at 67.5º (small) and steepens in 0.25º increments across the four frame sizes, with my medium test bike at 67.75º. The 58mm bottom bracket drop ensures a low centre of gravity and the effective seat angle is measured at 75º (74.59º for the small) although, due to the offset seat tube, this will become steeper if your saddle height is lower.

Headset routed cables creates a streamlined front end, at the expense of easy serviceability.

Where the Dogma XC HT gets interesting is the fit. The Dogma has a longer reach than other hardtail rivals (like Mathieu van der Poel’s Canyon Exceed) because Pidcock wanted to mimic the riding position of his road bike, albeit with a shorter stem to improve the steering. My medium test bike has a 450mm reach paired with a low 602mm stack and short, size-specific chainstays (425mm), with the combination giving an overall wheelbase of 1,141mm. Compared to the equivalent-sized Canyon Exceed, the Dogma XC HT’s wheelbase is 20mm longer, which gives an interesting mix of stability and agility when descending – more on that later.

Shimano XTR brakes co-exist with the SRAM T-Type transmission.

Components

Pinarello only gives the ‘Dogma’ name to its top-spec race bikes, so although you aren’t getting the Suntour Tact electronic suspension featured on Pidcock and Ferrand-Prevot’s bikes, the Dogma XC HT still comes decked with components ready to duke it out between the tape.

Up front is Fox’s new 32 Factory Step-Cast fork, featuring the new stiffer reverse arch and 100mm of travel using the latest Grip SL damper. The Grip SL damper gets an upgraded base valve and shim stack for better damping control, and three-position compression adjustment via a handlebar remote.

The drivetrain is a complete SRAM XX SL transmission, including the machined-out XX SL cassette and flat-top chain. Rather than go with SRAM for stopping, a set of single-pot XTR brakes takes care of speed management. To keep things moving fast and efficiently, Pinarello uses DT Swiss XRC 1200 rolling stock wrapped in Maxxis Rekon Race EXO tyres, 2.35in front and 2.25in rear.

Pinarello pairs all the Dogma XC bikes with a carbon-integrated handlebar and stem from its in-house brand Most. The Talon XC handlebar is 760mm wide with a 60mm stem length (80mm on L and XL) that has an aggressive 17º negative rise.

My only complaint about the spec is the carbon Most seat post. While I can understand the pros racing on a fixed seatpost, for average riders (and racers) a dropper post should be a pre-requisite. Particularly on a hardtail. I also found the 350mm seat post too short for my 760mm saddle height. Opting for a large frame would have resolved this, although there is also a 20mm jump in reach and a taller stack height to consider. In fairness, I am a particularly long-legged and short-torsoed individual, so this won’t be an issue for most riders.

I don’t normally get bikes to test that weigh less than quoted, but the Dogma XC HT came in under Pinarello’s stated 9.2kg weight. According to the scales of truth, my medium-sized test bike weighed in at just a few grams over 9kg (including one carbon Most bottle cage and a Most GPS mount).

The Dogma is happy enough on smooth, fast, flow trails.

How it rides

In short, the Pinarello Dogma XC HT is a very responsive and aggressive XC bike, and it’s obvious why this has been such an effective tool for the XC division of INEOS Grenadiers to dominate the biggest cross-country races of the last few years. However, it has also been uncompromisingly tailored to perfectly match the capabilities of two elite riders, and that means I had to be on the top of my game to make it work on technical sections.

The stiff frame and short back end encourage an aggressive, out-of-the-saddle climbing style.

Climbing

The Dogma XC HT excels on the climbs, and the harder I attacked them, the more engaging the bike became. The frame stiffness, seat tube angle, and short rear end encouraged an out-the-saddle climbing style, rather than staying seated and spinning. Torquey stomps on the pedals instantly delivered forward momentum, giving the lightweight Dogma XC HT an eagerness when pointing uphill, and an edge when going wheel-to-wheel in the charge for the finish line.

I did find the effective seat angle felt a touch slack though, and I would’ve preferred to be able to get a little further forward over the pedals, particularly on steeper climbs, which demand you to stay seated and tap out the watts. Otherwise, the slammed cockpit and and stretched, road bike-inspired front end, make the Dogma XC HT feel superbly efficient on fast, smooth sections.

A steeper seat angle would possibly help as the trail gradient tilts more acutely.

Awkward, undulating, and technical singletrack sections pose no issues for the Dogma XC HT, and I was able to dispatch them fast and efficiently. The short rear end made it feel like the rear wheel was tucked between my legs, so it was easy to navigate up and over awkward steps and roots before quickly getting back on the power. The compact rear end also helps negotiate switchbacks, although the 60º steering lock does act as a limiter on the tightest hairpins.

Getting loose on the Dogma XC is not for the fainthearted.

Descending

When it comes to descending, the Dogma XC HT can be demanding and unforgiving in its nature. Devoid of rider aids, like a slack head angle, or long stability-enhancing chainstays, it requires poise and precision from the rider to get the best out of it on technical trails.

If you have the bike handling skills to finesse the Dogma XC HT, it’s possible to descend extremely fast, although even a slight lull in concentration and everything can become unstuck. The tight rear end and long front centre can be used to pop between lines and over rough rooty sections, assuming you have the confidence, speed, and line choice-foresight to do so.

Adding a dropper post would give more freedom of movement, and margin for error, on features like jumps.

You will need to be assertive when making these moves though, as the aggressive rider position gives little hope of recovery if things start going wrong. A more conservative head angle and short rear-end means the perfect body position was vital to keep pressure between the tyres and maintain grip, leaving little room for error. The lack of a dropper post only amplifies this tightrope walk, as any shifting of my hips needed to be done while avoiding the saddle.

Without rear suspension, it’s not the most forgiving tool for rough and technical XC descents.

On smoother, faster singletrack the Dogma XC HT I could confidently open up, injecting speed into trails that otherwise feel slow. The stout fork and stiff frame allowed me to whip the bike around supportive berms at pace, and pump rollers to generate more speed. Cornering confidence was boosted by the low-slung bottom bracket, giving the Dogma XC HT a planted feel when committing to fast turns.

When you ride on the edge, sometimes you’e going to fall off. The Dogma bites the dust.

For clarity, during testing, I had a crash that resulted in the frame being damaged, although I don’t think the cause or the outcome should be reflected in my overall judgment of the Dogma XC HT in this review. The incident occurred when cornering, although it’s hard to diagnose exactly what happened. I suspect the front tyre rolled off the rim, burping air and causing the front of the bike to tuck, dramatically tossing me to the ground. While I rolled out with just cuts and bruises, the frame wasn’t so lucky. Even at slower speeds, these crashes can generate huge amounts of force, and in this instance it resulted in the handlebars rotating past the steering lock and the fork crown impacting the down tube, which damaged the carbon. Considering I was riding well within the limits of the bike and my skill level on a trail I have ridden many times before, I think it’s only fair to chalk this down to bad luck.