Pinarello

Dogma F8 Limited Edition Ultegra Complete Road Bike - 2015

Even for a brand with Pinarello's storied history, the Dogma F8's dominance on the world stage has been something of a fairy tale. Last year alone, the Dogma carried Team Sky to victory in locales ranging from Willunga to Ghent, Scarborough to Nice, and the Croix de Chaubouret to the Champs E'Lysses. With the release of the Dogma F8 Limited Edition Ultegra Complete Road Bike, we're outfitting Sky's peerless racing platform with Shimano's every-day/race-day drivetrain and a set of spring-proof Mavic wheels at a price that's comparable to the frameset alone. As the frame's winning pedigree makes clear, this bike isn't for the directionless weekend noodler. It's for aspiring champions looking to push their career to Cat 1 and beyond, and a bike like the Dogma F8 may be the glass slipper that completes the transformation from pack-fodder pumpkin to podium-topping Cinderella story.

Pinarello designed the Dogma F8 frameset in collusion with Jaguar, and the frame included here is a special edition that features the Italian tricolor subtly introduced at the stays and fork blades. Maybe this is a nod to Pinarello's heritage, maybe it's an effort for the Italian manufacturer to stress the fact that an Italian cyclist, Viviani, had as many wins on the frameset in 2015 as Sky's GC captain, Froome. Whatever the case, the Special Edition reclaims some of the fame from British hands and repatriates it to the Mediterranean. Despite that difference, this is still the same Dogma that enjoys a claimed 47% improvement in aerodynamics, a 12% increase in rigidity, and 120g decrease in overall weight compared to Pinarello's previous flagship bike, the 65.1.

The Dogma F8's carbon fiber is provided by another proven industry partner, the venerable carbon geniuses at Toray, whose Japanese factory produces arguably the most consistent, highest quality, and safest carbon in the world. The F8 is made from an all-new Toray masterpiece: T1100 1K Dream Carbon with Nano-alloy technology. It's name is impressive, but the material's application in non-cycling industries is even more so. T1100 is the current go-to outer skin for many modern aircrafts, and its stiffness-to-weight ratio is nothing short of stunning. Compared to a 54cm Dogma 65.1 — which was built with Toray's 65HM1K — the F8's T1100K construction weighs nearly 80g less while retaining the same structural characteristics. The savvy engineers at Pinarello and Jaguar didn't waste any of these gains, laying-up the carbon in order to maximize the benefits of these penalty-free weight savings.

The partnership's engineering expertise came into play through the use of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). Using Pinarello's existing 65.1 Dogma as a baseline, the engineers plotted 70 frame configurations and 300 CFD analysis cycles to realize the most versatile aerodynamic tube shape, which has been given the utilitarian name of FlatBack. This is an apt description, as a cross-section view of this shape reveals an ovalized face paired with an abruptly truncated back half. This shape manages the detachment of turbulent lamina at multiple yaw angles, reducing the drag effect of dead air in the tubes' wake.

As important as weight and aerodynamics have become in top-end bikes, power transfer is still the most important aspect of a racing machine, and the F8 doesn't disappoint. Pinarello's asymmetric design philosophy is ever-present in the Dogma F8, as its engineers again restudied the forces in action as a rider sprints on the pedals, pulls on the handlebars, and muscles the bike through corners. FEA (Finite Element Analysis) confirmed that the 65.1 Dogma's asymmetrical design was beneficial in leveling the variances in frame deflection from one side to the other, which is why the F8's tubes have been arranged in a similar, albeit more asymmetric (16% more), layup to better balance drive-side forces.

Aerodynamics and efficiency are combined with comfort in the rear triangle, where a pair of fat, asymmetric chainstays are matched with the new Onda RS F8 seatstays. The seatstays are positioned low — meeting the seat tube farther down — and describe a subtle, sinuous curve as they travel from the seat tube to the rear dropout. This rear triangle makes for increased rear stiffness and better power transfer without sacrificing vertical compliance. It also effectively hides the brake cluster and allows for repositioned seat tube water bottle cage bosses. The hidden brakes confer obvious aerodynamic advantages, and Pinarello claims that the lower bottle position also makes for less drag.

The Dogma F8 Frameset is finished off with a redesigned Onda F8 fork, which enjoys a claimed 10% reduction in weight and a 40% reduction in drag. We suspect that the weight reduction comes courtesy of the T1100 carbon, but the improved aerodynamics are definitely the result of some creative cross breeding between the old Onda fork and the TT-specific Bolide fork. The new Onda's blades are slightly convex, which Jaguar's engineers say creates the sweet spot where air stays attached — reducing the size of the wake — without creating too large a leading face.

For all this talk of developing new technologies, the bottom bracket is one area where Pinarello has thankfully refused to "innovate," sticking with the classic threaded Italian option. It's proven, it's stiff, it's Italian, and it stays. Its internal cable routing also accommodates electronic shifting systems, and the carbon Air8 seatpost accepts both Shimano Di2 and Campagnolo EPS battery packs.

For now, though, the Dogma F8 Special Edition is shipping with a mechanical Shimano Ultegra groupset. It may be heavier than Dura-Ace, but it's virtually impossible to differentiate functionally from its more expensive stablemate. We finish the build with Mavic's Cosmic Elite wheels, which are perfectly race-able but, for the more discerning cyclists, will likely serve as training wheels. When it comes to race day, we're pretty damned picky about our carbon hoops. Given our own strong feelings about what we want under us at the start line, we wouldn't dream of foisting our favorites onto anyone else. The Mavic Cosmic Elites provide the option of going all alloy, all the time, or substituting your own preferred wheels for racing.