A Racing Green Pinarello Dogma F

Rider background.

Firstly, let me set the scene.

Robert (Rob) has been with Ivanhoe Cycles for 10 years now after purchasing his first off the shelf bike (a Cube Agree) in 2013.

Then just 1 year later a Wilier Cento 1 SR custom. Then a Cervelo S3 with rim brakes and Ultegra mechanical.

Not knowing quite how it happened, we were talking about a new roadie.

It had to have electronic gears and disc brakes. And must look good at a café. Must.

This sounds like a reasonable request.

However, Rob is extremely sensitive to any changes, even if those are only by a couple of millimetres.

No I’m not kidding.

Criteria.

Rob’s new bike had to nail the following areas:

Colour (oh, this was so painful but the end result was worth it) and aesthetics.
Maintaining his positioning from his Cervelo because he’s so sensitive to changes.
Comfort (relatively).
Fast.
And it’s gotta be able to climb.

Prep work.

“I don’t like any of the colours on the Pinarello F.”, said the Scotsman on the other end of the phone.

“Well, that’s all there is. Unless you want the Dogma? But that’s gonna break the budget.”, I replied, a touch exasperated.

God help me.

We’d gone over this many, many times.

I’d looked at most of the brands; compared and studied geometry and fit - over weeks. The Pinarello fit best - the most important prerequisite for this whole exercise (and colour).

I knew it’d be fast. But it’s also surprisingly ergonomic for a race bike. And Rob and I wanted an all-rounder; a master of all trades.

“Can you find out what colours they’ve got in the Dogma?”

Sure. I need to be Sainted.

The decision.

Knowing he won’t like any of the available colours because they won’t be a mix of mustard yellow and tomato red (his favourite combination).

I knew his Cervelo S3’s fit measurements and analysing the Dogma F’s geometry, it was the 560 size I was after. The stack dimension was especially critical.

Anyways, a day later I sent him 2 available colours; Electro Blue and Racing Green.

“You liked the blue didn’t you?” It was loud, energetic and cheerful - very Robert.

“No. I love the green. And I think I’m gonna to buy it.”

No. Way.

Racing Green.

After actually looking at the colour more carefully, I understood why.

Racing Green reflects light unusually; almost like it’s got a life of its own.

Sometimes appearing very dark, almost black, and subdued. Other times, you can see it shimmer with metallic green energy - ready for battle, ready to be raced.

And the matte black only heightens the contrast; the darkness to Racing Green’s light.

Life.

So this is the frame I need to bring to life.

And Robert had only been waiting for this moment for years. And cycling is the most important thing in his life - beside Caroline of course.

Time to blow his mind.

LFG.

I didn’t want Rob to spend money needlessly and I was conscious of a budget.

So, I had to spend wisely and put the cashola into components that’d yield a high performance ROI.

Shimano.

I ended up going with Ultegra Di2 because it’s bloody good.

It has the same servo motors that Dura-Ace Di2 has and I wanted that shift speed and compact motor size - without the additional cost.

I paired the Ultegra hydraulic disc brakes with CL900 rotors because they use Shimano’s Freeza design.

See the black bits, extra fins and vents?

They help dissipate heat like crazy fast.

More gains.

Next I wanted the benchmark smooth shifting (especially under load) of Shimano’s HyperGlide+. So I paired an Ultegra cassette with a Dura-Ace chain.

According to Zero Friction Cycling’s testing, it’s the fastest chain on planet Earth - so it was a no brainer.

I wanted to keep the gains coming by using Ceramic Speed’s UFO Drip All-Conditions lube. Because it’s also fast.

What you can’t see is Ceramic Speed’s (Coated) bottom bracket to significantly reduce rotational friction and increase bearing longevity.

Rotor. Something unique.

Readers will notice I’ve used the ALDHU (short for Alpe d'Huez) carbon crank arms from Spanish brand ROTOR. And I’ve paired the crank arms to ROTOR’s ultra stiff direct-mount spider and chainring combination.

You might be asking; why not just go Shimano Dura-Ace?

The ADLHU’s have a better stiffness-to-weight ratio than the Dura-Ace crank arms.

Plus, I wanted to reduce any power-transfer inefficiencies in this area by accessing ROTOR’s 30mm axle (instead of Shimano’s 24mm diameter axle).

OQUO.

Perhaps one of the most excruciating aspects of the build; this took many late nights and much thought.

I was spreadsheet-ing my way through numerous brands; comparing rim dimensions, hubs, spoke lacing, rim depth, wheel weight, serviceability and cost.

I settled on the Spanish built OQUO RP57 LTD wheelset.

Most of Rob’s riding is Beach Road and Albert Park Lake. I didn’t need a specialist climbing wheel. I was searching for an aero wheel that’s light enough to tackle the occasional killer ride with serious vertical ascent.

The RP57LTD’s measure 1,520 grams and use a 21mm inner rim width. These rims have a mini-hook design that allows riders to use tubes or run them tubeless.

The rims are laced to the latest Zipp Cognition VS2 hubs.