Tour de France Tech 2018: Team Sky’s Pinarello Dogma F10 X-Light + video

This is the Pinarello Dogma F10 X-Light that’s currently being raced in the Tour de France by Team Sky’s Wout Poels. It’s essentially the same bike as the likes of Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas are riding.

Most teams have the choice between an aero road bike and a lightweight road bike with each rider making their selection according to the characteristics of the stage and their own personal preference. Putting time trials and in some cases cobbles to one side, Team Sky riders race on the Dogma the whole time.

Is it a full-on aero road bike? You could argue it either way. We include the Pinarello Dogma F10 in our article 17 of the best and fastest 2018 aero road bikes but it doesn’t have the ultra-deep tubes of some rivals and doesn’t come out of wind tunnel tests with such low drag figures as, for example, the Trek Madone, Felt AR, Cervelo S5, Specialized Venge, Giant Propel or Canyon Aeroad. On the other hand, the drag is lower than that of a standard, non-aero road bike. You could call it an aero road bike or you could call it more of an all-rounder with an aero focus.

The Dogma F10 certainly boasts many aero features. For instance, it has a deep Flatback down tube profile with concave shaping where the bottle cage sits. The idea, which has been taken from Pinarello’s Bolide time trial bike, is to smooth the airflow around the water bottle. 

Pinarello doesn’t go all-out for aerodynamics, though. The seat tube isn’t as deep section as you’ll see on some bikes, for example, and there’s no cutaway around the leading edge of the rear wheel.

Check out the bikes of the 2018 Tour de France here. 

The standard Dogma F10 frame comes in at a claimed 820g for a size 53cm. That’s lightweight, certainly, but not superlight by today’s race bike standards. The Dogma F10 X-Light has a claimed frame weight of 760g (in a size 53cm) and a claimed fork weight of 340g. Pinarello says that the stiffness and aerodynamic efficiency are the same.

The seatpost is held in place by an integrated seat clamp and this is one of the few top-end race bikes with an external, threaded bottom bracket. 

Team Sky use Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets with the junction box hidden inside a compartment in the down tube.

The wheels are from Shimano too. These are Dura-Ace C40s fitted with Continental Competition ProLtd tubulars in a 25mm width, very much the default size in the peloton these days.

Poels uses a combined handlebar and stem from Most, Pinarello’s house brand, with a K-Edge computer mount up front.

The saddle is a Fizik Antares Versus – Versus denoting a pressure-relieving channel down the centre – with braided carbon rails. 

Want more 2018 Tour tech? Then visit our special Tour de France tech 2018 tag page and fill yer boots!