Founded in Treviso, Italy, Cicli Pinarello S.P.A. is a bike company which has been at the forefront of recent cycling history like no other. The story of Pinarello starts with Giovanni Pinarello. One of 12 children, Giovanni loved bike racing and had the determination and skills to win 60 races in the golden era of Italian bike racing. Whilst Fiorenzo Magni won the 1951 Giro D Italia onboard his Italian Wilier bike, Giovanni Pinarello finished dead last.
However, at that time, coming last in the Giro was a sort-after position. Riders would engage in their own battle to be last, and collect the Black Jersey awarded to the last place finisher. A generous financial gift from his team led to 1953 being the year Giovanni launched the Pinarello brand.
Building bikes near his Italian home, Giovanni grew his business steadily through the 1950’s. In 1961 Pinarello sponsored their first cycling team and enjoyed victory in the Tour De l’Avenir. The business continued to build, their first manufacturers victory in the Giro D’ Italia came in 1975 with Fausto Bertoglio’s win.
1988 was a big year at Pinarello. Giovanni’s son, Fausto, joined the business and they secured their first manufacturers victory in the Tour De France. Pedro Delgado (Reynolds) won the 1988 race, albeit onboard a sub 10kg Pinarello branded TVT carbon bike for the mountain stages.
Following sponsorship of the Delgado’s 1988 & 89 Reynolds team, the 1990’s saw Pinarello domination once again on the tubes of a TDF winners frame with Miguel Indurain and his Banesto team. The German Team Telekom was the next sponsorship deal with a huge profile. Riders such as Riis, Ullrich and Zabel made sure the brand was never out of the cycling press for long.
The late 1990’s saw the first Dogma made from Magnesium, the use of this material was relatively limited, as molded carbon frames became the frame of choice for many riders. The 2005 heralded the era of carbon production for Pinarello with their F4:13. The Prince carbon won bike of the year awards and won many cycling fans. The next major era came at the end of the 2009 and the assembling of the British Sky team.
After relatively quiet Tour De France appearances in 2010 and 2011, the Team Sky and Bradley Wiggins win of 2012 helped launch Pinarello to dizzying new heights. The first British winner of the TDF helped generate the boom years of British cycling. The subsequent years saw more TDF success from Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal ensuring Pinerello were the brand of choice for many riders.
GAN
The Gan was introduced in 2016 to offer a slightly more relaxed ride than the Dogma at a lower price point. The Gan framesets retain the unmistakable Pinarello style and are available in rim and disc brake variants and with several colour options. Full details here.
Prince
The Pinerello Prince offers a slightly more docile option than the Dogma, The standard Prince uses T700 carbon, the Prince FX makes use of stiffer T900 carbon and is more performance orientated. Both Prince framesets are suitable for tyres up to 28mm wide. Full details here.
Dogma F10
The Pinarello Dogma F10 is the bike used to win races at the highest level. The 2016 & 2017 Tour De France was won by Chris Froome on the F10, as was the 2018 Tour De France with Geraint Thomas. Built with T 1100 carbon, the F10 is the evolution of the bike used to win 7 out of the last 8 editions of the Tour De France. Available in disc or rim brake options. Full details here.
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