After conquering the cross country At the highest levels with Tom Pidcock and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Pinarello expands its presence in mountain biking. The DOGMA XC becomes the DOGMA XCR, and alongside it comes the new DOGMA XCT, designed for marathon and downcountry riding. This move brings the Veneto brand to a region surprisingly close to its history: long distances, mountains, endurance, and adventure.
There are bicycles that serve to expand a range and others that say something more about the direction taken by a brand. The new Pinarello DOGMA XCT probably belongs to the second category.
Three years after the debut of the DOGMA XC, Pinarello is reorganizing and, above all, expanding its mountain bike offering. The bike we know is changing its name and becoming DOGMA XCR, where the “R” identifies the racing vocation even more clearly. Alongside it comes the new DOGMA XCT, designed to take the platform's performance beyond the boundaries of the cross country traditional and towards marathons, long distances and that ever-expanding territory that is defined as downcountry.
It's not just a matter of nomenclature. It's Pinarello's decisive entry into an off-road world that, when viewed through the history of the Treviso-based company, seems almost natural.
From the pink jersey to the dust
Pinarello has built a huge part of its prestige on the major stage races. The Tour, Giro, and Vuelta, mountains, endless stages, and bikes designed to convert every watt into speed, never forgetting that to win a Grand Tour, you have to be fast for weeks, not just for a few minutes.
The marathon changes the terrain but, at least in part, preserves that imagery.
Here, performance isn't measured solely by the explosiveness of an XC circuit. Endurance, effort management, elevation gain, and the ability to maintain efficiency and clarity after hours in the saddle all come into play. And then there are the mountains, the long distances, and that element of adventure that inevitably accompanies races that can take men and equipment far from the starting point.
This is perhaps the mountain bike territory that can best communicate with Pinarello's historic DNA.
Not because a marathon is a long ride on dirt roads – technically they are profoundly different worlds – but because it shares some of the ingredients that have fueled the brand's narrative for decades: endurance, mountaineering, speed and the ability to cover great distances.
The DOGMA XCT now takes this imagery off the asphalt.
It all started with Pidcock
Pinarello's entry into modern mountain biking was much more radical. The brand chose to start right at the top of the pyramid, developing the DOGMA XC around the demands of international competition.
And the results are in.
The platform won the XC world title with Tom Pidcock and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, while Pidcock continued to use it at the highest level, adding Olympic gold in 2024, the European title in 2025 and another XC World Championship to his list of victories.
That bike isn't disappearing. In fact, it's being further specialized.
From today it takes the name of DOGMA XCR and remains the proposal most directly oriented towards competition cross country: stiff, precise, light and built around maximum power transmission.
The news is that Pinarello no longer considers XC as the only possible declination of its mountain bike.
DOGMA XCT: same family, different mission
The new DOGMA XCT is designed for those who want to go beyond the traditional XC circuit.
The starting point remains the pursuit of performance, but priorities are changing. Pinarello declares that it has worked on pedaling efficiency, precision and control, intervening on geometry, cockpit and components to obtain greater safety on technical descents and above all more consistent behaviour when the duration and difficulty of the terrain increase.
And this is where the difference between XCR and XCT arises.
The former remains the purest XC racing machine. The latter must be fast, but it must be fast for longer and on more varied terrain. Marathon and downcountry riding therefore become its natural habitat.
The frame of the DOGMA XCT is made of TorayCa M40J and the reference setup adopts the new Shimano XTR Di2 1×12The suspensions are entrusted to a Fox 34 SL Factory 120mm at the front and at a Fox Float Factory 210×50 at the rear.
The wheels are DT Swiss XRC1200, while the cockpit combines a Race Face Turbine SL stem and Race Face Era Carbon handlebar. We also find a Fox Transfer dropper post, with travel ranging between 120 and 150 mm depending on the size, and Maxxis Rekon 2.4 TR tires.
These are choices that clearly convey the project's intention: not to transform the DOGMA into a trail bike, but to give the XC platform the margin of control and versatility needed when the route becomes longer, more technical and unpredictable.
DOGMA XCR remains the XC weapon
At the same time, Pinarello also updates the DOGMA XCR.
The new configuration adopts electronic suspensions RockShox Flight Attendant, with 120mm SID Ultimate Flight Attendant fork and 210×50 SIDLuxe Ultimate Flight Attendant shock.
The seatpost is also electronic, a Reverb AXS with 100 to 150 mm of travel depending on the size. The setup is completed by DT Swiss XRC1200 wheels, Vittoria Mezcal Race 2.4 tires and a groupset. SRAM XX SL Eagle AXS with power meter.
This version also comes in the new Arctic Flame colorway.
The distinction between the two DOGMAS therefore becomes quite clear: XCR for maximum XC specialization, XCT to extend the same performance philosophy to more challenging distances and terrain.
Not just DOGMA: the XC SERIES is born
The other important news is that the operation does not concern exclusively two models costing over 10.000 euros.
Pinarello in fact introduces a real XC SERIES, building a more comprehensive range under the DOGMA. It includes the XCR9, XCT9 and XCT7.
This is a significant step because it demonstrates the desire to transform the experience gained in racing into a family of products and not leave mountain biking confined to a special project intended for World Cup athletes.
La XCR9, offered in the Amethyst Dust colorway, maintains the more racing setup. It uses a TorayCa T900 carbon frame, SRAM X0 Eagle groupset, FSA SCi30 wheels, a 120 mm RockShox SID Select+ 35 3P fork, and a SIDLuxe Select+ 3P shock absorber. The cockpit is the Talon Ultra XC integrated, while the dropper is a KS E20i. The tires are Vittoria Mezcal XC Race 29×2.4.
XCT9 and XCT7: the marathon family grows
On the long distance side we find instead XCT9 and XCT7.
The XCT9 also uses TorayCa T900 carbon, but comes equipped with Shimano XT Di2 1×12The wheels are DT Swiss XR1700 and the suspension is Fox, with a 120mm 34 Factory fork and Float Factory shock. The Race Face cockpit, KS E20i dropper post and Maxxis Rekon 29×2.40 tires once again underline the search for greater versatility compared to more strictly XC setups.
La XCT7 It represents the entry point into the new XCT family. It retains the TorayCa T900 frame and DT Swiss XR1700 wheels, pairing them with a SRAM Eagle 90 Transmission, a 120 mm RockShox SID 35 Base 3P fork, and SIDLuxe Select+ at the rear. It also features a Race Face cockpit, KS dropper post, and a 2.4" Maxxis Rekon.
It's not just the specification level that's changing: Pinarello is building two parallel souls for its XC offering, one more geared towards traditional competition and one towards long-distance riding.
Two letters to describe two ways of understanding XC
The new nomenclature thus acquires a meaning that goes beyond marketing.
XCR and XCT identify two interpretations of the same platform. On one hand, pure racing, on the other, a mountain bike that continues to seek high performance but broadens its range of action.
And it is probably the second one that tells the most interesting news.
The Pidcock operation demonstrated that Pinarello could enter XC through the front door and immediately compete at the highest levels. The XCT project, on the other hand, demonstrates the company's desire to establish deeper roots in off-road racing.
For a brand so intimately connected to the road, it might seem like a departure from its origins. In reality, looking at it from a long-distance perspective, it could be exactly the opposite.
The mountains change, the idea remains
The marathon takes Pinarello into a world of dirt roads, single tracks, and technical descents, but also of hours spent in the saddle, big climbs, significant elevation changes, and the ability to manage energy and a half until the final kilometer.
A land where the bicycle once again becomes not just a tool for going fast, but the means with which to tackle something big.
It's a concept deeply rooted in the culture of the Grand Tours. And it's precisely on the great mountains, on those days when the race is about endurance even more than speed, that Pinarello has built much of its legend.
With the DOGMA XCT that idea now goes beyond the asphalt.
The tires change, the suspension changes, the trails change. But distance, mountains and adventure remain.
Prices and availability
The new range starts from 6.500 € for XCT7 and goes up to 8.000 euros for XCT9 and 8.700 euros for XCR9. Higher up we find DOGMA XCT at 13.500 €, while the DOGMA XCR is positioned at the top with a recommended price of 15.000 €.
