Pinarello F8 Review

by Amos Brumble, Owner of Brumble Bikes

Last week had a Pinarello demo day. We are firm believers in selling proven equipment and we also want our customers to ride new and different bikes in real-world scenarios. Considering Pinarello has won numerous Grand Tours we knew we had a good, solid bike for our clients to try.

We had about 8 customers demo a Pinarello. On hand were the entry-level complete race bike the Marvel (which we also reviewed), A Prince, A dogma and the new Dogma F8 (referred to the F8). Most bikes were complete with Campy EPS or Dura Ace with Fulcrum Race 1 wheels. So everyone was in for a well-made, race-ready, tour-proven bike.

I myself had the F8 with Campy Super Record EPS and Fulcrum Racing wheels. Also spec’d on this bike was Pinarello’s one piece bar/stem – the MOST Talon Carbon Road bar.

Our ride was an over 30 mile loop with some varying road surfaces, a few slow rising climbs and one short, but steep 10% gradient quick climb. Before and after the ride I spent some time in a large empty church parking lot doing figure eights and quick turns to get a feeling for the handling. My normal race bike is a Team CCB Specialized SL4 with Dura Ace Di2 – so this was a good chance for me to try a different frame with Campy EPS and a one piece bar stem (something I always wanted to try).

The F8 frame itself is a snappy ride and is plenty stiff and the race proven geometry worked with no issue. The bike went where I wanted it to go. Just as important: it was a quiet ride. There was no rattling and the mounting of EPS was spot on. This was one of the most silent bikes I have ever ridden. I did endurance, tempo and sprint paces a few times and the F8 felt comfortable in all paces and scenarios. When the hill hit 10% I noticed no wheel rub nor felt any frame flex – this was a solid race bike of top quality. The Campy Record EPS worked as advertised and electronic shifting is the future and I have been racing and training year round on it for 4 years with zero failures . If I had to pick over Campy Record EPS or Dura Ace di2 I would give a small edge to di2 but that is only if you want to get picky. The campy shifting worked, but there were slight differences between the gears whereas di2 is uniform throughout.

One piece bar and stem combos have always interested me and I’ve always wanted to try one. I enjoyed the Pinarello Talon, however, the angle and shape at the bend from the tops to the drops was too much and the result was it didn’t give the clearance I wanted. As such it wouldn’t really work for me.

So how does the F8 stack up? In three words: I loved it. It’s a pure race bike, it looks great with great lines and good paint. My long time riding buddy, Conner, had an Specialized SL2 and after riding the F8 he didn’t even want to ride his SL2 home. To him it was that good. I myself saw no shortcomings on the bike itself – though, as noted, I would not use the one piece bar and would give a small edge to di2. The F8 frame itself, was fantastic.

If you’re interested give me a call at the shop and let’s talk about the F8 and other bikes that might be good for you.