It has been a while since Pinarello has stood on top of the cyclocross podium. But taking direct inspiration from their successful Dogma road bikes, Pinarello returns to cyclocross with the all new Crossista – more tire clearance, adapted off-road capable geometry, but still by all means a race bike built for speed.
2019 Pinarello Crossista carbon cyclocross bike
The big reveal from the Italian bike maker this week was surely their first gravel bike – the new Grevil – but it is the heart of cyclocross season too! Always a bit odd when a cross bike debuts this late into the racing season, but the new Crossista & Crossista+ only received UCI approval for racing at the start of September & October, respectively. Cutting it too close to the line to be race-ready, Pinarello is making a push to fight for the top step of CX podiums. And to do that they have evolved the new Crossista more directly from their Dogma F10 & K10S Disk road bikes, adapted for the rough & tumble of proper CX racing.
Pinarello Crossista carbon cyclocross bike – Tech Details
Don’t call it an aero cross bike, the new Crossista takes design inspiration from Pinarello’s aero road bikes. But it is really the integrated design and comfort lessons learned on the road that get reimagined for cross racing. Sure there are some aero tube shapings that sneak into cross with a more sleek cockpit setup and an aero seatpost with a hidden clamp that comes from the Dogmas, all spaced out with ample clearance for mud around UCI permitted race tires, or much bigger tires up to 42mm for general purpose riding & training.
A modern step up from its more conventional FCX predecessors, the new Crossista goes the fully integrated route, with asymmetric frame design even down to the sloped non-driveside edge of the toptube for better shouldering, full internal cable routing, and an update to flat mount disc brakes with 12mm thru-axles. The new bike keeps the same bump absorbing fork curves of the old FCX, but gets more swoopy dropped seatstays and a seatpost that splits the difference between the F10 & K10S road bikes, flexing for more comfort through the bumpy stuff.
Pinarello Crossista carbon cyclocross bike – Spec & Availability
The new Crossista also features updated materials as well over the previous FCX. The standard Crossista gets upgraded to a hi-mod T700 UD carbon construction, promising lighter weight & improved stiffness.
Like the Grevil+, an ultra hi-mod Crossista+ version will be also available, otherwise sharing teh same mold and all of teh same technologies. The Crossista+ frame is constructed of the same Torayca T1100 1K ‘Dream’ carbon with Nanoalloy tech also found in Pinarello’s top road bikes.
If you are itching to get a new Italian cross bike to race, you are going to have to be patient. Both new framesets aren’t expected to be available through most Pinarello dealers until a month or two into 2019.