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FAST BIKE FRIDAY – PINARELLO PRINCE DISC ULTEGRA 2021 WITH MAVIC KSYRIUM WHEELS

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

This week’s Fast Bike Friday feature is firmly focused on speed and aerodynamic efficiency with the Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra road bike in the spotlight. Available in several different guises this particular model features Shimano’s brilliantly functional 11-Speed mechanical groupset, powerful flat-mount hydraulic disc brakes and a pair superlight Mavic Ksyrium Elite UST wheels. Stunning to look at, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Pinarello Prince is primarily focused on Italian styling over functional design, however there’s some solid science behind each and every feature on this cutting-edge race bike, with Pinarello proving yet again that their most technologically advanced road bikes are able to perform at the highest level while looking amazing too.

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

The Pinarello Prince boasts a super-aero profile and fully integrated cockpit.

 

You may be familiar with the term ‘trickle down technology’ where design and manufacturing innovation filter down from models higher up in a brand’s range. Pinarello make a point of highlighting the fact that a considerable amount of the design features found on the Prince Disc have come directly from their Dogma F12 model, as used by Team Ineos within the professional road racing world. With lightweight climbing efficiency, stiffness and responsiveness on high-end road race bikes now being the expected norm, our attention has shifted to aerodynamics with this now being the number one consideration for most bike brands. So it’s no surprise to see that as well as being informed by all that rich racing heritage from the Dogma the Prince also inherits its total cable integration system, called TiCR which enables a significant aerodynamic advantage.

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

The Prince includes Pinarello’s TiCR design principle, featuring internal cable routing and a fully integrated cockpit.

 

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

Viewed from the front it’s easy to see just how aerodynamic the Pinarello Prince is.

 

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

As well as that aero frame, the Prince is spec’d with an aerodynamic MOST Tiger stem and headset spacers which cleverly conceal all of the cables.

 

Made from T700 UD Toray Carbon the Prince is responsive and instantly reacts to acceleration but also gives a magic carpet ride thanks to its high dampening quality which helps to absorb road vibration and keep you more comfortable over longer rides and races. Along with the clever use of this material Pinarello have specially profiled the seat stays to provide a higher level of compliance in this key area, further helping to negate any potential road buzz.

T700 Toray Carbon offers a magic carpet ride thanks to its clever composition.

 

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

Specially profiled seat stays are designed to provide a higher level of dampening, helping to absorb road vibration.

 

The Pinarello Dogma featured some really clever frame tube profiling, developed to increase power transfer through the frame in key areas; their asymmetric configuration can now be seen on the Prince too, with both the downtube and the rear seatstays moulded asymmetrically to favour a larger portion of the frame towards the right which, their research has proved, helps to deal with the extra forces put through the drive-side on the frame. This is all achieved without adding any extra aerodynamic drag.

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

That asymmetric rear triangle is most noticeable at the junction between the seatstay and the seat tube.

 

Going back to aerodynamics and the tube profiles of the Prince it’s worth noting that Pinarello have once again taken inspiration from the design and development work done on the Dogma. The main tubes of the Prince feature a profile that Pinarello call ‘Flatback Profile’ which follows exactly the same principle sometimes described as a ‘Kamm-tail’ or ‘truncated aerofoil’; the principle is that a shape with a forward-facing rounded front combined with a flattened-off profile on the rear-facing portion is more efficient at cutting through the air. The Pinarello designers didn’t stop there though; again, with lessons learned from the development of the Dogma, Pinarello have used a concave profile on the inward-facing lower portion of the downtube to enhance the Prince’s aero-efficiency when two bottle cages and water bottles are fitted – another great real world consideration from Pinarello.

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

The Pinarello Prince downtube features a concave profile, helping to make the frame more aerodynamic when a water bottle and cage is fitted.

 

Pinarello Prince disc Ultegra 2021

The Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra is fitted with 25mm tyres but easily accommodates 28mm if you prefer.

 

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

That aero-efficient concave downtube is also slightly asymmetric to accommodate the extra forces incurred on the drive side of the bike.

 

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

The Prince’s race pedigree shows here with the UCI approval sticker.

 

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

The Prince’s aero seatpost includes titanium bolts to help bring down the weight of the bike even more.

 

If you’ve been following the development and evolution of successive Pinarello framesets then you’ll already be familiar with their distinctive fork profile, featuring an exaggerated curve. This has been a staple of Pinarello’s top-end road bikes since 2000 with the shape helping to deliver precise steering, stability and an increased reduction of longitudinal and lateral shocks. The new Pinarello Prince fork has been further enhanced, with full integration into the frame for greater aerodynamic efficiency; seen from the side the Prince now boasts clean lines and smooth, aerodynamic junctions between frame, fork, headset and stem. This disc-brake-specific fork has been developed to be more aerodynamic and features Pinarello’s ForkFlap™ design to channel air around the lower fork leg and disc brake configuration.

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

Seen from the side the Pinarello Prince boasts clean lines and smooth, aerodynamic junctions between frame, fork, headset and stem.

 

The Pinarello Prince Disc comes spec’d with Shimano’s brilliantly functional 11-speed Ultegra mechanical groupset. We’ve sung this groupset’s praises many times before in our Fast Bike Friday feature; packed full of innovation that has trickled down from Shimano’s top of the range Dura-Ace groupset and informed by endless years of development and innovation the Ultegra groupset provides crisp, precise gear shifts every time and operates flawlessly in all conditions. Shimano’s groupsets have become so refined now that it really is a case of fit and forget; it’s fair to say that their high-end mechanical groupsets compare very favourably to the precision and consistency of their electronic Di2 groupsets. The Prince features a 50/34T chainset combined with an 11-32T cassette giving you all the gear ratios you’ll need to be able to hold your speed on flat-out sprints or dance up the steepest climbs.

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

This Pinarello Prince model comes spec’d with a brilliantly functional 11-speed mechanical Shimano Ultegra groupset.

 

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

The 11-speed Shimano Ultegra rear derailleur provides crisp, precise changes on every gear shift.

 

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

The 50/34T Ultegra chainset matched with an 11-speed 11-23T cassette gives you all the gear ratios you’ll need.

 

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

Ergonomic with precise and light gear changes the mechanical Ultegra shifters also house the powerful hydraulic disc brake levers.

 

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

Neat flat-mount Shimano Ultegra R8000 hydraulic brake calipers provide plenty of braking power.

 

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

The front flat-mount Shimano disc brake is housed neatly behind the  fork leg which has been re-designed to decrease unwanted drag around this area.

 

This particular Pinarello Prince has been spec’d with a superlight pair of Mavic Ksyrium Elite UST wheels, (we also have the same Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra spec’d with a pair of Fulcrum Racing 500 wheels in stock). The Ksyrium Elite UST wheels feature a UST Tubeless rim with an 17mm internal width which helps give the integrated Mavic Yksion Pro UST tyres a nice sidewall profile and lets you run lower tyre pressures for greater control. The Ksyrium Elite UST rims are laced to durable hubs spec’d with user-friendly sealed cartridge bearings for a smooth, fast rolling pair of wheels. We’ve fitted the Pinarello Prince with these race-ready wheels over the standard Fulcrum wheelset to help enhance your ride and improve performance when it comes to sudden accelerations, climbing efficiency and being able to hold your speed on the flat, when you’ve got into the breakaway.

Pinarello Prince disc Ultegra 2021

A pair of superlight Mavic Ksyrium Elite feature smooth, adjustable sealed cartridge bearings.

 

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

The fast-rolling Mavic Ksyrium Elite rims are, light, responsive and UST tubeless ready.

 

The Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra featuring the Mavic Ksyrium wheelset is an Italian masterpiece, with those iconic looks that are unique to Pinarello’s high-end road bikes. As we’ve highlighted in this feature, while you could simply hang this bike in a design museum and marvel at its aesthetic qualities there is a legitimate and race-proven reason behind each and every design feature on the bike. With plenty of proven design principles and production process taken from further up the Pinarello food-chain this latest version of the Prince benefits from increased aerodynamic efficiency, clean & clutter-free integration and a disc-brake-specific chassis that actually performs better than its rim-brake cousin when it comes to aerodynamics. Factor in that reliable, precise-shifting Shimano Ultegra groupset, flat-mount hydraulic disc brakes and race-ready Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheelset and you’ve got a super-fast aero road bike that’s ready to race or to simply enhance the pure enjoyment of riding.

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra 2021

The Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra featuring Mavic Ksyrium wheels is in-store and online now. 

The Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra is also available with Fulcrum Racing 500 wheels RRP £4,000.00 here.

 

Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra Mavic Ksyrium 2021 RRP £4,399.00

Full Specification:

  • Frame: TorayCa T700 UD, TiCR™ Cable Routing, Italian BB, UCI Approved
  • Fork: Prince Onda Fork with ForkFlap™ 1.5′ upper and lower steerer
  • Shifters: Shimano Ultegra R8000 11-Speed
  • Rear Derailleur: Shimano Ultegra R8000 11-Speed
  • Front Derailleur: Shimano Ultegra R8000
  • Cassette : Shimano Ultegra R8000 11-Speed 11-32T
  • Chainset: Shimano Ultegra R8000 50/34T
  • Bottom Bracket: Shimano Ultegra, Italian Thread
  • Brakes: Shimano Ultegra R8000
  • Rotors: Front – Shimano Ultegra R8000 2 Piston, 160mm Rotor
  • Rotors: Rear – Shimano Ultegra R8000 2 Piston, 140mm Rotor
  • Wheelset: Mavic Ksyrium Elite UST
  • Tyres: Mavic Yksion Pro UST
  • Stem: Most Tiger Aero Alu TiCR
  • Headset: Most 1.5′ upper and lower steerer
  • Handlebar: Most Jaguar XA Aero TiCR
  • Bar Tape: MOST ULTRAGRIP Evo 3mm Black
  • Seat Post: Pinarello Aero Seatpost with Titanium Bolts
  • Seat Clamp: FSC Frontal Seat Clamp
  • Saddle: MOST Lynx Aircross FEC Alloy Large Large 145mm

 

Written by Johnny Dodgin

Photos by James Vincent

 

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