Tom Pidcock’s Pinarello Crossista pro bike

We get a closer look at the former cyclo-cross world champion's ride, as the Ineos Grenadiers star closes the book on his 2023/24 campaign

16:20, Monday 22nd January 2024

Alex Hunt

Junior Tech Writer

We take a closer look at Tom Pidcock's Pinarello Crossista one of the rarer cross bikes on the World Cup circuit

Tom Pidcock is a rider who can seemingly turn his hand to any discipline on two wheels and find himself at the front of the race. Although his cyclo-cross campaign for the 2023/24 season might not have gone as well as hoped, a win at Namur aboard his Pinarello Crossista is a standout highlight for the Ineos Grenadiers man.

A frame built for cyclo-cross

The Crossista is a bike that doesn’t see all that much action between the tapes compared to other bikes out there. This is in part due to only two riders using the bike in World Cup competition, Pidcock and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot. This means getting eyes on the bike is harder than you might expect as there has only been a handful of races where the bike has been on display this year.

The bike has a very similar silhouette to the Dogma F however there are a few changes that make it ideal for the demands of a Cross race

Although it appears to have a very similar silhouette to the road-focused Dogma F there are some design tweaks that are deliberate nods to the bike's off-road aspirations. The most noteworthy among them is the profile of the top tube.

On first inspection, it looks just like a Dogma F, with a kink in the top tube just like the road race thoroughbred. However, on the Crossista this kink has a far more exaggerated profile, especially on the underside. This is designed to make the bike comfortable to carry on your shoulder, and to keep the bike in place when running up stairs or through unrideable sections on the course.

Read more: Tom Pidcock: I didn’t have a clear goal at the Tour de France and I paid the price

Same bike, two liveries

Pidcock is the only member of Ineos Grenadiers' men's squad to be competing in cyclo-cross World Cups this season. As we saw at the pits at the recent Benidorm World Cup he had the choice of two very differently painted bikes at his disposal. There was a fairly standard team edition Crossista in the orange-to-black fade that matches the team's 2024 road bikes, as well as a solid red version that he was seen warming up on. This stark solid red is unlike any paint scheme we've seen on Ineos Grenadiers bikes, which are usually a red/orange to black/blue fade.

Pidcock had both a standard issue Ineos Crossista as well as an all red edition at his disposal

Read more: Pinarello unveils new Ineos Grenadiers Dogma colourway, leading to marginal gains

Tyre choice

Cyclo-cross races can be won or lost based on tyre choice alone. The tread patterns and the grip that they offer can vary widely from course to course and from condition to condition. For the Benidorm World Cup conditions were dry and dusty making for fast-paced racing, however grip was still crucial in twisty, turny sections.

Pidcock uses Challenge Grifo tyres for most races deviating away when things get particularly sloppy

Pidcock had opted to run a set of Challenge Grifo 33c tyres. These are Pidcock's go-to tyres for most of the cross season with the rider only swapping them for a different tyre in exceptional conditions such as extreme wet or snow.

Read more: Are you using the wrong tyres? Comparing summer, winter, and all-season rubber

The tyres are mounted to Shimano’s Dura-ace C36 carbon wheelset. This is the brand's shallowest carbon wheelset with a 36mm deep rim profile. This is ideal for technical cyclo-cross courses where acceleration out of slow-speed turns is essential. The lower rotational mass of the shallower profile wheels means that the bike will have a slightly snappier acceleration to it.

Shimano throughout

As a Shimano-sponsored team, Ineos naturally use Dura-ace components throughout and this bike is no exception. Along with the C36 wheels is a full Dura-ace Di2 drivetrain with a double chainring setup.

Currently, Shimano does not have a single chainring configuration for its road groupset. We have seen riders using a one-by variant in time trials, however, this has always been an aftermarket addition. To keep track of his power during the race, Pidcock was using the power meter-equipped Dura-ace crankset with independent left and right measurements.

The bike is dripping in top spec Shimano kit including XTR pedals and C36 carbon wheels

Finishing off the full complement of Shimano equipment are the XTR mountain bike pedals that Pidcock uses. The minimalist design is ideal for muddier races providing less area for mud to cling on to and more space for mud to shed through the pedals. Ideal for making remounting as seamless as possible.