Zwift’s newest update includes a new bike frame: the Dogma F from Pinarello. Pinarello has a long history with Zwift: the Dogma F is actually the fifth Dogma to make it into the game, and the Tour Italy Challenge earns you a Pinarello F8.

Each iteration of the Dogma has performed a bit better on Zwift than its predecessor, with the F12 (added in March 2020) nearly making it onto our fastest frames list while also placing 6th in terms of all-arounder performance (climbs + flats).

Here’s how the new Dogma F is described in the Zwift Drop Shop:

“Seven of the last 10 Tours de France have been conquered on a DOGMA, and the latest generation is now ready to continue that legacy of success. This is the culmination of all of Pinarello’s skill and experience, a masterpiece of engineering that offers advancements in handling, comfort, and aerodynamics all wrapped in a package that can climb, descend, and sprint with equal flair. Whatever the road throws at you, the DOGMA F is always the right bike.”

The frame is rated 3 stars for aero, 4 for weight. You’ll have to be level 32+ to purchase it in game, at a price of 1,029,500 Drops.

Pinarello talks about “the art of balance” when it comes to the Dogma line. And this is something they’ve been fine-tuning for a long time, trying to find that perfect blend of aero efficiency, light weight, stiffness, comfort, and handling. This would lead you to believe that the Dogma F would be a good all-arounder on Zwift.

But IRL performance doesn’t always map directly to Zwift performance, so we ran this frame through our standard tests to learn how it performs in Zwift. And the results were… remarkable!

Here’s everything you need to know about the new Pinarello Dogma F in Zwift.

Aero Performance

The F turns in precisely the same flat test time as the Trek Madone and Cannondale SystemSix, two frames featured on our fastest frames list. Congrats, Pinarello – looks like you made the cut with this iteration of the Dogma!

The new Dogma turned in a time of 51:20 on our test course (two laps of Tempus Fugit), which is 3 seconds faster than its predecessor, the Dogma F12.

By comparison, the fastest frame in game (Specialized Venge S-Works) turned in a time of 51:18. (Both of these test times were done with Zwift’s stock wheelset, the 32mm carbon). Two seconds over 50+ minutes won’t even be noticeable in a typical Zwift road race (read “Does Bike Choice Matter on Zwift?” for more thoughts on this topic) so if you want to race a Pinarello, now’s the time!

Climb Performance

The Dogma F is rated 4 stars for weight, while all the previous Dogmas were rated at 3 stars. So we expected this frame to climb better than the earlier versions. Still, we were surprised by just how quickly it ascended the Alpe! It turned in the same time as the Trek Emonda, which was the best climber in game for years.

The Dogma F climbed Alpe du Zwift in a time of 48:59. By comparison, the standard Zwift aero frame turns in a time of 49:31, the three former top climbers (Specialized Tarmac Pro, Cannondale EVO, and Bridgestone Anchor RS9s) made it to the top in ~48:58, and the new best climber (Specialized Aethos) completed the test is 48:49. (All of these test times were done with Zwift’s stock wheelset, the 32mm carbon).

Top All-Arounder

So the Dogma F finally made it onto our fastest frames list due to its zippy performance in our flat test. And it also climbs very well. It’s not quite the most aero frame in game, and not quite the fastest climber – but it’s the new best all-arounder, replacing the Canyon Aeroad 2021.

That’s right: the Dogma F beats the Aeroad 2021 (just barely) on the flats, and trims 5 seconds off the Aeroad 2021’s time up Alpe du Zwift! It’s the best all-arounder frame in the Drop Shop today.

Tron-Killer?

Astute racers will be asking if the Dogma F will finally unseat the Tron bike from its top all-arounder status. While the Dogma F is closer to the Tron than any other Zwift frame, the short answer is: it’s not quite fast enough on the flats.

The Tron bike is just a bit too aero for the Dogma F to keep up, unless you put a disc wheelset on the Dogma. If you do that it ties the Tron bike, or perhaps beats it by 1 second on the flat test.

But if you climb Alpe du Zwift with a disc wheelset on your Dogma F, you won’t beat the Tron.

Your wheelset choice with the Dogma F will determine if it outclimbs the Tron, or outpaces it on flat ground. But no wheelset currently in game will let you do both.

Conclusions

As a result of this frame’s top-of-the-heap all-around performance we’ll be updating the following posts soon:

• Best Climbing Frames
• Zwift Shopping Guide: What To Buy At Each Level
• Zwift Speed Tests: Frame Ranking Charts
• Speed Tests: Tron Bike vs Top Performers (Scatter Plot)

The new Pinarello Dogma F has unquestionably unseated the Aeroad 2021 as the top all-around frame available in the Drop Shop, even if it can’t quite keep pace with the Tron bike. But the Canyon Aeroad 2021 is still a smart choice for beginning Zwifters, since it’s available at level 10+ for only 568,000 Drops.

Questions or Comments?

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Zwift’s newest update includes a new bike frame: the S-Works Aethos from Specialized.

This bike created quite a stir in the roadie community when it was announced in late 2020, but not for the usual reasons. It isn’t flashy, and doesn’t look radical. Actually, it looks like… a road bike. And that’s exactly what Specialized was going for. A bike made for riding, not racing. One that rides like a dream. Based on the reviews we’ve read, they hit their target.

Here’s how the frame is described in the Zwift Drop Shop:

“The Aethos frame has been designed with the perfect combination of ultimate ride feel, light weight, and style – from accelerating up steep pitches and descending technical descents, to all-day saddle comfort on even the longest coffeerides, the Aethos hits the mark. With Aethos, Specialized stopped worrying about winning, or the way things are supposed to be done, and instead chased the greatest expression of ride quality ever made. Well, they did it, and in staying true to keeping that promise, they broke every design, ride, and race rule along the way. And they’re not sorry.”

The Aethos caters to those who prefer a classy/minimalist look: don’t expect a lot of bling for your buck! You’ll have no color options on Zwift apart from the default dark brown/green, with hardly any visible decals.

The frame is rated 2 stars for aero, 4 for weight – so clearly it’s a climbing bike on Zwift. (Specialized claims the Aethos is the lightest production disc-brake frame ever made, weighing in at just 585 grams.) You’ll have to be level 34+ to purchase it in game, at a price of 923,000 Drops.

We know the reviews say the IRL bike rides like a dream and climbs like the featherweight it is. But IRL performance doesn’t always map directly to Zwift performance, so we ran this frame through our standard tests (plus some extras just to be sure) to learn how it performs in Zwift. And the results were, frankly, surprising!

Here’s everything you need to know about the new Specialized Aethos S-Works in Zwift…

Climb Performance

The Aethos is rated at 4 stars for weight, and with the IRL version being super-light, we figured it would climb well in Zwift.

We weren’t wrong.

The Aethos distances all other frames in game in our Alpe du Zwift test, reaching the top 8 seconds faster than the next-fastest frames. Wow! That’s no small margin, when you consider that prior to the Aethos’ release, the top 15 climbing frames were separated by just 8 seconds.

Some of you will surely ask if this standout performance is a bug. Will Zwift go in and tweak the Aethos to make it climb slower after you purchase it, like they did the Canyon Aeroad 2021? We don’t think so. Our interactions with ZwiftHQ indicate that this frame’s performance is right where they intend it to be.

The Aethos is a truly unique bike release from Specialized, and on Zwift, it stands alone in its climbing ability with an Alpe du Zwift time of 48:49. By comparison, the standard Zwift aero frame turns in a time of 49:31, and our former top three climbers (the Specialized Tarmac Pro, Cannondale EVO, and Bridgestone Anchor RS9s) made it to the top in ~48:58. (All of these test times were done with Zwift’s stock wheelset, the 32mm carbon).

Aero Performance

The Aethos turns in precisely the same flat test time as many existing frames, including the (former) best climbers (Specialized Tarmac Pro, Cannondale EVO, and Bridgestone Anchor RS9s)

Rated at just two stars for aero performance, we didn’t expect much from the Aethos in our flat test. Its time places it right in the middle of the aero performance percentile rankings, along with 10 other frames which turned in the same time and an additional 11 frames which are within 1 second of the same time.

The Aethos turned in a time of 51:33 on our test course (two laps of Tempus Fugit). By comparison, the fastest frame in game (Specialized Venge S-Works) turned in a time of 51:18. (Both of these test times were done with Zwift’s stock wheelset, the 32mm carbon).

Conclusions

As a result of this frame’s incredible climbing performance we’ll be updating the following posts soon:

• Best Climbing Frames
• Zwift Shopping Guide: What To Buy At Each Level
• Fastest Frame and Wheelset for Climbing Alpe du Zwift
• Zwift Speed Tests: Frame Ranking Charts

Riders now have a chance to test the new Aethos frame and Roval Alpinist CLX wheels in the Specialized Roval Climbing Challenge events beginning July 20th. We predict that heaps of level 34+ Zwifters will be spending their Drops on this frame in the coming days. And we won’t fault you for doing so! In fact, we’ll be standing in line to buy our own…

Questions or Comments?

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