Pinarello might know how to make a good bike, but 'striking new colourways' feels like a stretch

Apparently, today is Blue Monday. January 15 is regarded - in the UK - as the “most depressing day of the year”: Christmas is over, it’s sodding cold, and we’ve spent all the pennies in our piggy bank on food we’re now sporting as a permanent extra layer. So, perhaps, Pinarello was aiming to raise a smile with the press release "F Series gets Fast and Furious new colourways", which plopped into my inbox today. Because, I cannot fathom any other reason why a collection of black, red, and black and red bikes - with one white model - could be considered "striking, new colourway options" worthy of a triumphant email unveiling. 

In this case, Pinarello has actually called the hues ‘Fastest Green’ (the new colourway for the F9), ‘Fastest Blue’, ‘Fastest Red’, ‘Furious Black’ (for the F7), ‘Furious Red’, and - in the case of the white one, if it was unclear - ‘Furious White’ (the F5).

‘Fastest Green’ and ‘Fastest Blue’ gain their name from a minimalist tint, as close ups and outdoor riding photos show (see more on the Pinarello website).

It’s not particularly controversial to share the opinion that Pinarello is a marque associated with sublime ride quality and high performance. The Dogma F is the flagship example, whilst the F9, F7 and F5 were launched in 2023 to bring the renowned comfortably fast experience to the masses.

The brand has been the bike sponsor of Ineos Grenadiers since the team's inception in 2009; up until 2020, Pinarello was the winningest bike sponsor of the Tour de France (though I’ll accept the response that bikes don’t independently pedal their own way across finish lines).

On test, ‘the race bike to rule them all’, has consistently scored well. Of the F10, former tech editor Symon Lewis said "the best thing about the Pinarello's ride is that it’s good at everything and it isn't a pig to live with on any type of ride." Once the numbers stopped, and the highest iteration of the bike became the ‘Dogma F’, tech writer Simon Smythe reported "the Dogma wasn’t brutally stiff like some pro-level bikes can be. It felt springy and lively."

However, Pinarello nailed black and red - and sometimes white - as the colours to its mast long ago. If you need convincing, see this review from 2013, or this from 2016. If anything, the silver and black Pinarello Doga F we had on a short term test back in 2021 represented more of a departure from the norm. Perhaps, in its latest line up of “six striking, new colourway options across its high-performance F Series competition range,” Pinarello is actually returning to the hues it knows and loves best, having turned its back on a short term flurry into starry eyed space-age rocketship paint jobs.

And honestly, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a brand choosing consistency over flirting with creativity. If every name in cycling brought out a partnership with a skateboard brand and covered their pro level bike in ducks (or dinosaurs), it wouldn’t be fun anymore. The Pinarello F is a classy bike. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix. But, forgive me a momentary smile if you call it news.