Bicycles

Jaguar teams with Pinarello for Tour de France bike

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Team Sky rider Chris Froome, with the new Pinarello Dogma F8
Team Sky rider Chris Froome, with the new Pinarello Dogma F8
The complete Dogma F8 is a claimed 26.1 percent more aerodynamic than the retiring Dogma 65.1
It's additionally said to be 12 percent stiffer and 16 percent more laterally balanced
The F8 has a more aerodynamic fork ...
... that smooths the air flow around the down tube
It also has a new aero seat post
The F8 (pictured) is based on Pinarello's current top-of-the-line model, the Dogma 65.1
It's a claimed 26.1 percent more aerodynamic than that model
Team Sky will be riding the F8 in this year's Tour de France
The frame is expected to be commercially available soon, although pricing has yet to be announced
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McLaren, Aston Martin, Lamborghini and Ferrari have all done it ... now Jaguar Land Rover has done it, too. The legendary automaker recently joined forces with a major bicycle manufacturer, to create a super high-end bike. In this case, Jag collaborated with Italy's Pinarello to design the new Dogma F8 road bike, which will be used by the Team Sky racing team for the rest of the 2014 season.

The F8 is based on Pinarello's current top-of-the-line model, the Dogma 65.1, which it will be replacing. Utilizing the same computational fluid dynamics technology that it uses to design its cars, Jaguar computer-analyzed the aerodynamics of the 65.1, looking for ways to reduce wind drag. It found several, which resulted in changes that found their way into the F8.

First of all, the F8's frame is made up of aerofoil-shaped "FlatBack" tubing, plus it has an aero seat post. It also has a more aerodynamic fork, that smooths out the airflow around the down tube. The rear derailleur cable now exits the rear dropout from the back, further reducing drag. Additionally, a set of holes in the seat tube put the secondary water bottle cage mount lower, where it won't catch quite so much wind.

It's additionally said to be 12 percent stiffer and 16 percent more laterally balanced

The 65.1 was already known for its asymmetric design, but this has been accentuated in the mono seat stay on the F8. The stay now bends to one side, diverting air around the rear brake caliper.

Overall, Jaguar focused on reducing the frontal area of the bike, with the result being that the complete F8 is a claimed 26.1 percent more aerodynamic than the 65.1 – that figure jumps to 40 percent for the frame alone, but drops to 6.4 percent with a rider on the bike. Partially because the redesign involved a reduction in the amount of carbon fiber required, the F8 is also over 9 percent lighter than its predecessor. It's additionally said to be 12 percent stiffer and 16 percent more laterally balanced.

Team Sky will be riding the F8 in this year's Tour de France. The frame is expected to be commercially available soon, although pricing has yet to be announced.

Sources: Jaguar Land Rover, Pinarello

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4 comments
David Finney
At this rate, bicycles will float in four years.
The Skud
Admirable work! I keep wondering, though, why spokes not discs? Surely smoothing out airflow around - not through - rims/tyres would be a good thing? Now if they will design and market a set of clothes that will 'streamline' the average rider a bit, they will make a fortune!
Slowburn
If you have to worry about the price you can't afford it.
The Skud Disks are a disaster in side winds.
bergamot69
@The Skud,
Disc wheels might cut wind drag when facing into the wind, however they are a huge liability with crosswinds, especially the sudden gusts that may be experienced, say, when descending a mountain pass. This would cause stability issues- especially when riding in a 'peleton'- a tightly packed massed group of riders, where an unintentional change in direction can cause a massive pile-up.
Given that racing cyclists are physically attached to their bikes (by cleats to the pedals), these crashes occur so quickly that they tend not to give riders much chance to react. So they can go from wizzing down a hill at maybe 45-50mph to suddenly become a sliding pile of lycra-clad bodies, carbon fibre, and metal, within a couple of seconds. Add an abrasive road surface into the equation and the results are not pretty.