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TECH NEWS

Pinnacle 2016: Dolomite road bike joins disc brake revolution

Plus news of the Arkose all-round road bikes, Neon flat bar road bikes, and the versatile Lithium

Pinnacle has revealed its 2016 range and the biggest change is that the Dolomite road bike switches from calliper brakes to disc brakes. We went to check out the lineup earlier in the week and here are the highlights.

Dolomite

Pinnacle has moved the Dolomite aluminium road bike to disc brakes for 2016, with just the £450 Dolomite One retaining traditional rim brakes. 

Pinnacle Dolomite Four complete bike.jpg

The Dolomite is designed as Pinnacle’s fast road bike, intended for year-round use in UK conditions, and the new disc models are built to almost the same geometry as previously meaning that you still get quite an aggressive setup. The medium model, for example, aimed at riders from 5ft 7in to 5ft 10in, has a 570mm stack height (vertical distance from the middle of the bottom bracket to the top of the head tube) and a 385mm reach (horizontal distance between those points).

Pinnacle Dolomite Four head tube.jpg

One minor tweak to the geometry is that Pinnacle has lowered the bottom bracket just a touch (it’s now a drop of 75mm rather than 70mm) to take account of the larger tyres that have become increasingly popular over the past few years. All of the Dolomites come fitted with 25mm tyres although you get enough clearance for 28s. Pinnacle uses BSA standard screw in bottom brackets, incidentally.

Pinnacle Dolomite Four rear mech.jpg

The frame is still made from 6061-T6 heat treated aluminium, double and triple butted, with eyelets that allow you to fit full-length mudguards (the maximum tyre size you’ll get with mudguards is 25mm) and a pannier rack easily. Cabling is fully internal (configured for a UK setup with the right hand lever operating the front brake) which not only looks neat, it adds a level of protection in grotty riding conditions.

Pinnacle DOLOMITE 5 MAN F (1).jpg

 

Although we’ve not ridden any of the 2016 bikes, the star of the show looks to be the £1,000 Dolomite Five. This one comes with Shimano 105 gears, Shimano BR-785 hydraulic disc brakes and an FSA Gossamer chainset. That chainset is a compact (with smaller than standard 50/34-tooth chainrings) and the largest sprocket is 28T (as is the case with the other models in the Dolomite range), so the lowest gear is fairly small. 

One compromise that Pinnacle has had to make in order to offer this disc brake bike at what looks to be a competitive price point is that the fork is no longer full carbon, it comes with an alloy steerer.

Pinnacle DOLOMITE 1  LADY F (1).jpg

 

The £450 Dolomite One is the entry-level model in the range (women's version pictured above, coming with an aluminium fork, Shimano Tourney gearing, and Promax calliper brakes. 

Pinnacle DOLOMITE 2 MAN (1).jpg

 

The disc models start with the £550 Dolomite Two (above). This has a carbon/alu fork, Shimano Claris groupset and Tektro Mira mechanical disc brakes. 

Pinnacle DOLOMITE 3 (1).jpg

 

The Dolomite Three (£650, above) is a Shimano Sora build with Tektro Spyre mechanical discs while the Dolomite Four (£750, below) has the same brakes but other components from Shimano’s Tiagra groupset.

Pinnacle DOLOMITE 4 MAN F (1).jpg

 

We’ve already mentioned the Dolomite Five, so that leaves us with the range-topping Dolomite Six (£1,250, below). This is the only one to come with a full-carbon fork. It also gets a Shimano 105 build with Shimano BR-785 hydraulic disc brakes.

Pinnacle DOLOMITE 6 MAN (1).jpg

Domomite bikes are available in women’s versions too, with slightly altered geometries. Each one is built up with a shorter stem and cranks, narrower bars, and a women’s specific saddle, and there’s no pink in sight.

Arkose

The Arkose was a traditional-style cyclocross bike with cantilever brakes when it was introduced in 2011 but it has morphed into a drop bar, disc brake, mixed use all rounder over time. Yes, that category is a bit of a mouthful but you know the type of thing: a versatile bike that can handle a bit of everything. The various models come with 35mm and 40mm tyres that are suitable for different terrains, but you could fit narrower tyres and mudguards if you wanted to use an Arkose for quick commuting, for example. 

Pinnacle Arkose Two full bike.jpg

Like the Dolomite, the Arkose is made from 6061-T6 heat treated aluminium, double and triple butted, but it has a different geometry: the front end is a bit higher (the stack height is greater) and you get more fork offset, for example. The idea is that the Arkose handles more like a mountain bike. 

Pinnacle Arkose Two front brake.jpg

The welds are smooth, the cabling is internal, and you get eyelets for full-length mudguards along with fixings on the down tube for a Crud Catcher-type guard. There are eyelets for a rear pannier rack too.

Pinnacle ARKOSE 1 MAN F (3).jpg

The cheapest model in the range is the £700 Arkose One. This is built up with a carbon blade/alloy steerer fork, a Shimano Claris nine-speed groupset and Tektro Spyre mechanical disc brakes.

Pinnacle ARKOSE 3 MAN RS505 (1).jpg

 

The £1,000 Arkose Three looks like exceptional value. This one comes with a Shimano 105 groupset – the compromise being the Samox alloy chainset – with RS-505 shifters and BR-785 hydraulic disc brakes.

Pinnacle ARKOSE 4 f (1).jpg

 

The £1,300 Arkose Four is the only model in the range with a full-carbon thru axle fork. This one gets Shimano RS-685 shifters and BR-785 brakes.

Pinnacle ARKOSE 2 LADY F (1).jpg

Women’s Arkose bikes are available with slightly revised geometries and component selections.

There’s a cromo steel Arkose on the way too, although Pinnacle isn’t sure exactly when it’ll be available.

Neon

The Neon is a flat-bar road bike, designed to be a lightweight and quick around town, and for weekend rides on the road, towpath or whatever. Each of the models comes fitted with 28mm tyres but Pinnacle says you can fit anything up to 40mm.

NEON 3 MAN F (1).jpg

 

The frame is 6061-T6 heat treated aluminium and the fork is either aluminium or aluminium/carbon, depending on the model you go for.

We like the look of the Neon Three (£550) which comes with a mainly Shimano Sora groupset (Samox alloy crank) with Tektro RX1 mini V-brakes.

Lithium

The Lithium is another 6061-T6 aluminium flat barred option in the Pinnacle range but it comes from more of a mountain bike angle so it’s designed to be more ruff ’n’ tuff. 

LITHIUM 5 MAN (1).jpg

The £600 Lithium Five is equipped with Shimano Alivio/Acera components and Shimano M355 hydraulic disc brakes. You get chunky tyres here – 38mm – along with eyelets for full-length mudguards, a Crud Catcher, and both front and rear racks.

For more info go to www.evanscycles.com.

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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6 comments

Avatar
Zihao_chn | 8 years ago
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I am riding the 2015 bike, feeling that the 2016 bike has been too rush to jump into the disc brake which not only adding extra cost, and also all line up of bikes has been much heavier than the 2015 line up. with the disc brake adding on, the give away is the full carbon fork wich is a massive letdown.

Avatar
james-o | 8 years ago
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We will be ordering more frame sets this year, SS and 4 specs.

Avatar
Lungsofa74yearold | 8 years ago
0 likes

Very nice understated looking bikes. Tried to buy frame only last year but all gone in 3 weeks flat...so James O if you are reading - can you make a few more this year as they obviously popular? ...Ta very much 

Avatar
Ratfink | 8 years ago
1 like

Thanks for the reply,I must admit the welds were an instant turn off for me but you've re-energised my interest.

It was the Arkose three that caught my eye but the more i look at that saucy red four........angry

Avatar
james-o | 8 years ago
1 like

Ratfink, well spotted. The photo sample bikes were welded with a standard TIG weld but 2016 production Arkoses use flat welds at the seat and head tube areas, same flat welds as the Dolomite or Iroko images on the Evans site.

James, Pinnacle

Avatar
Ratfink | 8 years ago
0 likes

"The welds are smooth"
 

They don't look very smooth if you zoom the pics on Evans site>

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