Pinarello Prince FP-LS Carbon

Cyclingnews, February 2008

Cyclingnews rating: 5 out of 5 stars!

On Test: Pinarello Prince FP-LS Carbon, February 27, 2008

Prince and the Revolution

In the days before Lance Armstrong, the perennial Tour-winning machine was a Pinarello. In fact, between Stephen Roche's victory in 1987 and Marco Pantani's in 1998, Greg LeMond was the only man to win without one (twice). For this reason alone, a new Pinarello has to be at the top of most cyclists' wish list. The Treviso company launched its new flagship model this summer and Cyclingnews' Ben Atkins spends a couple of months with one to see if it can possibly live up to its billing.

My Name is Prince ~

We last saw Pinarello's Prince in 2005; in those days it was the company's top of the range aluminum frame with carbon seat stays. The standard Prince was retired at the end of 2004 as it was eclipsed in the range by the magnesium-tubed Dogma, but an LS model with the new Onda wavy fork system hung on for another year.

The New Power Generation ~

After a two-year hiatus, the Prince has now returned in an entirely new form. The frame has been used by Bala Verde (Green Bullet) Alejandro Valverde and his Caisse d'Epargne team since June's Dauphiné Libéré where we first spotted it, but the frame is only now available to the public.

In contrast to the Prince's previous incarnations, Pinarello has rejected aluminum in favor of a full carbon monocoque. According to Pinarello, its bicycle industry exclusive use of Torayca's advanced 50HM1K material allows for a lighter and stronger frame than before. Aluminum is reserved for only a handful of hard points, such as the small plates that reinforce the front and rear dropouts.

The frame's styling kicks Pinarello's existing Onda FP theme up a notch with the even curvier Onda FPX. The curves of the fork and seat stays have been continued on to the main triangle which uses a fairly traditional non-sloping geometry but with a slightly bowed top tube. The main triangle's other members are straight and true, including a round seat tube and a massive 'D'-shaped down tube. The asymmetric chain stays join the front triangle in a simply enormous bottom bracket area housing a standard Italian-threaded bottom bracket sleeve. Stiffening ribs are featured in strategic areas throughout the frame to counteract the thinner tubes.

Pinarello has also equipped the new Prince with the same full-carbon tapered steerer tube as on the Dogma FP whereby the standard 1 1/8" diameter up top widens to 1 1/4" at the fork crown. This arrangement isn't quite as radical as the 1 1/8"-to-1 1/2" sizing used by some others but still theoretically adds stiffness to the front end. The head tube is likewise enlarged and also fitted with additional waves and ribbing.

Sign o' the Times ~

Our Prince tester looked fast straight out of the box what with its curvy styling, swatches of visible 1K carbon weave and 2007 Caisse d'Epargne team red-and-white livery. Our Prince was built up with a complete Campagnolo Record groupset from Pinarello's Veneto neighbours with the exception of a Pinarello Tank FP carbon compact chainset that looks to have been made by FSA. Titanium coloured Campagnolo Shamal Ultra wheels are shod with a Prince-edition pair of Continental Attack and Force clinchers.

The remainder of the finishing kit comes from Pinarello's in-house MOst brand, including the Lion Air and Tiger Lite carbon bar and stem combination, Tail carbon seatpost and XLR XP saddle. Rounding out the build are two 66mm-standard MOst carbon bottle cages and a pair of Pinarello branded Look Carbon KeO pedals. All this adds up to a complete bike weight of 6.95kg (15.3lb), just enough to keep Pat McQuaid happy.

Frame geometry on our 55cm sample is classic racer, including a 557mm-long top tube, 72.8° and 73.4° head- and seat tube angles and a 43mm fork rake. Relatively short 408mm chain stays yield a racy wheelbase of 995mm.

Let's Go Crazy ~

Pinarello designed this bike from the outset to be a racer and with the stem slammed right down on top of the headset, we'd have to say the result equals the original vision: out on the road, the Prince demanded to be raced at all times. The oversized tubes produce as stiff a frame as this tester has ever ridden and those asymmetric chain stays worked together with the huge bottom bracket cluster to efficiently transfer power. Likewise the front end showed virtually no signs of yielding during sprints or when attacking short climbs. At the same time though, the wavy bits at both the front and rear contrived to remove a lot of the sting from the irregularities of the country lanes of my usual training routes.

Climbing will never be what you could call a dream for this particular reviewer, but the Prince frame's stiffness - and the overall rigidity of the complete package - certainly made going uphill much less of a nightmare. In fact the feather light nature of the bike, together with that rigidity, meant that I found myself tackling many of the familiar hills in noticeably taller gears than usual - sometimes even in the big ring!

The Prince geometry really came into its own on the way down where years of experience have obviously paid strong dividends for Pinarello. The sureness and predictability of the Onda FPX forks together with the aggressive wheelbase offered agile handling in technical or tight corners along with the confidence-inspiring tire patch feedback that only comes from a well-tuned frame. The Black Chilli compound in the specially monogrammed tyres made this all the more easy by sticking themselves to the road very well.

I was dreaming when I wrote this. Forgive me if it goes astray.

Much as we looked with fine-toothed comb and all, we can honestly say there's nothing about the new Pinarello Prince that we didn't like! Sure, you could admittedly buy a very capable bike for the price of just the frame and the looks are arguably a bit on the love-'em-or-hate-'em end of the spectrum.

Some bikes are built for climbing, some for sprinting, and some for long distances, but the Prince manages to excel in all these areas. The stiffness at both ends of the bike - especially considering its weight (or lack of it) - make it sure and true going upwards or downwards, and none of your power is wasted gunning for that finish line (or town sign). Despite this, the FPX wavy system at both ends takes a great deal of the sting out of the road, meaning you keep fresher for longer.

As with all Italian designer labels, there is a small suspicion that you're paying a bit of a premium for the name. That might hold a little extra true here but in this case the price delivers extraordinary all-around performance, brilliant handling traits that only come from generations of experience and some undeniable cachet.

Weight: Full Record equipped bike with Campagnolo Shamal wheels: 6.95kg (15.32lb)
Price: US$5000, GB£2699 (frame, fork, headset and seatpost)
Pros: Super stiff, super comfy, super everything! Italian designer kudos
Cons: Polarising looks may not appeal to all