PinarelloCrossista F
Origin
The Crossista is Pinarello's dedicated cyclocross race bike — the Italian firm's first CX machine in roughly 30 years — unveiled on the eve of the 2022 UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championships and developed hand-in-hand with Tom Pidcock, who won that title on it. It is built around UCI-legal cyclocross geometry: short 42.5 mm chainstays, steep ~72° head angle, raised bottom bracket, with a recessed top tube for shouldering and Dogma-style wavy aero tubing. The rear triangle uses 'flex stays' for a fraction of vertical compliance, and tube profiles are shaped to shed mud. Maximum tyre clearance is 42 mm — enough for the 33 mm tubeless CX standard with mud room, but well under modern gravel clearances. It sells as two builds, the T900-carbon F9 (Shimano Ultegra Di2) and the more affordable T700-carbon F7 (SRAM Rival), both disc-only with flat-mount calipers and 12 mm thru-axles. It remains a niche choice in markets without a strong CX racing scene; most Baltic buyers wanting big tyres and mounts are better served by the Grevil F.
Specifications
- Frame
- TorayCa UD carbon, UCI-approved, with TiCR internal cable routing and Italian threaded BB. F9 build uses higher-grade T900 UD; F7 build uses T700 UD (tuned for more vibration damping). Asymmetric frame, recessed/Onda top tube for shouldering, 'flex stays' rear triangle, mud-shedding tube profiles.
- Weight
- kg
- Drivetrain
- F9: Shimano Ultegra Di2 R8150 2x12 electronic (RD/FD R8150, CN-M8100 chain). F7: SRAM Rival 1x/2x12. Tom Pidcock's race build ran 2x Shimano Dura-Ace.
- Brakes
- F9: Shimano Ultegra R8150 hydraulic flat-mount disc, 160 mm front / 140 mm rear rotors. F7: SRAM Rival 2-piston hydraulic disc, 140 mm rotors. 12 mm thru-axles (12x100 front / 12x142 rear).
- Wheels
- F9: MOST Ultrafast 40 carbon wheelset, tool-free 12x100 / 12x142 axles. F7: Fulcrum Racing 500, tubeless-compatible. 700c.
The verdict
- Genuine WorldTour-proven CX race pedigree — Pidcock won the 2022 UCI CX World Championship on it, validating the geometry and stiffness.
- Light and stiff: ~7.4 kg pro race build, with a responsive front end that suits explosive sub-hour CX efforts, accelerations and remounts.
- Purpose-shaped frame for racing: recessed top tube for comfortable shouldering, mud-shedding tube profiles, frame drainage holes added at Pidcock's request.
- High-end aero integration — Dogma-derived wavy tubing, ForkFlap fork, TiCR fully internal cable routing, integrated MOST cockpit on the F9.
- 'Flex stays' rear triangle takes a little sting out of rough, root-strewn CX courses without softening the race feel.
- Only 42 mm tyre clearance — built to UCI CX rules, it cannot fit modern 45–50 mm gravel rubber, so it is a poor crossover/gravel bike despite often being listed as one.
- No bottle/cargo/rack/fender mounts and a pure-race fit — useless for bikepacking, commuting or long endurance days.
- Very narrow use case: justified only for someone who actually races cyclocross; overkill and overpriced for occasional riders.
- Expensive for its versatility — ~€8,350 for the F7 build buys far more capable do-it-all gravel bikes elsewhere.
- Aggressive, twitchy race geometry (steep angles, high BB, short rear) is unforgiving and tiring for non-racers on mixed terrain.
- Niche support/resale outside CX-strong countries; in the Baltics a CX-only frame is hard to use and hard to sell on.
Who it’s for
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