The 2016 Pinarello GAN RS review

The Pinarello brand has a unique character in the bike business.

From the engineers to Fausto Pinarello himself, the company focuses on the bike. Pinarello does not make low-end bikes. It does not go after massive marketing strategies. It does not need to produce accessories and parts.

Instead, the entire production team of Pinarello DOES focus on their bikes. They DO make high-quality, scientifically sound, detail-oriented and breathtakingly beautiful boutique bikes. And they DO care about their customers.

After riding for over ten years on multiple bikes, from non-branded steel frames, to the over-sized aluminum Cannondale (the R800!), the carbon Trek Madonne, and the race-oriented Specialized Amira, I jumped into the Pinarello entry-level Razha last year.

The Razha was different than anything I had ridden before.

The entry-level, reliable Razha

It was a solid training machine. Not super-light but very stiff, quite responsive and very stable on the pavement. The only thing I had to do was to pick-up a line and go! I could climb better and, for my petite size, believe it or not, I could even descent like a bullet! I was truly happy to claim the Razha as my best training partner. Unfortunately, in less than a year of training on it, an unexpected mechanical issue forced me to start the painful process of saying goodbye to my Razha.

The 2016 Pinarello GanRS
More aggressive race geometry, lighter, stiffer, more aero, more beautiful!

My replacement frame took unexpectedly long time to arrive. Because of that, the people at the Pinarello North America headquarters took action, and sent me in replacement, the amazing, new, 2016 Pinarello GanRS frameset.

Now, the Pinarello GanRS is a completely different ball game!

New Onda fork

All-over aero rear end

I have been riding the "LaRossa" (The Red One) for about 5 months now with nearly 2,000 miles in. Completely different feeling than the Razha. First off, the Pinarello GanRS is lighter, stiffer, more responsive, a lot more aero and a whole lot more beautiful! Pinarello made a leap of faith jump from the traditional design to a more time-trial/aero-race geometry. This is obvious on the shape of the tubes, the forehead, the seatpost, the chainstays and the rear triangle at the back. Their unique, assymetrical design (standard in all of their frames) means that whatever plane you chose to "slice off" the geometry of the frame, one plane will never look symmetrical to the other. This gives the bike a unique blend of stability, rigidity and responsiveness. Additionally, the new "onda" fork is designed to be even more aero by minimizing the space between fork and frame and by creating a solid bike made to ride as a one-piece machine. This entire new era pushes the materials and the design to new frontiers. The Pinarello and the GanRS have entered a whole new world!

Assymetric, super-stiff T900 carbon fiber frameset. Aero tubes. Aero forehead.

The new T900 carbon frame/fork material is derived directly from the top-of-the-line Dogma with slightly less extreme features in rigidity and asymmetry. The GanRS is a highly responsive bike that accelerates and takes corners faster than the more traditional Razha without losing the stability and soft-ride feel that made the Pinarello brand famous in the bike industry. I have my GanRS dressed up with the new mechanical 11speed Shimano Ultegra that gives a light, butter-smooth gear changing without breaking completely my bank. However, the bike is designed to accommodate both mechanical and battery-operated gearing, in case I change my mind.

Riding the 2016 GanRS is a real joy

A couple of other nice touches to the frame include a much lower positioning of the water-bottle cage in the vertical tube so that smaller frames can accommodate up to a 25oz water bottle (hurray!). Also, the carbon seatpost accepts now aluminum, titanium or carbon rail saddles without any extra adjustment (nice!).

All in all,

The Pinarello GanRS has it all. Literally.

It is super stable and forgiving during the long, steady rides. Extremely light, stiff and nervously responsive during the quick sprint-outs. Fast in the climbs, faster in the descends.
More aero. More beautiful.

Pinarello.
http://www.pinarello.com/en/bike-2016/road/gan-rs

Beautiful and powerful Italian design