Suspension in gravel is a hotly debated topic. A vast portion of the audience reckon it has no place, whereas a valiant few say that it only makes sense. However, Pinarello has entered the suspension gravel fray with its new Grevil MX, a gravel bike that dons a 100mm suspension fork up front. It appears to borrow heavily from the Dogma XC, the bike on which Tom Pidcock won Olympic gold. As a major road brand has employed suspension on a gravel bike, maybe things are about to change?

Joining the rest of Pinarello’s Grevil range, the MX dials the off-road flavour up a notch as the brand reckons that it can tackle terrain beyond what regular gravel bikes are capable of. Although it might not look like it at first glance, the Italian brand claims that the frame combines the aerodynamic goodness of its road frames, but with the stability and confidence of a mountain bike.

Pinarello Grevil MX rear triangle
Pinarello Grevil MX rear triangle (Image Credit: Pinarello)
unnamed.jpg, by Liam Mercer

The Grevil MX is built around a Toray M40J carbon frame that’s sorted with Pinarello’s TiCR cable routing and a threaded bottom bracket. Much like the Dogma XC HT, the Grevil MX’s frame features a triangular structure, which is said to boost stiffness for pedalling efficiency.

There’s also a similar asymmetric rear end with a lower seat stay on the drive side, and a higher seat stay on the non-drive side, while the chainstay also features an asymmetric design. This is all to resist torsional flex that may occur under heavy pedalling loads.

Built to accommodate 50mm tyres, the most eye-catching feature on the Grevil MX is its suspension fork that adorns the bike with 100mm of trail damping. The fork isn’t the only place in which the bike gets a real MTB inspiration, as it also uses a 38t chainring with a 10-52t cassette, found on SRAM’s mountain bike drivetrains.

Pinarello Grevil MX handlebars
Pinarello Grevil MX handlebars (Image Credit: Pinarello)
unnamed (1).jpg, by Liam Mercer

As for the geometry, it’s really not even a stone’s throw away from what’s common on many modern XC mountain bikes. On a large frame, there’s a 68-degree head angle, a 470mm reach, a 69.75-degree seat tube angle and a 428mm chainstay.

Although it comes as standard with an integrated carbon drop-bar cockpit from MOST, Pinarello says that it’s also compatible with MOST’s flat bar offering, surprise, surprise. The bike can also accommodate a 30.9-diameter dropper post.

If you’re keen to get hold of one and you’re in the UK, you’ll have to wait, sadly. We asked Pinarello’s PR team about UK availability and they said, “There are no imminent plans to launch the Grevil MX in the UK.”

If you’re lucky and live in one of the 28 countries across Europe and Africa it is launching in, however, you can pick it up for the sum of €8,500. Bargain.

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