Pinarello Dyodo
More power to you
Itested this bike on “clear enough” days this past winter in sun and some snow: very Canadian trials for an Italian machine. But why not take it out in the snow? The bike is for North Americans after all.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Pinarello has the Nytro ebike, the company’s first foray i nto pedal assist. Here, we have the Dyodo. The differences between the two are interesting. The Nytro uses the Fazua Evation system. It’s a mid-drive setup that’s about 4.7 kg, which is roughly 1.2 kg heavier than the Ebikemotion X35 on the Dyodo. In Pinarello’s whitepaper on its North American ebike, the company argues that the lighter drive system makes for a lighter frame, too. The Nytro frame likely needs more reinforcement and material to accommodate the mid-drive motor and the big down-tube battery that can be removed from the frame. The X35 motor is in the hub, and its battery is inside the down tube, which is a bit wider than other Pinarello road bike down tubes to hold the cell. On my scale, the bike without pedals weighed 11.95 kg. With the subtle X35, the Dyodo definitely looks more like a traditional road bike.
While the Dyodo has the Nytro beat on looks and weight, the Nytro packs more power. The Nytro’s Fazua drive unit had a maximum torque of 60 Nm, while the X35 can output 40 Nm. The batteries on each system have roughly the same capacity: 250 Wh. Ebikemotion says its battery can power you for 95 km, depending on how much assistance you use. An Ebikemotion interface sits in the Dyodo’s top tube: a single button called
the iwoc One controller. It’s largely for cycling through the four assist settings (off being one of them) and checking the battery level, all indicated via colour changes and flashes. The other interface available is an Ebikemotion smartphone app that connects to the system by Bluetooth. The app lets you configure the different assist levels. It can also turn your phone into a head unit, displaying speed, distance travelled, elevation, r.p.m., navigation and charge level. It can even access your music library.
The pedal assistance provided by the X35 is good, or really good for a hub-drive system. That isn’t meant to sound like a backhanded compliment. A mid-drive system, located at the bottom bracket area, almost always puts out more natural-feeling power. The hub-based X35 is quite good for a unit that pushes you from behind. After all, on a difficult hill, a hand on the back can make for a welcome push from behind.
The Dyodo has many aerodynamic features that come over from its windcheating siblings, such as the Bolide time trial bike and the F10 and F12 road bikes. The Dyodo has tubes with the Flatback shape, Pinarello’s name for a truncatedairfoil-influenced configuration. The fork flap addresses air turbulence around the outer edges of the front axle. The concave section of the down tube near the bottle cage helps air slip smoothly around a bidon. Since you likely won’t get a boost from the motor going downhill (the assist cuts out at 32 km/h), it’s great that these aerodynamic elements are working to maximize your speed.
On one ride in January, I put Garmin Vector 3 pedals on the Dyodo to measure my power and went for a ride. After, I upload the data to Xert, the training software I use. It said I had a fitness breakthrough. I knew Xert relies on the power data to make its calculations. The power that the pedals registered came from me, not the motor. All good, right? But what if Xert was looking at my speed, too? I moved up hills faster than I usually did. Should I delete that workout from the training program? I contacted Xert’s principal, Armando Mastracci, to find out. Good news. While the Dyodo did offer me help on the ride, the power I put into the pedals, and the fitness that allowed me to do so, were all mine.
“Since you likely won’t get a boost from the motor going downhill, it’s great that these aerodynamic elements are working to maximize your speed.”