# Attention: Pinarello Prince Carbon owners



## KennyG (Mar 6, 2007)

Anyone care to leave comments on how the Prince Carbon rides? I see lots of Pics but no reviews. How does it compare to the Paris Carbon or Colnago C50? I am looking at these three for my next road bike. I am trying to decide if the Prince is worth the additional $1000+ over the Paris Carbon. Any known issues with the Prince Carbon? Any info is welcome. Thanks!


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## rhauft (Aug 8, 2006)

I've been a Prince Ltd owner since last Aug. I've never ridden a Paris or C50 but I am a sponsored Orbea Cat 1. I've been racing on an Orca since '03. My last Pinarello was a 2000 Opera. I've raced on OCLV's for a decade, Ti Serotta's and now carbon Orbea's. When I got my first '03 Orca, I thought that was the finest machine I'd ever ridden. Then they gave me an '07 Orca and I was astounded to realize that they had improved perfection! 
Having said all that, the Pinarello Prince is in a league of its own. It is even stiffer than the 07 Orca yet just as light. The best way to define the Prince is refined. The ride quality is by far and away the best I've ever experienced and worth every cent I paid (and I paid a lot of cents!)



KennyG said:


> Anyone care to leave comments on how the Prince Carbon rides? I see lots of Pics but no reviews. How does it compare to the Paris Carbon or Colnago C50? I am looking at these three for my next road bike. I am trying to decide if the Prince is worth the additional $1000+ over the Paris Carbon. Any known issues with the Prince Carbon? Any info is welcome. Thanks!


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## maxw523 (Aug 19, 2007)

*Pinarello Prince*

 

I have just purchased a Prince after looking around at a number of bikes including the new madone 6.9. I got on the bike with tremendous trepidation as I knew that the cost is significantly more than the mass produced bikes, or the upmarket titanium ones.
In any event, I felt like I was being shot out of a cannon. The bike was incredibly responsive and left everything else in the dust.
The crew at International Bike in Boston have been great and extremely knowledgeable ,helping me every step! Karl and Harold in particular! Thanks fellas!
Hope that helps.


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## rodericg (Sep 26, 2006)

the Prince and the Paris have quite different personalities. The Prince is fairly harsh on rough roads, is slightly stiffer and has the edge on going up hills over the Paris. But he Paris is the better choice for a nice long ride where you are just riding for the sheer pleasure of it. On balance, I think the Paris is the best bike for the long term of cycling pleasure. The Prince is the one to use if you want to make money from racing. Both are masterpieces. But the Paris is the bike with the greater hidden depths. I have both and would not part with either. I have a Prince review if you are interested to read that; I've posted its details to this forum before but if you missed the link last time, follow this link


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## brentster (Jul 12, 2007)

That's an incredible bike review.


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## rodericg (Sep 26, 2006)

why thanks! They are incredible bikes... I have my sights on the new Pinarello CX carbon now... just love the idea of taking a Pinarello on our infinite dirt roads!


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## the Inbred (Feb 28, 2004)

so...curious...

i've seen 3 brand new Prince frames come through with misaligned hangers, according to DAG-1. have been told by Gita that they were straight upon returning them. any of you owners notice anything similar?


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## FDP (Oct 27, 2007)

Mine was just perfect, and now I´m waiting for springtime so i can get out on the Danish roads with my new bike,and what a wait


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## rhauft (Aug 8, 2006)

Mine's perfect as are my teammates. It's a killer race bike. 
Best race bike I've ever ridden, period, end of story.


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## pbrasseur (Apr 24, 2008)

Just got mine, equiped in SRAM RED and Mavic R-Sys
Very stiff, very responsive and absolutely beautiful.
Comfort is limited however and it is noisy on rough roads. Actually I don't know where the noise comes from but there is some kind of rattle or tapping noise when rinding on rough and bumby road. The noise stops when standing up though 

Any idea what causes this, I'm only 170 pounds?


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## brentster (Jul 12, 2007)

pbrasseur said:


> Just got mine, equiped in SRAM RED and Mavic R-Sys
> Very stiff, very responsive and absolutely beautiful.
> Comfort is limited however and it is noisy on rough roads. Actually I don't know where the noise comes from but there is some kind of rattle or tapping noise when rinding on rough and bumby road. The noise stops when standing up though
> 
> Any idea what causes this, I'm only 170 pounds?



Congrats!!! Maybe if you posted some pics, we could help determine the noise. :wink:


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## rodericg (Sep 26, 2006)

From my 8 months with the Prince, it is the the most noisy rattle prone bike I own (much more than my Pinarello CX and my Pinarello Paris). For my Prince, there's a permanent rattle from the bottom bracket (which tends to go away when you remove the cranks and then re-tighten which suggests a noise from the actual crank and not the BB). The inside the top tube routing of the rear brake cable is also a source of rattles; and this can go away with standing up as your leg tends to press on the cable where it exits the frame to hold it in place. But the worst rattle of all is the nasty Elite carbon water bottle cage that comes with the team issue bike (that is, the one I have). The water bottle is thrashing around all over the place on our universally rough and bumpy roads. I have only ever found one good water bottle cage and that was the Tacx carbon cage that I have on my Paris. Having said all of that, you really have to expect the Prince to be noisy on the road. The carbon on this bike is REALLY dense and hard which actually produces a nice old noise chamber like the tubes on wind chimes... It's also a very harsh bike on rough roads, again because of the carbon and uncompromised stiffness. As I said in my Bicyclism review of the bike, the Prince is a no holds barred pro racing bike. It will never be as nice to ride on the road as the astoundingly underrated Paris. But is it fast! And yes, a stunning statement of bicycle art. Especially when its kitted out in Record... Just having a dig at your SRAM... I wonder what that is like on the Prince?!? Should be sweet I'd imagine. And finally, I reckon the lighter you are the worse the noises from the Prince will be. I'm 152 pounds and as I said, all our roads are rough. Fatter bodies than ours will absorb more vibrations and stuff. But then again, we can go up hills faster...


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## shaun (Feb 20, 2006)

With respect to the rattle-I've got a F4:13 with R-Sys wheels. The mount for the computer sensor on the front wheel carbon spoke tends to rattle a lot when riding over bumpy roads, which you may want to investigate. Other than that the bike is ultra smooth and quiet-i love it.


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## pbrasseur (Apr 24, 2008)

Thank-you rodericg,
It is true that the tube walls are quite thin and make a pretty effective noise chamber, which does not help to make this a quiet bike.

However this annoying click type noise does not seem normal nor acceptable to me. It only happens when I'm sitting and it does'nt matter if I'm pedaling or not. 

It could be the saddle (carbon rails) but so far I suspect it could be related to the seatpost.


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## rhauft (Aug 8, 2006)

I've had my Prince for 9 months, numerous road, circuit, crit races along with thousands of miles/Ks. I have no rattles, vibrations or strange noises of any kind. Just solid state of the art performance. The worlds best race bike IMHO. You'res should to. something is loose. Keep looking, good luck and enjoy the ride.



pbrasseur said:


> Thank-you rodericg,
> It is true that the tube walls are quite thin and make a pretty effective noise chamber, which does not help to make this a quiet bike.
> 
> However this annoying click type noise does not seem normal nor acceptable to me. It only happens when I'm sitting and it does'nt matter if I'm pedaling or not.
> ...


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## pbrasseur (Apr 24, 2008)

Tx rhauft 

You're right, if yours is quiet mine should be too. 
At this point the only thing to do is to investigate part by part!


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## airastro (Jun 30, 2006)

I have had my Prince since the beginning of Feb. When a rattle develops, it is always in one spot- the water bottle cages have loosened up. A quick turn of the allen wrench and no more rattle.


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## pbrasseur (Apr 24, 2008)

The creaking was from the seatpost. Cleaning and greasing (with Tacx miracle paste) fixed it.

This bike is fantastic, fast yet comfy, if you hesitate against another, don't.


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