# Valverde's Paris Carbon FP



## jeffreyg (Nov 23, 2005)

Valverde's new ride.


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## Holdem (Oct 17, 2005)

Gee does anyone know what kind of wheels those are? I think they need bigger stickers.


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## FTF (Aug 5, 2003)

Holdem said:


> Gee does anyone know what kind of wheels those are? I think they need bigger stickers.


More like the ones on zipps? Atleast those won't yellow in a few months. And you can atleast take them off, they aren't part of the rim...


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## [email protected] (Sep 23, 2005)

jeffreyg said:


> Valverde's new ride.


Funny, I thought the Illes Balears riders were still on Opera bikes... Opera even made a Balears team Leonardo FP this year. Hmmmm..... Does Pinarello not have any riders they can lean on this year? I guess if you don't have a Pro-Tour team, ya don't have any riders.


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## PineNut (Jun 5, 2005)

[email protected] said:


> Funny, I thought the Illes Balears riders were still on Opera bikes... Opera even made a Balears team Leonardo FP this year. Hmmmm..... Does Pinarello not have any riders they can lean on this year? I guess if you don't have a Pro-Tour team, ya don't have any riders.


I believe this is Pinarello doing there thing to promote their primary brand (money maker). There is (or was) also a rumour that Opera will be eventually reintegrated under the Pinarello name especially as they have the carbon models in the new lineup. How much truth I don't know but it does make sense commercially.

I suppose luckily for them after the Fassa exit, they were able to rebrand with their second pro-Team .....


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## [email protected] (Sep 23, 2005)

PineNut said:


> I believe this is Pinarello doing there thing to promote their primary brand (money maker). There is (or was) also a rumour that Opera will be eventually reintegrated under the Pinarello name especially as they have the carbon models in the new lineup. How much truth I don't know but it does make sense commercially.
> 
> I suppose luckily for them after the Fassa exit, they were able to rebrand with their second pro-Team .....


Makes sense as Opera is kind of a testing ground for Pinarello.

What doesn't make sense is why Opera launched the Canova this year when Pinarello is doing so well with the F4:13 (same bike, different tube shapes).

...and the Paris Carbon.... Leonardo FP in disguise (with a few extra "wrinkles" of Course)???


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## dawgcatching (Apr 26, 2004)

Wasn't the whole Opera idea to use different tubesets than were available to Pinarello? Titanium, Scandium, Carbon/alloy lugs ect. Now that the Pinarello Paris/Opera Giorgione Hydro are identical, and the Paris Carbon/Leonardo are basically identical, it doesn't make sense anymore, does it? I do love the Opera Giorgione Hydro-what a gorgeous looking frame.


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## [email protected] (Sep 23, 2005)

dawgcatching said:


> Wasn't the whole Opera idea to use different tubesets than were available to Pinarello? Titanium, Scandium, Carbon/alloy lugs ect. Now that the Pinarello Paris/Opera Giorgione Hydro are identical, and the Paris Carbon/Leonardo are basically identical, it doesn't make sense anymore, does it? I do love the Opera Giorgione Hydro-what a gorgeous looking frame.


That was the idea as i understand it. I hope the experiement is not coming to an end. There is a line of 2006 Opera frames and Illes Balears will still be on Opera, so i guess Opera won't be dropped this year.
I agree, the Giorgione Hydro is a beautiful bike. I just had to order the Canova though. Belive it or not, there are quite a few F4:13's in the Bay Area and i just had to be different.


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## dawgcatching (Apr 26, 2004)

[email protected] said:


> That was the idea as i understand it. I hope the experiement is not coming to an end. There is a line of 2006 Opera frames and Illes Balears will still be on Opera, so i guess Opera won't be dropped this year.
> I agree, the Giorgione Hydro is a beautiful bike. I just had to order the Canova though. Belive it or not, there are quite a few F4:13's in the Bay Area and i just had to be different.


How does it ride? I had an F4:13 in my possession for about a week, and it was a stiff, unforgiving ride on chip-seal. Is the Canova built more as a smooth, all-day race bike, or is it the same "Carbon Prince" concept as the F4:13?


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## [email protected] (Sep 23, 2005)

dawgcatching said:


> How does it ride? I had an F4:13 in my possession for about a week, and it was a stiff, unforgiving ride on chip-seal. Is the Canova built more as a smooth, all-day race bike, or is it the same "Carbon Prince" concept as the F4:13?


I'll let you know when it arrives and I get a couple of good rides in. I didn't find the F4:13 to be "overly" stiff. It was stiff, but not uncomfortably so.. then, I'm not a small guy and stiff is kind of objective.
What kind of wheels do you use?


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## dawgcatching (Apr 26, 2004)

[email protected] said:


> I'll let you know when it arrives and I get a couple of good rides in. I didn't find the F4:13 to be "overly" stiff. It was stiff, but not uncomfortably so.. then, I'm not a small guy and stiff is kind of objective.
> What kind of wheels do you use?


I was using Zonda's, which were directly off of my everyday bike at the time (Fondriest Carbon Lex). I found the Lex to be much smoother, the F4:13 seemed a tad stiffer on accelerations. The Dogma handled better than both, but that was due to sizing: the 54.5 tt on the Dogma is the perfect size for me, whereas the Lex, and especially the F4:13, felt a little big.


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## EasyRider47 (Sep 18, 2005)

Removed


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## dawgcatching (Apr 26, 2004)

EasyRider47 said:


> Dawgcatching:
> 
> I normally ride a size 55 Pinarello - I have a Pinarello Prince in this size which has a 55 cm top tube (c-to-c), but in the case of the Pinarello F4:13 that I got last year, I ended up with a Pinarello size 53 - which also has a 55 cm top tube (c-to-c) - which is a completely different sizing than the other Pinarellos. My friend who normally rides a 57 Colnago (55.6 cm top tube c-to-c) ordered a size 57 in the F4:13 (57.5 cm top tube c-to-c) and he ended up getting rid of it within a week - he said it felt too large for him - which of course, it was.
> 
> ...


I normally ride bikes with approximately a 54.5 TT/73.5 STA. As the Dogma comes in that size, and the F4:13 is just a shade bigger, it wasn't quite the right fit. I could have made it work, but for that kind of price, I would rather have a near-perfect fit. If the F4:13 was cheaper, I would use it as a crit frame, as it is so stiff and the handling is spot-on. Boy, all of this talk of riding makes me drool-I hope the snow goes away ASAP!


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## foz (Sep 30, 2004)

I saw the new paris carbon last night at my LBS. they´d been waiting a while for it to come in and it´s finally there. it is a very nice frame, very well finished and light, but it looks 'solid', not flimsy looking like some frames (not at all subjective i know, but somehow a frame that looks strong seems to inspire more confidence...)
the only visible differences between the paris carbon and the leonardo, other than the colour schemes are the wavey bits in the top and down tubes and that the leonardo comes with the oversize BB. the shell on the paris BB is oversize, but the actual threads are standard size and there is not the option of the super oversized bearings like in the special BB for the leonardo. price was the same, taking into account that the leonardo comes with the BB.
so after finally deciding 95% to go for a look 585, last night i saw the new pinarello and also found out that the 585 is not imported to spain in white. if my LBS can special order me a white 585 and it´s not going to take too long to get here, then it might be an option again, but at the moment i´m heading more towards the paris carbon...

foz


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