Pinarello has a long in history in manufacturing cutting edge time trial bikes. Their first effort came in 1993 with the Espada I, a noteworthy frame both for the fact that it was their first ever monocoque carbon frame, and also for the fact that Miguel Indurain rode it to the World Hour Record. Over the next decade, they continued to refine the design. Indurain slaughtered his competition in the time trial stages of the 1994 and 1995 Tours de France on the Espada II frame to earn his 4th and 5th titles in la Grande Boucle, and in 1996 Bjarne Riis foiled Indurain's bid for his 6th Tour based in large part on his blazing time trial performance on his Pinarello Espinada frame. Jan Ulrich earned overall victory in the 1997 Tour on the maiden voyage of Pinarello's monocoque Montello time trial frame -- a frame so ahead of its time that Pinarello made virtually no changes to it 'til 2004. Then in the Prologue of the 2004 Tour de France Fassa Bortolo's secret weapon, Swiss time trialing thoroughbred Fabian Cancellara, rode his 2nd generation Montello to beat Lance Armstrong. He rocketed through the near-4 mile course in under 7 minutes, earning him the first yellow jersey of the '04 Tour.

History repeated itself in the 2006 Tour de France as Caisse d'Epargne's Oscar Pereiro rode a valiant 57km final time trial on the now-3rd generation Montello FP8 to seal the deal on his overall podium position. Countless stage victories in Grand Tours, minor stage races, and one day races across the UCI rating spectrum are ample evidence that fast riders are made faster in the race of truth thanks to Pinarello's investment in aerodynamic technology.

When looking at the Montello FP8 the first thing you notice is how much less surface area there is to it than generations 1 and 2. Not one iota of stiffness was sacrificed, but the weight savings was enormous. Much of the improvement is thanks to the improved quality of the carbon fiber made available to Pinarello. They source their carbon fiber from Japanese textile giant Toray, a supplier to virtually every aerospace company worldwide. Pinarello raves how Toray's quality control and testing protocols are as intensive as you'll find anywhere in the composites industry. Pinarello chooses 50HM3K carbon for the Montello FP8 -- a high-modulus carbon that has a tensile strength of 50 tons per square cm (50HM), and an exterior weave of 3000 waves per crossing (3K). This allows Pinarello to use substantially less material while still maintaining optimum strength and rigidity. Start cranking a 53x14 or so in an extended TT-like effort and the last thing you'll feel will be frame flex. Higher quality carbon also allowed Pinarello to create even narrower, more windproof lines to reduce drag dramatically. Stand at the front of the bike and look from the headtube towards the rear of the bike, you'll be astounded by its supermodel-skinny profile. Other details like the curvature of the full rear wheel cutout further shed drag. And as you'd expect from such high-end carbon, the Montello has smoothness at high speeds absent on an aluminum bike.

The Montello is available in five sizes. It comes in the Red, White, and Black of Team Caisse d'Epargne. It includes two aero seatposts -- a zero degree post to create a 76.5 degree seat angle, plus a 2 degree seatpost that creates a 74.5 degree seat angle. It also comes with a Pinarello 1-1/8" integrated headset, and the ultra-aero Pinarello FP8 full carbon fiber fork. It requires an Italian BB and a braze-on front derailleur. It is completely compliant with all UCI regulations for time trial frames.

2009 Pinarello Montello FP8 Pricing
	Frameset	Super Record 11 / Record 11	Record 10 / Chorus 11	Dura Ace 7900 / Dura Ace 7800	Ultegra SL / Red	Force / Rival
Montello FP8	$5900	9537 / 9190	8585 / 8791	8769 / 7491	7524 / 8406	7664 / 7454

2009 Pinarello Montello FP8 Geometry

Seat Tube (c-t)	Top Tube	Seat Angle	Head Tube	Chainstay
49.0	51.5	74.5	9.0	38.5
51.0	53.0	74.5	10.0	38.5
53.0	54.5	74.5	11.5	38.5
55.0	56.0	74.5	13.0	38.5
57.5	57.5	74.5	15.5	38.5