Purchased these to control a Reverb AXS xplr dropper post I added to my gravel bike. These with a blip box are the best way to control the dropper post on a Shimano Di2 drop bar bike. Blips won't work with the dropper post. I like the dropper post for 200 mile unbound North course because it helps on the steep rough descents. These are easy to install near the shifter with the formable holders and route the wires under the bar tape. These are mirror images of each other so you can put them in the same location on both sides if you want and not have to do a 180 with the control wire to get back to the blip box. I also have these on my TT bike at the brake levers and they work great there too with a blip box.
I've owned well over a dozen high-end road bikes over the past 25 years. This is far and away the best riding bike I've owned. I should note that many of my other bikes are/were all-out race bikes (i.e., the bikes that the TdF pros rode), so they compromised comfort for performance. But I've also owned a few endurance bikes that were nowhere near as comfortable as this one.
The Dogma X is aimed at the rider seeking a more comfortable ride without giving up much on the performance front. And I think Pinarello has succeeded admirably. It feels fast and responsive, and my ride times for my regular routes are about the same as my race bikes, but I don't feel nearly as "beat up" at the end of the ride.
The handling is solid, with excellent grip in the corners. It's not quite as nimble as some of my race bikes, but is plenty responsive to avoid obstacles.
Since acquiring this bike last year, I've decided to sell several of my other road bikes. I used to like switching between them to get a bit of a different flavor, but I haven't ridden anything but this bike since getting it. It's that good.
I bought the Ergon Allroad Core on sale since I am skeptical of most gimmicky claims. When it arrived it felt just like my other Ergon saddles so didn't really expect much. Finally installed it and went and rode a 3hr chatter-fest road with new gravel dropped.
I am not certain what is in the 'Core' padding but it does take the high frequency chatter away. If was lighter would give it 5 stars. Would confidently buy another full price.
Admittedly, coming from the Pirelli M45 - the RC45 should be faster. But, I didn't realize how much faster a "fast" tire is. So then the testing was on...Ramblers, Terreno Dry, M, and the Conti RK have all been "tested" on my varied gravel test loop. RC's beat them all handily. I will admit the Dry's felt amazing - a compliance I absolutely loved, but it definitely scrubbed speed. So it comes down to this - if you have a bike and geometry that allows you to "get away with" a speed tire, try the RC's. If you are tentative in the gnar/chunk or have a bike that is not all that stable, be safe and ride a grippier tire.
