Pinnacle Pyrolite 2 road bike

Evans Cycles' in-house brand joins the throng of all rounder disc-equipped road bikes with the Pyrolite Two. A Shimano 105 groupset, alloy frame and cable discs for a grand makes it a decent choice but how does it stack up to the opposition?

Frame & Fork

Kicking things off we've got a triple-butted aluminium frame in the 6061-T6 grade which is drawn into the customary oversized tubing. The welding is, how should we put it, functional, industrial maybe which I think suits the style of bike. I like the look of a good meaty weld on a workhorse and it's perfectly tidy.

The front end uses a tapered head tube which is 1.5in at the crown. That'll bring stiffness to the front end benefitting both steering and those braking forces from the front disc. That allows for a larger welding area and a large diameter down tube that ovalises near the base as it meets the standard 68mm bottom bracket shell.

There is some profiling to the chainstays to enable clearance for the disc calipers but everything else is kept pretty straight and uniform in size. It looks like Pinnacle are relying on larger volume tyres for comfort rather than tube profiles.

Speaking of tyres, the Pyrolite will take up to 32mm wide rubber without guards although the off the shelf option is a pair of 25mm CST Detonators.

The fork is full carbon with straight legs and an offset of 45mm. Paired with a head angle of 72° should mean some direct yet neutral handling. It has a fork to crown measurement of 395mm rather than the standard 370mm road height, an idea we have seen on the Whyte Dorset to enable large tyres and full length mudguards.

The rear disc mount is placed inside the seatstay-chainstay join to make it easier to fit a rack or mudguards, or, since you get two sets of mounts, both.

Kit

Shimano 105 mechs and shifters are good to see at this price and they do make a huge difference over Tiagra. You always get a nice crisp change even if isn't the most engaging from a feedback point of view. It's a relatively cheap groupset to replace these days as well so it's not an issue to be using it in the rubbish weather.

FSA supply their Omega chainset in compact 50/34t combination with a Tiagra 12/28 block at the back. At 9.96kg its nice to have a couple of bailout gears to get you up the steepest of climbs.

The brakes are Avid's cable operated BB7-SL models which are paired up with HS1 160mm rotors front and rear. This style of bike is going to be used commuting in bad wet weather so discs are always a bonus.

The rest of the finishing kit is all Pinnacle's own brand and like most its pretty basic alloy stuff found on a lot of bikes at this price point. It all looks good though and performs well so I wouldn't be in any hurry to upgrade any of it.

Wheels

Alex CXD26 rims are used for the wheel build, They're designed as cyclo cross rims so should take plenty of abuse. The rim is 26mm deep and with no braking track on the rim look quite deep when paired with an all black tyre. Both rims are built with 32 hole Joytech hubs in a three-cross pattern for strength and then shod with CST Detonator tyres.

Ride

As with a lot of the disc-equipped bikes of this style we've tested the brakes and tougher wheels add weight and its always noticeable as soon as you pull away where it blunts the acceleration. That is the only criticism and as long as you keep it rolling there is nothing to distinguish the Pyrolite from a standard road bike. Over the course of the ride though you'll easily make that effort and time back up by being able to brake later and harder, more so if it's wet.

The frame itself is stiff and bordering on harsh but thanks to some decent geometry it's a fun bike to ride with plenty of chuckability through the bends. The tall front end does keep your centre of gravity quite high making corrections at speed a bit on the twitchy side.

The Pyrolite wants to be ridden hard pretty much all of the time; it responds to that whether it be on the flat or in the hills. The 73.5° seat angle puts you in a nice position to get the power down with the 550mm top tube on our Medium size test bike gets you stretched out in the drops if you want to get the speed going.

Bike of this style don't often like to be honked up a hill; usually you get nothing back for your extra effort but the Pinnacle thrives on it. You can of course spin up on the 28-tooth rear sprocket and probably go the same speed though it just doesn't seem to feel like it.

Overall the Pyrolite Two is a cracking bike for the money although it is up against some stiff opposition. The Whyte Dorset is the same money and while you're only getting a Tiagra groupset the hydro-formed frame is much more refined than the Pinnacle. It all comes down to what you want from your bike, if you want something to blast around on for a couple of hours the Pyrolite is brilliant, its loads of fun and will really keep goading you to ride harder.

The finishing kit of the build is very good though, all working well with the frame to provide a tight engaging ride. The wheels and tyres are quick rolling and stood up to abuse well. I don't go out of my way to wreck wheels but I'll give them a couple of clouts through potholes to see how good they'll be in the long run. These haven't moved a millimetre.

So there you go, if you ride short distances of a couple of hours or so the Pinnacle is a great blast but you might start to notice the stiffness on longer runs.

Verdict

One for the aggressive rider; a stiff ride but a fast one