The Van Rysel RCR Professional is, no doubt, some of the talked about bikes in 2024, and for good cause. The Decathlon subsidiary model has solely been round in its present kind since 2019 and has traditionally been recognized for value-driven merchandise, somewhat than at all times aiming for halo bikes. Within the final twelve months, nonetheless, all this has modified.
Final yr, Van Rysel unveiled the RCR Professional, promising top-end race bike efficiency, at a much more modest value than a few of its competitors. This was adopted by an announcement of a €26 million funds injection to Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, who’ve been driving the bikes all season lengthy, and with nice success.
However WorldTour victories apart – has Van Rysel actually made a superbike killer? Enable me to elucidate.
Van Rysel RCR Professional: Development
If you happen to have been to catch a glimpse of the RCR Professional because it rolled previous you on the cafe, you’d be forgiven for assuming you had simply seen one more Specialised Tarmac SL7. The RCR Professional does share some signature design components corresponding to a cut-out on the seat tube, dropped seat stays, a sloping prime tube, and a barely deeper head tube. That is removed from a criticism, nonetheless – the Van Rysel RCR Professional is a splendid-looking machine, and positively seems to be at dwelling within the WorldTour steady.
The frameset is claimed to weigh simply 790 grams for a dimension medium, which fits toe to toe with the competitors. Actually, it comes only a smidgen away from the likes of the way more pricey Issue O2 VAM, and surpasses the Cannondale Supersix Evo Hello-mod’s 810g body weight. All this was achieved by way of the same old toil of computational iterative design, to work out the place greatest to put the ‘tremendous Hello Mod Carbon’ all through the frameset.
In look no less than, the Van Rysel RCR Professional has Specialised Tarmac vibes
(Picture credit score: Future (Richard Butcher))
With the RCR Professional being a high-end, modern-day race bike, its aerodynamics have been meticulously thought-about. The frameset was first topic to computational fluid dynamics testing earlier than completely different iterations of the bike have been examined within the wind tunnel in order that Decathlon engineers might create the quickest Van Rysel body form potential.
The RCR Professional options an aggressive stack-to-reach ratio of 1.40, which is coupled with 410mm chainstays. The wheelbase is somewhat bit longer than a few of my favorite performing race bikes, which as I’ll come onto, performs a component within the bike’s steady dealing with.
Two-piece cockpit options Deda’s Superzero handlebar
(Picture credit score: Future (Richard Butcher))
So far as spec is anxious, my RCR Professional on check is a barely blended bag. Groupset duties are dealt with by Shimano’s Ultegra R8170 Di2, wheels included, which all carried out expectedly reliably. Ending equipment however was extra various. The handlebars are a two-piece setup, with Deda’s Superzero handlebar. Coming in at 42cm centre to centre, they did really feel somewhat huge, and I discovered the drop to be somewhat shallow too, which hindered me from getting correctly comfy. For reference, Canyon’s tempo bar system could be adjusted right down to 35cm, and equally, Pinarello presents cockpits right down to a 35cm huge handlebar with the brand new Dogma. The upside although, is that because of the two-piece design, altering out the handlebar isn’t too tough.
Van Rysel RCR Professional: the experience
Lay my handlebar style to the aspect, nonetheless, and it’s a fairly formidable bike on paper. The difficulty, for me no less than, is that this didn’t fairly translate to greatness out on the tarmac.
As is the case with all my street bike exams, I began off with an area testing loop which I’m past aware of. This 25km loop options some steep climbs, a quick descent, and a few tough and easy street surfaces too, all of which permit me to get a superb really feel for a motorbike’s dealing with in a managed surroundings. The bike instantly felt steady, however I couldn’t fairly get the bike to really feel alive beneath me like I’ve with different bikes on check of latest.
Wheels are Shimano’s Ultegra
(Picture credit score: Future (Richard Butcher))
Nonetheless, not one to carry a grudge towards a motorbike after a mediocre first impression, I continued testing with some longer rides out into the Cotswolds, the place I put the bike to the check on some harder climbs. As soon as once more although, it was blended emotions on the street. The Van Rysel RCR Professional is definitely a really comfy bike, doing an awesome job of night out the plentiful bumps on my native Oxfordshire roads, nonetheless, this consolation does appear to return on the detriment of responsiveness. A few times I did have a seat put up slip too, albeit on a very harsh street floor.
Notably whereas climbing out of the saddle, or sprinting, I discovered the RCR Professional to lack the responsiveness that the perfect race bikes achieve this properly to seize. By all means, the RCR Professional is a quick bike, quite a few WorldTour victories show that, however the barely uninteresting experience really feel means it’s not such a pleasure to experience as different bikes on the market.
The bike performs very properly on the descents. The marginally longer wheelbase, together with the aggressive head angle, makes for a steady experience that also adjustments route fairly properly. The RCR Professional was a motorbike I discovered myself with the ability to push fairly arduous proper from the get-go.
Worth and Conclusion
Has Van Rysel actually created a brilliant bike killer? In spite of everything, the purpose of this bike is to offer WorldTour high quality at a less expensive value.
Our check bike is priced at £5,500, and comes with Ultegra Di2, carbon wheels, and two-piece ending equipment, which is nice worth, however not exceptional. For instance, the brand new Canyon Aeroad CF SLX 8 comes with the identical groupset, DT Swiss wheels, and an built-in aero cockpit for simply £500 extra at £5,999, and having ridden each bikes, I’d say the Canyon is healthier worth for cash.
So whereas sure, it does barely undercut the competitors at this value level, I don’t essentially assume meaning it’s the greatest worth bike available on the market. I believe Van Rysel has completely secured its foothold out there with the RCR Professional, and this race bike has definitely elevated the model too, however I nonetheless assume it’s nonetheless one or two iterations from upsetting the massive gamers.
