Van Rysel NCR CF Apex review

Van Rysel’s NCR is the brand’s new entry-level carbon endurance bike. Its generous 35mm tyre clearance means it can also head onto the path less taken and is in keeping with the burgeoning all-road genre.

Van Rysel says although the NCR is an all-rounder, it wanted to retain a racing edge “to appeal to performance-oriented cyclists”.  

In testing, I’ve found the NCR’s ride to be a disappointing experience, though, with an oddly dull and lethargic quality, while the SRAM Apex AXS XPLR 1x drivetrain is a strange choice given the bike’s (general) road intentions and other spec choices, regardless of its all-road positioning. 

The NCR CF will you set you back £2,099.99 / €2,199.99, but there are more focused – and therefore better – endurance bikes at the £2,000-£2,500 price point.  

Van Rysel NCR CF Apex AXS frame details 

The NCR’s tube shapes are mostly in keeping with its endurance contemporaries – dropped seatstays and relatively slender tube profiles. 

The relatively thin-profiled seat tube wears a graphic nodding to the NCR’s Flandrian roots, in a bid to boost compliance. 

By comparison, the chainstays and down tube are relatively chunky for stiffness purposes. 

The stout and slightly elongated head tube oddly stands out against the rest of the fairly typical tube profiles.  

Van Rysel says the NCR uses a mixture of three different carbon fibre types – 'intermediate and high-modulus fibres' that balance rigidity and elasticity, as well as ‘high-resistant’ fibres that are designed to be more resistant to impacts. 

The brand doesn’t offer any further insight on where the fibres are used, but one would expect the bottom bracket junction and head tube to use a beefier construction, given the higher loads these areas experience. 

Van Rysel claims a 1,200g painted frame weight in a size medium, with the fork 413g (1,613g total). 

That’s a little heavier than the competition, considering the price point – Canyon’s entry-level Endurace CF trumps the NCR with a claimed 900g frame weight and 480g fork, both unpainted in a medium. The brand says paint contributes another 60 to 80g, adding up to around 1,460g. 

An unpainted Scott Addict frame is claimed to weigh 980g and the fork 420g, in a size large, with paint said to add between 70 and 100g. 

It’s worth noting both the Endurace and Addict have identical 35mm tyre clearances to the NCR. 

The NCR refreshingly eschews cockpit integration, with the rear hose and any gear cables running through the down tube and respective chainstay. 

Van Rysel has specced a BB86 press-fit bottom bracket on the NCR. This is one of my preferred standards given the general creak-free reliability I’ve seen over the years (when precisely manufactured). It also provides good compatibility with most cranksets. 

The one area where it’s not ideal, and something to bear in mind for this particular build, is when using a SRAM DUB crankset. 

The 28.99mm spindle, with a 41mm diameter, means you’re relying on a thinner bearing than you would with a Shimano crankset, which could wear out quicker. 

The NCR uses a 27.2mm round seatpost with a traditional sleeve clamp, reducing maintenance complexity.

Another neat touch is the levered thru-axles, so you don’t need to rely on a multi-tool to remove and install a wheel.  

Some may lament Van Rysel’s decision to omit mudguard mounts, though. 

Van Rysel NCR CF Apex AXS geometry

Van Rysel offers the NCR in five sizes – XS through to XL. I tested a size large.

The NCR’s geometry is pretty run-of-the-mill for an endurance road bike, although there are a few oddities. 

The 73-degree head tube angle is on the steeper side, especially for a bike with stated off-road intentions. Steeper angles tend to equate to faster steering, all things being equal. 

Trek’s Domane SLR is slacker at 71.9 degrees, with the Look 765 Optimum slacker still at 70.8 degrees, both in a size large. 

However, both the Scott Addict and Specialized Roubaix SL8 have an equivalent 73-degree measurement, but neither is positioned for off-road use as heavily as the Van Rysel. 

The 396.5mm reach on my test bike is longer than the 377mm figure on the Trek Domane SLR and the 384.6mm on the Look 765 Optimum. 

The 572.2mm stack is also shorter than the 591mm measurement on the Trek and 606mm on the Look. 

Both equate to a comparatively more aggressive ride position on the NCR, versus those two reference bikes.

The bottom-bracket drop is 67mm, whereas both the Specialized Roubaix SL8 and Trek Domane SLR are 78mm, which means the NCR is higher off the ground. A higher bottom bracket height tends to help with obstacle clearance, but lower can result in a racier ride experience. 

My size-large bike was equipped with a 100mm stem (with subsequent sizes increasing or decreasing in 10mm increments). The Domane is also specced with this stem length, whereas Look opts for a longer 110mm stem. 

This is paired with a 42cm-wide handlebar (measured centre to centre), which is also found on the medium and XL-size bikes. The small uses a narrower 40cm bar. 

Unlike many off-road oriented bikes, there isn’t any flare. 

Van Rysel NCR CF Apex AXS build

As the model name suggests, this build comes with a SRAM Apex AXS XPLR groupset. This is nominally a gravel groupset, representing SRAM’s most cost-effective electronic offering, and is only available in a 1x drivetrain configuration. 

The RRP of the groupset alone is £1,467 / $1,415 / €1,641, so seeing as the bike is priced at £2,099.99, this seems like impressive value on paper. 

Van Rysel specs a tall 46-tooth chainring, paired with an 11-44t cassette.  

Elsewhere, you get a pair of Mavic Aksium alloy wheels. These have a relatively narrow (by today’s standards) 19mm internal rim width and I weighed them at 1,930g (900g front, 1,030g rear) without disc brake rotor lockrings.  

The Mavic wheels are wrapped in 28mm-wide Hutchinson Fusion 5 road tyres.

The bike comes set up with inner tubes, but tubeless valves are supplied in the box and the rims are already pre-taped, so it’s simply a case of adding your preferred tubeless sealant once the valves are installed to convert to tubeless (should you want to). 

All of the finishing kit (handlebar, stem, seatpost and saddle) is alloy and Decathlon-branded. 

On the scales of truth, my test bike weighed in at 8.83kg without pedals. More on the weight to come. 

Don’t want a 1x drivetrain?

There are three other build options in the NCR CF range, which all sport 2x drivetrains. 

Opening the quartet is a Shimano Tiagra 4700-equipped model at £1,599.99 / €1,700 with equivalent Mavic Aksium wheels. 

Sitting just below the NCR CF Apex AXS (in terms of price) is a Shimano 105 R7100 12-speed mechanical build at £2,000 / €2,199.99. The Aksium wheels are swapped for a set of Fulcrum Racing 700 DB hoops. 

At £2,499.99 / €2,899.99, a SRAM Rival eTap AXS build represents the NCR CF’s pinnacle. This bike is specced with upgraded Fulcrum Racing 3 wheels. 

Van Rysel NCR CF Apex ride impressions

I tested the NCR CF on a variety of training rides and club runs, making sure to throw in some rougher surfaces to understand the bike’s off-road potential. 

From the off, the first thing I noticed was how unresponsive and dull-feeling the bike was on the road. The NCR required noticeable effort to accelerate, with little reward because it didn’t feel easy to hold onto once achieved. The sub-optimal gear ratios were partly the cause here – more on that later. 

When the gradient pointed up, the NCR CF Apex AXS felt in no hurry to help me to the top, despite the pretty standard 73.5-degree seat tube angle putting me in an efficient pedalling position.

The NCR CF also disappoints when descending. An endurance bike tends to feel more sure-footed on a descent than a climbing or aero road bike, enabling you to really rail around corners with confidence.

Tip the NCR into a corner and there’s a slight sense of a disconnect between the handlebar and front tyre. 

Late in my testing, I went down a descent on a relatively wide main road, which chicanes around two corners. If you’re confident, you don’t need to brake because there’s a long straight as soon as you’re around the apex. 

While I had full confidence in the 35mm Continental Grand Prix 5000 AS TR tyres I had swapped to, when I put more pressure into the drops to tilt the bike in more, the sensation wasn’t as informative as I’m accustomed to. 

I’d recently spent some time on the Scott Addict 20, the Swiss brand’s carbon endurance bike, which cuts a very similar appearance and identical 73-degree head tube angle to the NCR. Unlike the NCR, the Addict felt far more eager on climbs, while it was more confidence-inspiring on descents. 

The NCR also feels as though it rides heavier than its 8.83kg weight would suggest. 

Although a significantly speedier proposition, the Look 765 Optimum I’ve had as a long-term test bike was draped in similar kit in its stock build (Hutchinson Fusion 5 tyres, albeit in a 30mm width and all-alloy finishing kit), originally weighing 8.79kg.

Although its slack 70.8mm head tube angle meant climbing wasn’t its natural forte, it delivered a bucket load of confidence when the gradient tipped down. 

The difference between the NCR and both the Addict and the 765 Optimum was stark. 

That said, the NCR’s lethargic manners don’t appear to be down to any shortcomings in the frame quality. I couldn’t detect any obvious unwanted flex on the NCR. 

In terms of compliance, the NCR also struggles to match its contemporaries. The front end is harsh, transmitting lots of vibrations through the alloy handlebar, while the rear is also firm (if slightly more comfortable than the front).

The first upgrade I would make is a switch to a carbon seatpost. Although that might further unbalance the bike’s compliance, the stock alloy seatpost is a real bone shaker. 

It was impressive to feel the transformation of the rear end within the first 30 seconds when I switched to a Zipp Service Course carbon seatpost. 

Upgrading the handlebar, wheels and tyres would be on the hit list to increase the front end’s compliance. 

A mismatched drivetrain

The SRAM Apex AXS XPLR groupset is a strange spec choice, at least for road use. 

You get a 46t chainring paired with a wide-ranging 11-44t cassette. This means you’re at a disadvantage over a conventional 2x arrangement, both when climbing and (to a greater extent) descending. 

The easiest 46-44t combination gives you a marginally easier gear ratio than a conventional 34t chainring and 32t largest sprocket. On the other hand, the 4.18in gear ratio when in the hardest 46-11t combination, is dramatically lower than the 4.55in ratio of a typical 50-11t arrangement. 

The jumps between each sprocket are larger because they have to cover a greater range, making settling into a rhythm on undulating terrain a greater challenge. 

If you want a slightly bigger descending gear, SRAM Rival eTap AXS (along with Force and Red AXS) starts with a 10t sprocket, but requires the use of the proprietary SRAM XDR freehub body, so you’d need to factor this in if you were to upgrade the cassette. 

I think a 2x drivetrain is the more logical solution for the NCR.

Another curiosity was the 175mm crank length – size-large bikes typically come with 172.5mm and I found this resulted in a little bit of toe overlap with the front wheel. 

In terms of pure functionality, SRAM Apex AXS is an impressive performer. 

The shifting is quick and precise and if I were blindfolded, I’d struggle to tell the difference between Apex and Rival.

The braking’s excellent too and it’s good to see Van Rysel spec 160mm SRAM Paceline rotors front and rear, so you benefit from the extra stopping power at the back on rougher sections. 

The Mavic Aksium wheels proved a reliable set of hoops that don’t need upgrading instantly, if you’re intending to solely stick on the road. 

The Hutchinson Fusion 5 tyres are unremarkable in terms of grip, but I didn’t experience any punctures. The 28mm width suggests a road-going focus, but considering the NCR’s off-road intentions and groupset choice, a wider size would have been a better selection.

As such, I found I had to take excess care when negotiating a bridleway with a challenging gravelly surface. 

The set of 700 x 35c Continental GP5000 AS TRs I switched to during testing drastically improved the ride quality and perceptible speed and grip. The bike felt significantly more fun and capable on gravel, albeit the road-going Aksium wheels are sill potentially a limiting factor here.

For similar money, I’d recommend the Canyon Endurace CF 7 for £1,949 / $2,199 / €1,999 / AU$3,099. This features 105 R7000, Shimano's outgoing 11-speed groupset, but if you want to plump up for the new 12-speed variant, it’ll cost £2,399 / €2,499 / AU$3,899 (not available in the USA). 

The Scott Addict 40 is another fine alternative for £1,949 / $2,799.99 / €2,240 (not available in Australia). While it steps down to a Shimano Tiagra 4700 10-speed groupset, in my view, the frame offers a more exciting ride quality than the Endurace CF. A 105 R7000 build retails for £2,399 / $2,399.99 / €2,650 / AU$3,199.99.  

Van Rysel NCR CF Apex bottom line

Despite a seemingly promising spec for the price, Van Rysel’s NCR CF Apex proved a disappointment in testing. In trying to stretch itself across road and light off-road riding, it ends up not performing particularly well in either genre. 

The ride is oddly sluggish and dull on the road given the frame’s geometry, and while an electronic groupset is nice to have for the reasonable asking price, the Apex AXS XPLR choice is at odds with the rest of the road-esque spec.

In terms of this particular build, I struggle to think who it’s aimed at. The limited gear ratios make for a noticeable compromise on the road and the bike’s 35mm tyre clearance limits the difficulty of what you can ride off-road. I think Van Rysel overstates its gravel potential. 

Of all the builds, I’d recommend going for the 105 R7100 build at £2,000. But in doing so, you’ll still be left with a frameset that feels unbalanced. 

Overall, the Van Rysel NCR doesn’t hit the mark and its ride quality doesn’t stack up against its competitors. I’d advise looking at other options.