Van Rysel RCR Pro Team Edition review: excellent ride feel and geometry make this the race bike to beat

When I heard Decathlon would be back in the WorldTour, I wished for a market-shifting superbike.

Yet, while the Van Rysel RCR Pro Team Replica is a fantastic bike, it isn’t the bargain I wanted at £9,000 / $10,999 / €9,000.

Nevertheless, it boasts tantalising speed and an excellent front end, and while the Swiss Side Hadron 2 wheels are twitchy in strong winds, this race bike is a joy to ride fast. It'll take some beating.

Van Rysel RCR Pro Team Edition frameset

Developed with French aerospace lab, Onera, the RCR Pro frameset is something of a greatest hits album when it comes to the tube shapes used.

To the keen aero eye, shapes from the Specialized Tarmac SL7, Canyon Ultimate and Merida Scultura will be familiar. Given the development of the frame, that shouldn’t be a surprise.

Backed by the spending power of Decathlon, Van Rysel made no secret about buying the leading 18 WorldTour race bikes and testing them. The intention, the brand says, was to get a bike that sat in the top five of the lightweight aero bikes category.

The result is a standard-looking, but well-proportioned bike. Van Rysel isn’t forthcoming with comparison data against its rivals, nor the specifics of carbon fibre layup used. It simply says the RCR Pro frameset uses “even more high-end carbon fibres” than the standard RCR, for example.

To achieve the 6.9kg build weight, the frameset has to be rather feathery. Van Rysel claims a painted, size-medium frame weighs 790g.

For context, the Cannondale SuperSix Evo Lab71 boasts a 770g frame (painted, 56cm). On paper, then, the RCR Pro is right in the ballpark.

The frameset’s other features are also in line with what we expect of a prototypical modern race bike, with dropped seatstays and a fully integrated front end.

Van Rysel uses Deda's DCR internal cable-routing system. Some bikes, such as the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8, expose a part of the brake hoses. But the Deda bar takes everything internally for the cleanest airflow and aesthetic.

I generally loathe fully internal systems on endurance bikes, where adjustability is key. But on a road race bike such as this, I prefer the sleek design of a well-integrated system.

Unlike Specialized and Cannondale, though, Van Rysel has opted for a press-fit BB86 bottom bracket rather than a threaded design. This has presented no issues over the test period, despite some abysmal weather.

I was slightly disappointed by some of the finishing touches on the RCR, though. The seatpost clamp cover is basic, for example, while the fit of the rear derailleur cable’s rubber bung is sloppy.

That said, I like the way the RCR Pro frameset looks. It seems angular, without being obtuse. Unlike the Bianchi Specialissima RC, the RC Pro’s design is sleek and pared back to the essentials.

Van Rysel RCR Pro Team Edition geometry

When dealing with what will be a new bike to many people, I like to summarise it simply. A comparison to a well-established bike is often helpful. With the RCR I can do both in one sentence.

The RCR fits like a Cannondale SuperSix Evo. Simple.

With stack and reach figures of 546mm and 388.2mm, it's 4.2mm longer and 9mm lower than the SuperSix.

The result is a racy ride position, which enables you to get very low at the front. But should you want to add to the 147mm head tube length, 30mm of spacers sit under the stem.

This medium size, with its top tube length of 556.4mm, feels a touch shorter than the reach figure suggests. At 173cm tall, I sit right between the small and medium on Van Rysel’s size chart. Seeing a 120mm stem length made me think I’d be stretched beyond my usual riding position.

However, the short reach on the bar meant I was comfortable and the position worked wonders for my top-end power when sprinting. Given the bike’s racer intentions, this was a very welcome discovery.

Adding to the speedy ride are suitably sporty head and seat tube angles of 73 and 73.5 degrees. While the former is 0.2 degrees slacker than the SuperSix, Van Rysel has been a little more aggressive with the latter, going 1.8 degrees steeper than Cannondale’s design.

Throw in a tight wheelbase of 986mm and you have a geometry that conforms to modern race bike standards. It keeps the handling sharp without compromising stability at higher speeds.

The RCR’s handling is brilliant and it won’t surprise you to learn I enjoyed throwing the RCR through corners quite a bit.

Van Rysel RCR Pro Team Edition specification

This Team Edition of the RCR Pro is, as the name suggests, specced with the same kit used by the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale Team.

The Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 groupset differs only in the gear ratios, with consumer bikes getting a 52/36 power meter crankset and a wide 11-34T cassette, instead of the pro standard 54/40t.

This is a welcome change, though, because while I love a team replica bike, my legs aren’t so keen on pro-level gearing.

Credit should also be given to the designers for selecting progressive cockpit dimensions.

A size-medium RCR Pro is specced with a 400mm-wide handlebar, paired with a 100mm stem. When I read this on the spec sheet, this width looked a touch old-school, but these figures are misleading.

The 400mm figure refers to the outside-to-outside measurement at the drops. With a slight flare up to the hoods, the measurement here is more like 370mm. With canted-in levers, I ended up with a narrow position that felt brilliant when pushing the pace on flat roads.

Deda’s stem also measured up closer to 120mm, and while that means an optimal setup for me, here lies my one major gripe.

There is no option to spec a different size, nor the ability to buy the cockpit aftermarket, as things stand.

Some leeway can be affording Van Rysel because Deda’s other DCR systems, such as the Alanera cockpit, can be purchased aftermarket. This will, however, cost you a good chunk of change.

Van Rysel tells me the cockpit will be available aftermarket from spring 2025. But that's not much use if you want the bike now.

I would rather see Van Rysel bring the bike to market with proper cockpit options. Bianchi is the example to follow here – its Specialissima RC came with a whopping 17 cockpit sizes.

Sat atop the deep, 15mm-setback carbon seatpost is a Fizik Vento Argo 00 saddle in a 140mm size. While the Argo uses a central cutout design that I’ve always favoured, I didn’t like the chunky nose.

The design felt too wide and I was pushed further forward on the saddle than I’d like to be.

As a result I was highly aware of the saddle through every ride. While I didn’t experience any pressure points or saddle sores during testing, I’d be looking for a new perch were this my bike. Your mileage may vary, though.

I have one gripe about the Van Rysel RCR Pro Team Edition’s spec, although this may be due to my own preconceptions of the Decathlon brand.

I hoped this bike would make a market-upsetting splash in the bike-price pond. While it costs a whopping £5,000 less than the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 ridden by the likes of Remco Evenepoel, it’s far from the most affordable WorldTour bike.

The Merida Scultura Team, for example, with a similar Dura-Ace Di2 build, costs £8,000 / €9,999, undercutting the RCR by a grand.

Van Rysel RCR Pro Team Edition ride impressions

I’ve had the pleasure of riding the RCR Pro for more than a month. My lasting impression of the bike is of a sensible design that's well executed.

Creating a frameset in harmony with the wheels results in a remarkably fast ride. Partnering with Deda for the front end means the bike feels well balanced, both aesthetically and in terms of compliance.

My favourite training session to do on a race bike is a block of longer zone 3 efforts. These, in basic terms, involve riding quite fast on flat to rolling terrain, through corners and in changing wind directions.

The RCR Pro excels on this type of ride, maintaining a high pace easily, cornering with a delicious directness and then sprinting back up to speed.

These qualities are equally important on faster group rides and my outings on the RCR Pro felt easier than when I rode my Specialized Aethos – a bike with no aero shaping whatsoever.

Living in the UK, the roads I use for these sustained efforts are typically far from perfect. The RCR Pro isn’t an overly harsh bike, but I have ridden more compliant aero racers over broken asphalt.

Specialized’s Tarmac SL8 sticks in my head as surprisingly comfy over these same roads, for example, but the RCR Pro didn’t feel harsh to the point of sapping my energy.

I was also impressed with how the RCR Pro climbs. A 6.9kg bike with plenty of stiffness will naturally climb well. But I also felt the racy geometry put me in a great position to deliver seated power when climbing.

The Swiss Side Hadron 2 Ultimate 500 wheels are ideal for a bike of this nature. With their 50mm-deep rims, speeds over 30km/h were easy to maintain on flat and rolling roads. This was especially clear when switching from my Specialized Aethos with shallower ENVE 2.3 wheels.

Continental’s 28mm GP5000 S TR tyres are a natural choice for the bike, providing a lively feel and plenty of cornering grip.

While the bike came to me with inner tubes, tubeless setup was easy with a track pump. I was able to quickly seat the tyres before adding sealant through the valve.

One area where the wheelset was less impressive was in strong winds. I have become accustomed to wider rim profiles from the likes of Hunt and the stability they provide. Swiss Side’s narrower profile sometimes led to a twitchy ride when gusts picked up.

That said, outright speed is the main aim of the RCR, not ride stability, so this minor flaw can be forgiven somewhat.

Shimano’s Dura-Ace Di2 groupset was as good as ever, with the fast and accurate front derailleur the highlight.

I was also impressed by the shift quality across the relatively wide 11-34T cassette. Van Rysel’s choice of 160mm brake rotors front and rear also provided ample braking power.

Ultegra Di2 is still a much better value proposition, though. If it were my money, I’d save £3,500 and opt for the £5,500 / €5,500 RCR Pro Ultegra Di2.