Van Rysel has a new fleet of endurance and gravel bikes on the way to strengthen its range of carbon frames, including the popular RCR Pro, which has already been ridden to 23 wins by Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale in 2024.
Van Rysel, cycling partner of the UCI WorldTeam, has been Decathlon’s own high-end brand since its launch in 2019 and the new range will offer dynamo light integration, SRAM Apex groupsets and the highly anticipated XCR time trial bike.
“We have to deliver a total of eight new bikes between this year and next year,” Yann Le Fraillec told us. Le Fraillec serves as Van Rysel’s Product Category Manager and is popularly known as the father of the RCR Pro.
The details of some of the new releases were revealed GCN and other members of the media during a recent trip to the Van Rysel factory in Lille, France. The first bike off the line should be the XCR TT bike ridden by Ben O’Connor on his way to fourth place overall at the Giro d’Italia in May.
The Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale team uses the RCR Pro bike on the road and when this frame was made available for pre-order in April, Van Rysel sold out almost immediately. As such, the demand for the XCR TT bike is eagerly awaited and its popularity could be boosted by its affordable prices.
Read more: Already sold out: Decathlon opens pre-order for the Van Rysel RCR Pro Replica bike
Available to customers within weeks, production of the XCR is already underway at the Van Rysel factory and the brand’s first time trial bike is expected to cost less than £6,000. In contrast, time trial bikes used in the WorldTour, from the likes of Specialized and Pinarello, cost more than £10,000. With its XCR, Van Rysel promises high-quality Swiss Side wheels and the exact aerodynamic performance that Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale offers.
When it comes to Van Rysel’s racing bikes, the company offers its customers a simple categorization, divided between ‘Race’ and ‘Endurance’. Van Rysel recently made the RCR Pro available to customers again, with all sizes except multiple prizes. points.
Read more: Van Rysel’s RCR Pro Replica bike is available again after previously selling out in minutes
Versatility the key in the endurance range
The distinction between ‘Race’ and ‘Endurance’ is important for Van Rysel. Consumers of ‘Race’ products are typically athletes with multiple bikes at their disposal, but for customers looking at the ‘Endurance’ range, this is not always the case, as Le Fraillec notes.
“We like to combine practices in the Endurance sector because for this customer segment they have one bike, maybe two, so they want something very versatile that is easy to use. But when you’re a racer, it’s all about performance,” he told us.
“Endurance is moving into this all-road trend because I think this is really what the customer wants. They don’t want this in Race, but I think for Endurance they want it to be more versatile.”
With versatility at the forefront, Van Rysel is making the first layups of two new carbon bikes for its Endurance range. A new high-end carbon EDR will cost between £3000 and £5000 depending on specification, and is being marketed towards ultra-endurance athletes. The company has been working with Race Across France for three years and Van Rysel’s goal is to create a race-ready bike for ultra athletes.
Currently the bike is in the prototype phase and the lights are planned to be integrated with a dynamo hub so that ultra-endurance riders can race through the night and use the kinetic energy of their wheels to keep the lights on to float. Additionally, Van Rysel focuses on ensuring 38mm tire clearance and maximizing shock absorption in its carbon fiber technology, eliminating the need for a suspension system.
“With the carbon fiber knowledge we have, we are able to choose the right fiber to have the right feel and not add anything complicated to the frame. We keep it light, simple, easy to maintain and with a fair price for the customer. The more complicated things you add, the more expensive it becomes for the end customer. [Complicated] doesn’t mean he won’t drive fast,” Le Fraillec explains.
Read more: Technical retrospective: a reminder of the professional Decathlon bicycles from the 2000s
In addition to the carbon EDR aimed at the ultra-endurance rider, Van Rysel will also launch a more affordable EDR that will cost less than £2000 and feature a carbon frame with a one-for-one groupset. The second EDR is the ideal multi-tool for commuting, weekend riding and gravel riding and features a SRAM Apex group with an 11-32 cassette and a specially designed 46-tooth chainring.
Typically offered in 40, 42, and 44-tooth options, SRAM Apex has traditionally been thought of as a gravel groupset, but Van Rysel’s 46-tooth request allows riders to comfortably ride at speeds of 22 mph on tarmac. This is another nod to the company’s emphasis on versatility and the lessons Decathlon has learned since the 2023 release of the Riverside GCR, which Le Fraillec admitted was “too aggressive” and, while fast on the road, could be difficult to handle for road beginners. some routes.
Performance gravel racing bike by the end of 2025
The Riverside GCR will soon be joined in the company’s gravel range by a brand new performance gravel bike under the name Van Rysel. It will be based on another core principle of the company: designing performance bikes based on data.
“When we look at the Race category, we work with data, we are really data-driven. We are always driven by data, data, data. Some people will love us, some people will hate us, that’s for sure. But at the end of the day, we are confident in our data and confident that we are working on something specific and real that is better than others,” said Le Fraillec.
Read more: A closer look at the Van Rysel bikes Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale will ride in 2024
In the coming weeks, Van Rysel will open the carbon mold on this carbon gravel frame, giving them time to fine-tune the mold and layups before releasing the bike in late 2025. is known for now about the new Van Rysel GCR, but Le Fraillec insists this will be a bike designed to win races, nothing less.
“When we said we were going to design a gravel racer, it was for winning races, not for bikepacking – we have other bikes for that. If you want to win a gravel race, you need to use this bike to be the fastest. That’s it, that’s our way. We take the market bench, we check the aerodynamics, the stiffness, the weight and all the data, take it to the laboratory, measure it and make sure we do better. It’s a very easy way of thinking.”
Van Rysel also confirmed that a new generation of Triban RC500 and RC520 aluminum bicycles would be launched in 2025. These entry-level racing bikes were particularly popular in the UK market and the next generation will have even more options for gravel riding. with modified geometry to allow greater tire clearance.