2023 Sea Otter Show the WorldTour version of the RCR

Decathlon has been offering the Van Rysel brand for a while now, with a range of aero road bikes, all-terrain road bikes (Gua Che is now under the Riverside brand) and enduro road bikes, hoping that in the future their bikes will be like what they do - large Like the sports supermarket, it is in a leading position in the world.

Decathlon business development manager Peter Lazarus said that Van Rysel's goal is clear - to become "the world's top five bicycle brands". As you might expect, they still stick to the tradition of high value for money.

Foreign media saw Van Rysel's new top model RCR at the 2023 Sea Otter Exhibition. Combined with the new cars we saw at the domestic press conference before, we can summarize Van Rysel's current product lineup:

RCR - aero road bike

FCR – the aerodynamically optimized race bike

GRVL GCR - Competition All-Terrain Road bike

NCR - Endurance Road bike

GRVL Ti - titanium alloy all-terrain road bikes

These new bikes will be sold in Europe through Decathlon, and they should be launched simultaneously in China in the next few months.

Van Rysel RCR

According to Lazarus, the RCR is Van Rysel's new aero road bike, designed by the brand in collaboration with French aerospace company Onera. It uses classic aero frame designs like truncated tubes, lowered chainstays, aero seatpost and full internal cable routing.

Designed with the French aerospace lab, ONERA, the RCR is an all-out carbon racer which aims to strike a balance of aerodynamics, comfort and energy transfer.

The carbon aerodynamic frameset is paired with a two-piece cockpit consisting of an aero profile handlebar and a Deda-made stem that tucks the cables neatly away, routing them from the bars underneath the stem and into the headset. The matte black RCR on display comes with a SRAM Force AXS groupset and Zipp 404 Firecrest wheels wrapped in Michelin Power Cup tubeless tires.

Although it is said to be an aero bike, the RCR is actually more like an all-round road bike, providing up to 33mm of tire clearance. The complete bike with SRAM FORCE AXS configuration weighs only 7.2kg.

The handlebar is split, which is convenient for users to fit. After all, Decathlon's cars have always emphasized ease of use. The internal cable routing stem was developed by Van Rysel in cooperation with DEDA.

The SRAM FORCE AXS exhibited at the Sea Otter Exhibition has a high configuration, equipped with Zipp 404 Firecrest wheels and 28c Michelin POWER CUP tubeless tires. The price is 6999 US dollars, 4700 euros.

A WorldTour version of the RCR was also on display in the Sea Otter Classic booth, though the brand’s representatives would not confirm which team will be riding this bike come the new season.

RCR uses a different carbon fiber layup with the main purpose of increasing stiffness around the head tube. Van Rysel claims a frame weight of 810g, impressive for a semi-aero bike. The weight of the whole vehicle has dropped to the UCI standard of 6.8 kg.

Van Rysel says this is largely down to the Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset. The weight of the frame itself is almost the same as that of FORCE configuring the whole car.

In order to further optimize the aerodynamic effect, the team version RCR is also equipped with an integrated handlebar and SWISSIDE 500 wheelset.

The bike's purpose is clear, with graphics on the top tube reading: "UCI World Championships 2024 - Ready to Win."