In April, the team edition replica of Van Rysel’s RCR Pro bike, used by Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, was available for pre-order and reportedly sold out within minutes on the French sporting retail giant’s website. For those who missed out, it’s now back in stock in the UK, but with a limited number of bikes available.
Van Rysel’s RCR Pro is the flagship aero road bike from its range that was announced at the beginning of last year, and we are told that it’s “the perfect balance between lightness, stiffness and aerodynamics”.
Van Rysel’s replica of the pro team version of the RCR Pro, first made available for pre-order in April, proved very tempting to a number of cyclists – 15 in total, as a representative revealed to us at Van Rysel’s Surrey Quays store opening last month, which might not be a huge number, but this is a superbike after all.
“It’s a great problem to have”, Van Rysel’s CEO and founder Nicolas Pierron told us, before claiming that Van Rysel will be a “game changer” in the next few years thanks to its “accessible, affordable bikes”.
Priced at £9,000, the RCR Pro arguably doesn’t fall into that accessible and affordable category, but it’s nowhere near making its way onto our list of the most expensive road bikes.
A quick check on Decathlon’s website show’s it’s back in stock. However, with a limited number of bikes available, you’ll need to act quickly if you missed out last time and are still tempted with nine grand burning a hole in your jersey pocket. One bike remains in sizes XS, S, L and XL, with three medium-sized bikes still available.
In terms of the spec, it’s built up with a top-level Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, paired with a power meter and Swiss Side Hadron Ultimate 500 wheels wrapped in Continental GP5000 tyres.
The integrated cockpit and seatpost are both carbon, and the cables are fully internal. There’s also plenty of aero-shaping on display with all the features we’ve come to expect of aero road bikes over the years. We’ve recently been out to Lille to see how the new bike has been developed and how it rides, and will have a full video and feature on this coming soon.
The RCR Pro is also available in two standard colourways: black or mahogany brown, priced at £5,500 with Shimano Ultegra Di2 or SRAM Force AXS groupsets.