The question is not why the Van Rysel RCR Pro - the WorldTour’s cheapest bike - is relatively affordable, the question is why any other bike would be more expensive.
That’s according to Yann Le Fraillec, Van Rysel’s chief product officer, who was speaking to Cycling Weekly at the opening of the French brand’s first ever shop, situated inside its parent company Decathlon’s store in Surrey Quays, London.
The RCR Pro, as used by Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale in the men's WorldTour, is being sold for £9,000 in the UK. Clearly, this is still a lot of money for a bike. However, it is thousands of pounds cheaper than equivalent WorldTour machines like the Trek Madone SLR 9 (£14,500 with SRAM Red), or the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 (£12,000 with Dura Ace or SRAM Red).
The RCR Pro holds its own on the spec sheet, with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, a power meter, and Swiss Side Hadron 500 Ultimate wheels. Whilst Cycling Weekly is yet to put any miles on the bike to assess it against the competition, a model has arrived at our Reading HQ for head-to-head testing against the world's best.
"It is the right price for this bike," Le Fraillec says. "I can't say anything else, this is the right price. We are not cheating the customer. They are riding the same bike as the pros, there are no different features. You can buy it, the same frame, the same components, the same wheels. This is what we consider a fair price for people to enjoy the thrill of speed."
"Shimano components alone can't make this kind of gap in terms of pricing"
Yann Le Fraillec, Van Rysel
It's commonly assumed that Van Rysel is able to offer a bike - with comparative specification - several thousand pounds cheaper than other brands because the economies of scale play into sports retail giant Decathlon's hands. La Fraillec denies this.
"Sometimes I hear it's because Decathlon is big, Van Rysel is big, so they have good purchase conditions with Shimano and so on. I don't know to be honest, but the Shimano components alone can't make this kind of gap in terms of pricing.
"It's just a question of the business model as well, because we're a global brand, one of the only brands in the world for cyclists that delivers garments, computers and shoes as well. We're not depending on one product category. We are able to balance it better, so it's a winning point for the customer too."
Van Rysel is aiming to be more than just 'Decathlon’s premium bike marque', it wants to be one of the top five bike brands in the world. To create what it claims to be one of the fastest - and cheapest - superbikes available, it teamed up with Swiss Side, Deda Elementi and ONERA, the French aerospace research laboratory
With ONERA are based round the corner from Van Rysel’s headquarters in Lille, the collaboration was natural. However, it took some convincing the body, which usually exerts its energy on the likes of rockets and submarines, to take an interest in bikes. In the end, 25 3D-printed test frames went through the ONERA wind tunnels in an effort to save every watt.
"We worked with one of the best teams in the world," La Fraillec says. "It was an amazing opportunity. It is the fastest bike in terms of aero-light" - he claims, adding the caveat "we are not able to beat some really specific aero bikes because that's another game."
Unlike the vast majority of modern carbon bikes, the RCR’s frame is made using its creator's own moulds. "We are one of the few brands on the market that are mastering their carbon fibre layup. We know exactly how it's made, what kind of fibre is used where. Some brands delegate to the carbon factory," La Fraillec states.
Decathlon AG2R riders have already taken 11 race wins, this season, aboard the RCR Pro. This means the team has already outperformed their 2023 total by the end of April. Whilst it's not all about the bike, with aero bikes substantially lifting the average speed of modern races, there's certainly no space for underperforming tech.
"We are so happy, really," La Fraillec explains. "The discussion with Decathlon AG2R started a long time ago, with other teams as well. The one thing they couldn't accept is a non-performing bike. You could pay a million dollars, but if the bike wasn't good, it wouldn't matter."
Referencing the parent brand's reputation for providing entry level kit, with value at its heart, he says: "When we started the first tests, we were told that it was a crazy bike. Of course, they started being suspicious because of Decathlon. It's normal, we were ready for this reaction, but then they were impressed."
The impressive performance is one thing, but the price is the thing that makes this Van Rysel bike stand out.
"We will have more expensive bikes, but because it will be the right price for the bike," La Fraillec says. "Maybe in the future, for the TT bike. We want to deliver to the market the right price for our product, without any compromise on the technical aspects."
When the RCR Pro was made available to pre-order across Europe last week, the top model sold out in the UK almost instantaneously. There are still some versions with lower-tier componentry available, but La Fraillec promises that there is more to come.
"The sales have been over our expectations," La Fraillec explains. "To make a bike is something manual, it takes time. you can't just multiply by 10, or you will make quality issues and we don't want that. We are really focusing on delivering these products, but first quality. We won't be delivering large quantities to the market until the end of the year."
The RCR Pro is just the beginning of Van Rysel’s journey to making world-beating bikes; La Fraillec promises something "even more crazy" soon. It does still feel odd to enter a Decathlon in a retail park and see a World Tour winning bike on the shop floor, but that’s the future. The process to making this the new normal will be a long one.
"I think when we start to sell more high-end bikes than leisure bikes, naturally we will reach new customers, and maybe our business model will be less reliant on entry-level bikes," La Fraillec says. "This is our aim, to reach new customers who would not be considering us. This is how we will move out of the Decathlon leisure brand; with iconic products, and I think the RCR bike is a game changer."
