Van Rysel to launch new endurance and gravel bikes, TT bike on sale soon

Decathlon’s in-house brand has eight bikes to deliver between this year and next, with XCR time trial bike priced under £6,000

13:44, Wednesday 12th June 2024

George Poole

Junior Writer

Van Rysel are based in Lille, Belgium. The name translates to 'from Lille' in the local dialect

Van Rysel has a new fleet of endurance and gravel bikes on the way to bolster its lineup of carbon frames that includes the popular RCR Pro, which has been ridden to 23 victories already in 2024 by Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale.

Bike partners of the UCI WorldTeam, Van Rysel has been Decathlon’s in-house, high-end brand since its launch in 2019 and its new range is set to offer dynamo light integration, SRAM Apex groupsets and the hotly-anticipated XCR time trial bike.

“We have eight new bikes totally to deliver between this year and next year,” Yann Le Fraillec told us. Le Fraillec serves as Van Rysel’s Product Category Manager and is known colloquially as the father of the RCR Pro.

The specifics of some of the new releases were revealed to GCN and other members of the media on a recent trip to the Van Rysel factory in Lille, France. The first bike off the line should be the XCR TT bike that was 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 use the RCR Pro bike on the road and when this frame was made available to pre-order in April, Van Rysel sold out of stock almost immediately. As such, the demand for the XCR TT bike is eagerly anticipated and its popularity may be bolstered by its affordable pricing.

Available for customers within weeks, the production of the XCR is already underway in the Van Rysel factory and the first time trial bike made by the brand is set to be priced at under £6,000. In contrast, time trial bikes used in the WorldTour from the likes of Specialized and Pinarello are priced in excess of £10,000. With its XCR, Van Rysel promises high-end Swiss Side wheels and the exact aerodynamic performance on offer to Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale.

Ben O'Connor has been a shining light for Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale this season

When it comes to Van Rysel’s road bikes, the company offers simple categorisation for its customers, split between ‘Race’ and ‘Endurance’. Van Rysel recently made the RCR Pro available to customers again, with all sizes but XS still available to pre-order at £9000, and Van Rysel is preparing for the launch of its new ‘Endurance’ bikes, which include carbon frames at multiple price points.

Versatility the key in endurance range

The distinction between ‘Race’ and ‘Endurance’ for Van Rysel is an important one. The consumers of ‘Race’ products are usually athletes who have multiple bikes at their disposal, but for customers looking at the ‘Endurance’ range, that is not always the case, as noted by Le Fraillec.

“We love to mix practice in the Endurance sector because for this segment of customer, they have one bike, maybe two, so they want something really versatile that can be easy to use. But when you are a racer, everything is about performance,” he told us.

“Endurance is moving to this all-road trend because I think it 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 in the process of making the first lay-ups of two new carbon bikes for its Endurance range. A new high-end carbon EDR will be priced between £3000-£5000, depending on the spec, and is marketed for ultra-endurance athletes. The company has been partnered with Race Across France for three years and Van Rysel’s aim is to create a bike that is ready to race for ultra-athletes.

At the moment, the bike is in its prototype stage and is planned to have lights integrated with a dynamo hub, to allow ultra-endurance riders to race through the night and use the kinetic energy of their wheels to power the lights. In addition, Van Rysel is focused on ensuring 38mm tyre clearance and maximising the shock absorption in its carbon fibre technology, thereby doing away with the need for a suspension system.

“With the carbon fibre knowledge we have, we are able to choose the right fibre to have the right feeling and not add something complicated on the frame. We will keep it light, simple, easy to maintain and with a fair price for the customer. The more you add complicated stuff, the more it will be costly for the end customer. [Complicated] does not mean that it will not ride fast,” explained Le Fraillec.

Alongside the carbon EDR aimed at the ultra-endurance rider, Van Rysel is also set to launch a more affordable EDR that will be priced below £2000 and have a carbon frame with a one-by groupset. Pitched as the ideal multi-tool for commuting, weekend riding and gravel riding, the second EDR will have SRAM Apex groupset that features an 11-32 cassette and a specifically designed 46-tooth chainring.

Usually offered in 40, 42 and 44-tooth options, SRAM Apex has traditionally been seen as a gravel groupset, but the 46-tooth request by Van Rysel will allow riders to comfortably ride at speeds of 35kph on the tarmac. This is another nod to the company’s emphasis on versatility and the lessons Decathlon has learned since the release of the Riverside GCR in 2023, which Le Fraillec admitted was “too aggressive” and whilst quick on the road, could be difficult to handle by beginners on single-trails.

Performance-orientated gravel race bike by end of 2025

Yann Le Fraillec is known around the Van Rysel office as 'the father of the RCR,' a product he and the team are incredibly proud of

The Riverside GCR will soon be joined in the company’s gravel range by a brand-new performance gravel bike under the moniker of Van Rysel. It will be informed by another of the company’s core principles - designing performance bikes driven by data.

“When we consider the Race category, we are working 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, our data we are sure in and we trust that we work on something specific and real that is better than others,” Le Fraillec said.

Within the coming weeks, Van Rysel will open the carbon mould on this carbon gravel frame, which will allow them the time to fine-tune the mould and its lay-ups, before bringing the bike to market by the end of 2025. Little more is known about the new Van Rysel GCR for the time being, but Le Fraillec insists that this will be a bike designed to win races, nothing less.

“When we said we would design a gravel racer, it is to win races, it is not to make 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 is it, that is our way. We will take the bench of the market, we will check the aerodynamics, the stiffness, the weight and all the data, take it into 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 the Triban RC500 and RC520 aluminium bikes would be coming to market in 2025. These entry-level road bikes were especially popular in the UK market and the next generation will have even more scope for gravel riding, with altered geometry to allow for wider tyre clearances.