Van Rysel Road Bike Helmet FCR review

Decathlon’s in-house brand Van Rysel deserve plenty of credit for bringing a serious sub-£100 aero road helmet to the table with the snappily-titled Road Bike Helmet FCR.

That FCR title stands for Fast Racer, and our wind tunnel results did suggest that the faster the speeds, the more aerodynamically impressive the FCR is.

This FCR helmet has been chosen by the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale professional cycling team for flat or rolling stages, but there’s plenty of triathlon-friendly appeal as well, including the magnetic chin buckle for fastening the straps with chilly post-swim fingers.

Aero performance

The Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale collaboration has led to the Road Bike Helmet FCR undergoing wind tunnel testing during its development.

We tested its aerodynamic abilities in our independent wind-tunnel analysis at the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub with The Bike Tailor this summer.

Its performance at a 7.5° yaw angle with the rider on tri-bars was the slowest out of the 11 helmets, but only by a couple of seconds when compared with the £300+ Kask Elemento when riding at 30km/h over a 40km bike leg.

It did lose around 30secs to the similarly-shaped S-Works Evade 3 and Abus GameChanger 2.0, though.

Its performance improved considerably when the speed increased to 40km/h, however, outperforming the Kask by 5secs and being level pegging with the £239 Giro Eclipse Spherical over 40km.

We’d be keen to see how it fares at even higher speeds and yaw angles, with Van Rysel’s Racer helmet excelling in our wind tunnel tests at wider, albeit less common, yaw angles.

Safety and ventilation

There’s no MIPS brain protection system, however, and we’ve yet to see any of Decathlon’s helmets, including the Road Bike Helmet FCR, being put through the helmet safety tests at the Virginia Tech Institute.

It complies with the European regulation EN1078, nonetheless.

While it’s no match for a fully vented climber’s lid, the quintet of sizeable front vents and three inner channels offer a satisfactory level of ventilation that holds its own against many of the aero road options on test here.

Fit and weight

The slightly wider fit will appeal to racers who find the S-Works Evade 3 or Abus GameChanger too narrow, while the sleek finish of the polycarbonate shell over the EPS foam suggests durability and longevity.

The 290g for a medium (55-59cm) nudges it towards the higher end of aero road helmets when it comes to weight, but not by a huge amount and it wasn’t especially noticeable on the move.

There’s a nifty internal adjustment sizing mechanism that’s far less precarious than many on test here, while the retention dial has a secure and confidence-inspiring click for easy adjustments when riding.

Overall, then, there’s much to admire here and Decathlon/Van Rysel have once again punched above their weight in the performance stakes. And any sequel should be even better.

Want some more options? See our full list of the best aero road helmets for more.

Van Rysel Road Bike Helmet FCR specs

Price:	£89.99
Available from:	Decathlon
Weight:	290g (size medium)
MIPS?	No
Vents:	8