Van Rysel RCR Rival AXS review

The Van Rysel RCR Rival AXS is a more affordable version of the bike raced by Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale in the men’s WorldTour.

In 2024, the French professional cycling team racked up 30 wins compared to just nine the previous year, climbing from 18th to sixth in the UCI world rankings. 

And all this with a nine-grand bike. Yes, that’s still a fair whack but relatively small fry compared to the 12-grand-plus efforts from their premium rivals. In fact, you can walk into a Decathlon store and ride out with the Van Rysel RCR Pro used by the likes of Sam Bennett and Benoit Cosnefroy. If you have £9,000 that is. 

Many did. The original UK batch sold out within minutes. Or if you’re looking to conserve £5,000, you could go for the Van Rysel RCR Rival AXS (£3,900 / $4,999) that I tested. 

It has the same geometry as its expensive sibling – understandably racy for a bike aimed at the highest level – and a lesser but still impressive spec.

Should you buy it? Bien sûr, according to Van Rysel product manager Jeremie Debeuf, who gives you some background.

Van Rysel RCR development

“At the end of 2021, we [Van Rysel] had the ambition of making the WorldTour for 2024,” Debeuf explains. 

“To that end, we  started working with Onera [France’s answer to NASA]. 

“Not only do they have great experience in aerospace and with aerodynamics but they’re just over the road from us in Lille [which is where Van  Rysel gets its name. In Flemish, it means  ‘From Lille’]. 

“So, we identified numerous areas of what is deemed a fast bike, including, of course, aerodynamics and lightness. 

“We also wanted stiffness for proficient power transfer. We started by working with CFD  [computational fluid dynamics] to identify different shapes and lines. 

“From there it took 13 iterations of the frame and cockpit that we 3D printed here in Lille before taking it to Onera’s wind tunnel. 

“Once we were happy, we then tested it with riders including those from the WorldTour team. 

“Oliver Naesen put in testing miles as he’s just down the road, but they also tested the bike out of the team’s service course in Chambery and on training camp in Spain.” 

So, its slipstreaming credentials are clear, bolstered further by the pronouncement on 1 January 2024 that premium wheel makers Swiss Side were to become a major technical partner of the team. 

On paper, premium performance at a competitive price. But on the tarmac how does the Van Rysel RCR compare to the best road bikes for triathlon?

Van Rysel RCR Rival AXS frame and build

I tested the RCR, which has a claimed frame weight of 830g. That’s around 40g heavier than the Pro version. This has a different carbon layup, specifically in the headtube where a stiffer, lighter but less robust carbon is employed.

Overall, the Van Rysel RCR weighs a shade under 8kg, which is no game changer but light enough for most. 

Aesthetically, it’s slick, though it also comes in indigo blue and raw carbon. The latter would be my preference as it looks, I think the kids call it, sick. 

It’s also slightly lighter due to the absence of paint. 

The RCR shares similar frame tweaks to others on the market like the seat-tube cutout to shield the rear tyre and smooth out airflow, plus dropped seatstays, designed for added comfort. 

The downtube is a hearty D-shaped number and all of the tubes flow smoothly into one another. 

Throw in internal cable and hose routing, and seatpost clamp, and you have one very clean-looking bike that, for the frame and fork, comes with a five-year warranty.  

Van Rysel RCR Rival AXS sizing and geometry

It’s available in six sizes, from XS to XL. 

The large I’ve been testing features a 571mm top tube with stack and reach of 572mm and 396mm, respectively. 

Head tube length is 174mm with a head angle of 73°, while the seat angle is 73.5°. 

Wheelbase is 1,002mm with 410mm chainstays for a racy set-up. 

Despite coming in at ‘only’ four grand, the RCR is adorned with a mightily impressive component list. 

Zipp’s 303s wheels feature a 45mm-deep rim and nestle at 1,550g – a solid all-round addition.  

They’re armed with Michelin’s Power Cup tyres that are 28mm wide. The RCR can take up to 33mm-wide tyres if needed. 

SRAM’s Rival 12-speed wireless electronic groupset takes care of shifting  duties. Upfront you have a 48/35T mix with a 10-36T cassette. 

That relatively small 48-teeth chainring might make the power-limbed amongst you raise your eyebrows. But, say SRAM, although their largest chainring is relatively small, the very small 10-toother outback means you don’t sacrifice that high-end gearing. You’ll appreciate this if you add clip-ons and are in time-trial mode upon a flat parcours. 

The Rival system’s complemented by Quarq’s power meter. It takes your wattage reading from your left crank and transmits it to your bike computer or phone. 

SRAM’s hydraulic braking system and 160mm rotors front and back take care of stopping duties.

Myriad components are courtesy of Deda, starting with the Superzero RS handlebar that’s total carbon fibre and features a wing-shaped design to cut drag. 

It clamps into the stocky Superbox EVO stem. Fizik’s long-nosed Antares saddle perches upon Van Rysel’s own aero carbon seatpost.  

All in all, it’s a stellar line-up at this price point.

Van Rysel RCR Rival AXS ride impressions 

Debeuf told me that the RCR was refined and tested in Northern Europe, in the Flandrien heartland, but it’s clear that it’s far more at home on smooth tarmac than rough pavé.

As such, on a regular haunt of mine, from Clevedon Pier to Weston Super Mare Pier and back, it’s predominantly road with pockets of gravel. The RCR grinned at the former, grimaced at the latter. 

Chapeau to its responsiveness. It reacts with immediacy the moment you put the pedal down. This will pay off handsomely when leaving training mates at traffic lights and on more technical race courses that involve much acceleration and deceleration. It feels responsive on the climbs too. Despite its moderate weight of near 8kg, the RCR is proficient at ascending. 

At 6ft 3in and nudging 89kg, I’m firmly in the seated camp when climbing unless the gradient screams at me to raise my chamois off the saddle. 

These screams echo around another regular test run of mine that features Cheddar Gorge and  pitches that peak at 12%. In short, a triathlete of my build needs a solid cockpit  to wrestle side to side in an effort to  extract every last wattage from my lower  limbs. 

In the Deda, I had it. The Superzero RS handlebar is solid but comfortable. 

What goes up must come down, of course. This is where the RCR’s racy DNA comes into its own. Descents are exhilarating and fast, albeit there’s a hint of road buzz that drives through the  frame. 

That’s not surprising as it’s not comfort-focussed but it’s something to note depending on preferences. 

Handling’s a pretty nimble affair, corners taken with confidence and at speed, while on the flats it really picks up some speed. 

Presumably that turn of pace comes from Van Rysel’s collaborative work with Onera. This work had German cycling magazine Tour rank the RCR in the top-10 fastest bikes in the professional  peloton from their famed lab- and wind-tunnel testing. 

Any road bike around the £4,000 mark that comes with a power meter wins marks in my eyes. I’m old enough to remember when your meter choice came down to SRM, SRM or SRM, which  often cost £2,000.  

Van Rysel RCR Rival AXS bottom line

 All in all, the RCR delivers a fast, responsive ride. 

During a pretty wet and windy test period, I did clamp on a set of clip-on aerobars for pure triathlon feedback, but mainly on the smart trainer for safety reasons.

The combination of nudging the long-nosed Fizik saddle forward and the racy geometry resulted in a pretty comfortable and sustainable position on the extensions. 

If that works for you, you might like to upgrade to Van Rysel’s recently launched and maiden triathlon/ time-trial bikes, the XCR, which retails for  £7,000. If it matches the RCR for value and speed, you could be in for a treat.

Van Rysel RCR Rival AXS specs

Price	£3,900 / $4,999
Weight	7.8kg (size L)
Frame	Van Rysel RCR, high-modulus  carbon fibre
Sizes	XS, S, M, L, XL
Drivetrain	SRAM Rival eTap AXS, left-arm crank power meter
Brakes	SRAM Rival hydraulic disc
Wheels	Zipp 303s
Tyres	Michelin Power Cup tyres  (700c x 28mm)
Cockpit	Deda Superzero RS bars,  Deda Superbox Evo stem
Saddle	Fizik Anatres
Seatpost	RCR carbon