The Van Rysel performance bike brand of big box retailer Decathlon is about to get a new carbon FCR aero road bike. We spotted several riders of AG2R La Mondiale racing the next-gen Van Rysel FCR at Le Tour de France. Let’s take a closer look at what the new bike looks like and how it compares to the brand’s current RCR race bike…
Van Rysel FCR prototype carbon aero road race bike
It’s the first year of Van Rysel bikes on the road World Tour with the sponsorship of the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team. And while Decathlon already had an affordable do-it-all lightweight carbon road race bike with aero features in their RCR, it’s not quite on par with the latest aerodynamic trends. So enter the Van Rysel FCR, designed in Flanders at Decathlon’s massive Lille, France HQ and bike assembly facility.
What’s new?
The big differences between the existing RCR and this new FCR prototype are of course the aerodynamic optimizations. We don’t have any concrete details about aero improvement claims, but these gray & black camouflaged bikes feature much more dramatic aero tube shaping compared to their light all-rounder road bike.
The Van Rysel FCR prototype fork features deeper tapered legs, and a crown that smoothly transitions into a horizontal rib at the top of the downtube.
From the side, the downtube itself, seattube (with new rear wheel cutout), and seatstays are all narrow, deep airfoil shapes. And the headtube is also incredibly deep, maybe 3x as deep as the old bike.
Out back, the prototype Van Rysel FCR aero road bike features a long & narrow proprietary aero seatpost – now a bit deeper even than the RCR. And an internal wedge clamps the seatpost in position, accessed from the top, under the small rubber cover.
The seatstays are narrower from the front, deeper in profile, and actually look to be set a bit closer to the rear wheel compared to the existing road bike – although still with a similar dropped position and flat top.
From the front there also appears to be more clearance around the front tire – whether that’s to allow for smoother airflow or just to fit larger modern tires.
Aero finishing kit
The AG2R prototype Van Rysel FCR aero bikes also are the first we spotted in competition to use the new “fastest ever” Continental x Swiss Side x DT Swiss Aero 111 aerodynamic front tire.
The prototype bikes were also fitted with what is labeled as a one-piece Deda handlebar cockpit.
The rounded front profile, step-down for clean bar tape finishing, simple out-font GPS mount, and recessed top cap mount look like the latest Alanera RS. But the cockpit’s stem seems to be missing the signature ridge across its top or the angular side shaping of the Alanera RS, suggesting this may be an unreleased Deda bar, or a 1-piece cockpit that will come with Van Rysel branding.
Also, the AGR team has further modified the cockpit with an extended top cap, matching steerer spacers, and the resulting long aero-shaped upper headset cover. Of course, all the cables on the bike are routed fully internally, and maybe that extra stem real estate make it easier to route everything into the frame?
Van Rysel FCR prototype – Availability timeline
Officially, this Van Rysel FCR aero road bike still a prototype according to the UCI approval stickers on the race bikes we spotted at le Tour.
But while that doesn’t confirm a concrete timeline, it does mean that Van Rysel did have to confirm that the bike was in its final stages of development and they committed in the UCI application to make the FCR available to the public within the next 12 months.
Our guess is that they’ll want to have the new bike in Decathlon stores by the end of next winter. And it looks like it will join the all-rounder RCR as a more dedicated aero option from Van Rysel.
