This Brand Might Be About To Change Cycling Forever

Cycling Weekly

Van Rysel's partnership with French world tour team, AG2R-Decathlon -providing road bikes for the professionals to ride. These road bikes have been winning races at the highest level and this has started to raise some eyebrows. These bikes are some of the most affordable bikes in the pro-peloton so there are big questions being asked about what it means to have a bike with a race winning pedigree.  In this video Sam Gupta takes the Van Rysel RCR and explores what Van Rysel's place in the market means for the entire cycling industry and more importantly, what it means for the consumers.  This video was created in partnership with Van Rysel / Decathlon. AD.

Transcript

00:00In the world of bikes, and more specifically, world or proven road race bikes, the world's

00:12cheapest and fastest are rarely heard in the same sentence. But the bike brand that I have

00:17underneath me might be about to change things forever. I am, of course, talking about Van

00:22Riesel. Cast your minds back to the end of 2023 and French

00:30pro team AG2R made a splash in the cycling press when they announced they would be partnering

00:36with Decathlon for 2024. At the same time, they also announced they would

00:40be riding Decathlon's premium cycling brand, Van Riesel. Now, this had some people scratching

00:46their heads as surely a more budget-orientated retailer like Decathlon wouldn't be able to

00:51match the likes of Pinarello and Colnago when it came to out-and-out performance in the

00:56world tour. Well, if the 2024 road season is anything to go by, then it looks like Van

01:02Riesel and Decathlon have done just that. At the time of filming, the AG2R team have piloted

01:08their flagship Van Riesel RCRs to 26 victories at the highest level. But perhaps the most

01:14striking thing is that you can go into a shop and buy the exact same bike as the pros use

01:20for just £9,000. Of course, £9,000 is far from cheap, but when you consider that Colnago and

01:27Pinarello's world tour race bikes cost well north of £10,000, the RCR starts to look far more competitive

01:35on price. And cyclists bought into the hype with the first batch of top-spec Van Riesel RCRs

01:42selling out within minutes when they went on sale in the UK. So, it seems like competitive pricing and

01:49high-end performance can be offered at the same time. But what could this mean for the entire

01:54bike industry? Well, you'll have to watch to the end of the video to find out. Before that,

02:00I'm going to tell you a little more about Van Riesel and why they are causing such a stir.

02:06At this stage, you may be wondering what Van Riesel is and where did they originate from? Well,

02:17Van Riesel, which incidentally translates to Made in Flanders, originated in 2019 and is

02:23Decathlon's premium bike brand. And while Van Riesel has only been in the World Tour since 2024,

02:30Decathlon has a strong history of making bikes for professional teams such as Cofidis and AG2R

02:36Provoyance in the early 2000s. It's worth mentioning that Van Riesels aren't just rebranded

02:42from other Decathlon models. They're a whole new line with a dedicated team of engineers

02:47striving to make the best performance road bikes possible. The marketing speak is all well and good,

02:53but why should you be excited about Van Riesel bikes? For me, I think there are four reasons.

03:00Number one, it's just great to see a relatively new brand on the scene that isn't afraid to shake

03:05things up and put their money where their mouth is. Sponsoring a World Tour team is not cheap and

03:12it's a huge risk for any new brand. So to see Decathlon AG2R teams doing so well aboard Van Riesel bikes,

03:19well, can only put a smile on your face. Number two, and you're going to be hearing this a lot

03:24throughout this video, it's got to be the price. As we all know by now, bikes are seriously expensive

03:30in this day and age and that isn't going to change any time soon. The fact that Van Riesel are trying

03:35to offer something at a more competitive price can only be a good thing. Number three, they're in it for

03:41the long haul. Decathlon and Van Riesel have committed to a five-year partnership with AG2R,

03:47so I'm pretty sure this won't be a flash in the pan thing. Brands making long-term commitments is

03:53great for the likes of you and me, as the tech that the pros get eventually trickles down to the

03:57bikes we get to buy in the shops. And number four, it's teamed up with some very interesting partners,

04:04including the likes of SwissSide, Data Elementi and French Aerospace Research Laboratory, Oneira.

04:11Now, Oneira is based round the corner from Van Riesel's headquarters in Lille, so I can imagine

04:17having such an amazing facility nearby will mean Van Riesel are in the best position possible

04:23to make good on their claim of making the fastest and cheapest bikes possible.

04:32In terms of who I think should consider buying a Van Riesel bike, well, in this video,

04:37I'm riding the mid-range Van Riesel RCR, which features SRAM's Force Axis groupset equipped

04:43with a power meter. This is exactly the same frame shape and geometry as raced by the pros, albeit

04:50with a marginally heavier carbon layup, and we're only talking about a 40-gram difference,

04:54which is barely noticeable. Van Riesel says the RCR is in their lightweight aero category of bikes,

05:01coming in at £5,000 here in the UK. With this in mind, I think a bike like this would be ideal for

05:07the amateur racer, keen sportive rider, or just someone who likes to go fast and doesn't want to

05:12break the bank. It also features zip wheels and some pretty tasty Michelin power-cut tyres, so

05:19wouldn't need any upgrades to begin with. There are different models if you're looking to spend less

05:24than £5,000 and, as I've already mentioned, there's the all-singing, all-dancing pro replica model,

05:30if you want to spend a little bit more. All this to say, if you're looking for a performance-focused

05:36bike that's ready to ride or race straight out of the shop, then Van Riesel should have something

05:42to suit your budget. At this stage, you may be wondering how to actually go out and buy Van Riesel

05:50products. As you'd expect, you can go over to the Decathlon website and find the bike I'm riding

05:56today, along with other products from the Van Riesel range. It's available in a range of sizes,

06:02and you can then arrange for it to be delivered to your closest Decathlon store, where you can go

06:06and pick it up. Or, if you're after a more bespoke retail experience, then you can head over to Van

06:12Riesel's own concept store in London, where you can access services like bike fits and hands-on

06:17experience with their full product range. Finally, let's get onto what Van Riesel's presence in the

06:30market means for the cycling industry and you, the viewers. As we're at such an early stage in

06:36the brand's development, I can only speculate for now. And things may change, but here are my takeaways.

06:44Number one, the fact that we have a World Tour team racing and winning on what are perceived to be

06:50more affordable bikes can only be a good thing. We're often sold the idea that the most expensive

06:56product is the best, so it's refreshing to know that you can buy the same performance at a more

07:02competitive price. At the time of filming, AG2R Decathlon were ranked sixth out of 21 World Tour teams.

07:09So I'd wager any concerns the riders had about racing bikes from Decathlon have long disappeared.

07:15Number two, in the future, we may see more brands leading with the affordability

07:20of their top spec road bikes rather than their performance. Van Riesel created quite the buzz

07:26when they released the world's cheapest World Tour bike, and I'm sure that's one of the main reasons

07:32they sold out so quickly, rather than any performance claims. And number three, if Van Riesel continues

07:39to build on their success of selling high performance bikes at more affordable prices,

07:44will we see more premium brands having to reduce their prices to keep up? Again, it's just speculation

07:50for now, but my instinct says probably not. Our buying decisions are based on far more than just price,

07:57with marketing, brand history, region and after sale support and a whole host of other factors

08:04coming into play. In short, I don't think we can expect a sub 10 grand top spec Pinarello or Carl

08:10Nago any time in the near future. But hey, it's amazing to think that with Van Riesel, we can now buy

08:17a World Tour winning race bike for well under £10,000. And in terms of change within cycling,

08:24I think that's one that we can all get behind.

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