Van Rysel RCR-G review: A race ready gravel bike that flourishes at speed and on smooth gravel

A first for Van Rysel, the RCR-G represents the brand’s first foray into gravel race bikes. The racing pedigree is clearly present, with many of the frame design features and components coming straight off the WorldTour race winning RCR-R Pro road bike, although that may be getting replaced imminently.

Full integrated aero one-piece handlebars, 50mm carbon race wheels, and full 13-speed SRAM Red XPLR groupset make it one heck of a race bike package, for a pretty good price considering all that’s included. The only oddity is the somewhat basic saddle included as part of this.

Clearance for 50mm tyres is somewhat race ready, but that along with a relatively stiff frame does mean this bike is best kept for smoother champagne style gravel and fire roads, rather than anything excessively rocky, rooted, or muddy. However, most gravel races do tend to be 45-50mm friendly rather than requiring the large MTB tyre sizes now accommodated for. But this, plus limited storage options exclude this from more adventure riding, but then the brand has a specific option for this, so perhaps that is not a bad thing.

But how does the new Van Rysel RCR-G stack up when compared to the best gravel bikes on the market?

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Design and specifications

The brand new RCR-G frame has been designed in a similar vein to the RCR-R Pro road frame as used by the Decathlon CMA CGM WorldTour team. Van Rysel says the frame was designed in conjunction with the team, although I’m not aware of any of their riders being dedicated gravel racers. But regardless, the frame has been designed for “uncompromising speed in modern gravel racing.”.

This is a dedicated gravel race bike, not a compromise between adventure and racing as the brand puts it. Looking at the demands of gravel racing, Van Rysel identified key points that needed to be focused on: high average speeds, mixed-surface efficiency, explosive accelerations, and precise handling on technical terrain.

To address that first point, the frame has been through CFD and wind tunnel testing, similar to the RCR-R. This has apparently yielded an 8.6w efficiency gain, although the speed this is tested at was not specified.

On the second point, 50mm tyre clearance and accommodation for 2x groupsets means most surfaces and gradients can be confidently tackled.

For light weight, the frame comes in at 885g (Medium unpainted) and 415g for the fork. These use similar carbon layup to the RCR-R road bike, but with ‘gravel-specific layup designed to balance low weight, reactive power transfer and increased durability for the demands of off-road racing’. Lightweight thru-axles and a 27.2mm round carbon vibration dampening seatpost assist in this low build weight and required compliance.

Specific features of the frame also include in-built armour on the downtube into the bottom bracket, on the drive-side chainstay, and bottle mounts on the underside of the downtube and on the top of the toptube. It can accommodate up to a 50 tooth single chainring, or 52 tooth dual chainring setup. It is also UDH compatible with the three builds available all using 13 speed SRAM XPLR groupsets. You can see looking at the geometry charts that this is a rather long and low frame by most gravel bike comparisons. Meanwhile the chainstays and wheelbase are relatively short for more agile handling.

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The handlebars are the same Combo RCR-R Carbon one-piece system used on the Van Rysel RCR-R Pro road bike. These are specced in a fairly racy configuration, with the stem length coming in at 140mm from top cap bolt to centre of bars, and around 370mm centre to centre from where the hoods sit on the tops. The bars feature a flare out with an aerofoil shape, but a slight reduction of this near the centre line which makes holding the tops more comfortable. A computer mount is supplied with fitting for Garmin, Wahoo, and Bryton, with GoPro style mount underneath. This mount is long enough to fit larger computers like the Garmin Edge 1050.

The wheels are Van Rysel’s own brand, with the VR50 wheelset. This is not a gravel specific wheelset, and instead is the same that can be found on the RCR-R Pro road bike. Claimed weight is 1550g for a pair built on the ever-reliable DT Swiss 370 hubs. Rim height is, as the name suggests, 50mm, while internal width is 22mm and external 30mm, using 24 spokes front and rear in a 1:1 2-cross lacing pattern. These are shod with the Continental Terra Comp TLR 45 mm tyres, which sit at 44mm.

Groupset on this specification is the SRAM Red XPLR 13-speed offering. Gearing is a 44 tooth front chainring with the 10-46t cassette, giving you a better than 1:1 ratio if required for the steepest gravel inclines. Crank length in this size 58cm is 172.5mm.

Meanwhile the saddle is the Fizik Vento Argo X3. It’s gravel specific, but uses alloy rails rather than carbon on the X1 variant. It’s 140mm wide, and more rounded so as to be more comfortable for gravel riding.

Performance

Getting on the Van Rysel RCR-G one thing is abundantly clear, this is a race bike. I’ve been testing a few gravel bikes lately, and switching between those and my road racing bike there is a big shift in the feel. Shorter stems and taller stack height give the gravel bikes a very different handling sensation. The RCR-G however is a low and slung out racing machine. The stem is 140mm in this size while the bars are a relatively narrow 37cm on the hood centre to centre, giving it a far more familiar feel to a road racing bike than a gravel machine. For some, this may be too aggressive a position, but it solidifies this bike as a race option designed to go fast. I have not found this geometry uncomfortable, given the position I use on the road, but it is worth considering for those wanting a more relaxed fit. I have also kept all the spacers under the stem, so there is certainly scope to go significantly lower.

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Whereas adventure bikes are all about fitting points, the RCR-G keeps this to a minimum. There are downtube/BB storage bolts for a bottle cage or tools, but there is no internal storage, namely, to save weight with the associated hardware that would be required. If you’re racing, then I can understand this, as limiting weight is key and taping tubes or cannisters to the frame is often a chosen pathway. For more casual riding, I like the internal storage, and I did miss this. There are bolts on the toptube however to add a toptube bag, and I duly did for some additional storage across my riding. But when every bolt required internal threaded metal sleeves, more engineering, and more weight, I understand the design choice to exclude many of them. But still, a frame bag option such as the Argon18 is practical, generally incurs no aerodynamic penalty, and looks neat.

Bars I am a big fan of, and these are directly from the road. It means a very limited flare for gravel bars, and quite a long reach and deep drop by comparison. The only issue here is on technical terrain, it can be a little trickier to drop from tops to drops, while shallow drop flared bars allow you to almost roll your hands down without losing contact with the bars. The bars however are stiff for accelerations and do not feel to rattle you unduly.

The seatpost is an interesting choice, being round rather than D-shaped for aerodynamics, but it does mean a dropper post can be accommodated, many different seatpost geometries, and Van Rysel has designed it to be more compliant, very useful for gravel racing over long distances where fatigue can be a huge detriment to performance. The saddle is fine, but I expected a slightly higher end option with this pinnacle build choice. I ended up swapping it for comfort reasons and having personal preferences over saddles and allowing me to test the frame with a family seat beneath me.

The wheels are also a carry-over from the RCR-R road bike, so the internal width is quite narrow for gravel wheel standards. The 45mm Continental Terra Comp tyres sit rather wide on them as well, bulging out. This was noticeable when riding on some sections at speed with crosswinds, which did buffer me significantly. Although, at low pressure the narrower rim may be safer from direct rim strikes, and the wheels are reasonably light, but not class leading. They are also stiff, both laterally for performance, but also vertically which can be a little jarring. The tyres however are decent and rolled well on various terrain, save for a little bit of slippage over looser terrain or wet surfaces as the tread is not overly thick and quite uniform across the tyre.

All of these elements do mean that this bike is certainly a fast-paced smoother gravel specialist. I’ve been riding it across a range of canal paths, forest trails, tarmac, bike paths, and root infested downhill sections. When the trail is smoother, this bike goes like a rocket, as testified by unintentional KOMs on Strava aboard this. On twisty and technical surfaces, the bike responds well but remains stable. I personally like the long stem geometry that leads to a more reliable sensation at speed like a road racing bike. The flip side is that at very low speed the bike is a little more cumbersome, but it is designed for high speed racing. It does however climb well, as the total system weight is low and the stiffness means power transfer is effective, so you feel very little loss in power towards compliance elements. But this does have a flipside.

Rough terrain is where it starts to suffer. The difficulty switching from tops to drops, narrower bars, less compliant bars and wheels and a generally stiffer platform all lead to this bike being a little jarring over significantly rougher surfaces. Not just roots, or hard mud trails that are rutted, but larger stones as well. The seatpost does a good job, but the rest of the bike is not as compliant.

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Of course, larger tyres could help, but a 50mm limit is in reality not large. Given that many gravel tyres I’ve tested come out wider than advertised, you are realistically limited to smaller than 50mm to avoid frame rub. I do think ditching the 2x compatibility and widening the chainstays and fork to accommodate 55mm would have been the right call. I prefer 2x for gravel riding, but in most gravel races I’ve done I’ve never got into the small ring anyway, and the SRAM XPLR gear range means that for the most part I did not miss two chainrings one bit. I don’t need to go into the SRAM Red XPLR groupset too much, it’s amazing, it converted me (mostly) to 1x for gravel, and most reviewers and riders tend to agree. There’s a reason it is the most prevalent groupset for gravel riding. Especially for racing, it makes sense to design this bike as 1x only with potentially a 50-52t chainring limit, and space the chainstays out further to accept wider tyres. It would increase the versatility of the frame and maintain a very race driven focus. The forks should be wider anyway as a wider front tyre does inspire greater cornering confidence. You can slide a rear tyre, you can’t slide a front, so more traction there makes a big difference in my experience.

I would also personally like to see some wider width gravel rims as we’ve seen at high speeds that a wide rim paired with wide tyres can be faster, and likely better in the crosswinds I experienced. The wheels are good for accelerations, even with the heavier weight, but for gravel racing and speed, they need an update for this model.

Value

£6500 is not cheap, but given the SRAM Red XPLR groupset with power meter retails for £3299.99 itself, plus wheels for £799.99, £599.99 for the bars, and you’re looking at the frame coming in at ~£1800 based on that calculation.

Other similarly equipped bikes for example include the Factor Ostro Gravel (£10199) or Aluto (£8699), Specialized Crux S-Level 5 (£8749) or £11999 for the S-Works model, Argon 18 Anti Matter (£10495), or Cervelo Aspero 5 (£10249.99). Even if we look at less boutique brands, the Ribble Ultra Grit is £7549 and Handsling A1R0evoG is £6799 which really demonstrates just how good value the RCR-G really is.

Even building up a Tavelo Grow frame you’re looking at $1930 for the frame and bars, so building with similar components will not be far off the price of the Van Rysel.

The Crux 5 does have the potential to be lighter, while the Argon 18 might be more aerodynamic with wider tyre clearances and smart storage options, but as a balanced combination of a lightweight gravel race frame that is well specced, it is really hard to argue for those options ahead of the Van Rysel which is nearly half the price.

The issue is if you want a frame with wider tyre clearances. I would say for most gravel races, 50mm clearance is enough, save for some events. For me personally, this bike has been great for race condition terrain, but it does need some more gravel specific wheels and a better saddle for the spec.

Other builds offer similarly good value at £4000 for SRAM Force XPLR and carbon wheels, or £3000 for Rival XLPR and alloy rims.

Verdict

The Van Rysel RCR-G is an impressively specced gravel race bike for the price, making it a great value offering. The groupset is superb, the frame itself and handlebars are great for race speeds, while 50mm clearance is generally enough for most race scenarios in my view.

The saddle is a bit lacking compared to the rest, while the wheels are not gravel specific so a bit narrow. The larger issue though is the lack of general compliance on rougher terrain. It’s fine on champagne gravel and fire roads, but rough stuff can shake you a bit more than you’d like. Geometry is also more road race feeling, which I personally like, but others may want to consider.

All in all, a superb gravel race specific bike as gravel bikes split and diverge into more and more specialist models.