Van Rysel has gone full aero with its latest RCR-F, a bike that was hiding in plain sight as far back as last year’s Tour de France, until its official launch today.
Not surprisingly, the RCR-F is all about cheating the wind, which Van Rysel claims is 13.6 watts faster at 45kph than the out-going RCR-Pro, a difference that sees an increased savings of 20.1 watts at 55 km/h.
According to Van Rysel, improving the RCR-F’s aerodynamic signature was achieved by revisiting key areas of the frame, reshaping virtually every tube profile including a redesigned head tube that’s now more sculpted into the fork, while the geometry has been mostly left the same as the RCR – Pro.
Additionally, the cockpit also sees a new design, which was developed closely with Deda, featuring what Van Rysel calls “Ergodrop”, an insert that’s designed to fit the hollow of the rider’s hand, orientating the wrist into a more aerodynamic position, while the bar itself now has 12 degrees of flare.
The RCR-F is available in a number of builds, starting with a Shimano 105 Di2 equipped bike that comes with a single-sided, left-crank-based INPEAK option power meter for $6,000, which gets the same cockpit as the upper-tier models.
The Ultegra Di2 variant sells for $7,999, which comes shod with a Swiss Side Hadron Classic 625 wheelset, while the flagship Dura-Ace Di2 equipped bike comes with Swiss Side Hadron ULT 625 wheels that fetches $11,999.
