New Van Rysel RCR-F aero road bike finally launches — aero bikes are back, but do amateurs still need them?

The Van Rysel RCR-F is the latest in a flurry of dedicated aero bikes to grace us in 2025, and although it's certainly not the most surprising launch of the year, it does come with some pretty big claims. I've been riding one for the last few weeks, so here are the stats, prices, tech details, and my opinion on what it's like to ride. 

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F riding shot 6 (credit: road.cc)

If you ride your bike at more than 25kph/15.5mph, then it’s not weight that you should be worrying about. It’s not rolling resistance either, because the single biggest thing slowing you down is aerodynamic drag. Yet in recent years, we almost saw the extinction of the pure aero bike: Specialized killed off the Venge with the SL7, Trek killed off the Madone (with the Madone), Cannondale just forgot that they might want to update their aero bike... but now, in 2025, aero bikes are most definitely back!

The Van Rysel RCR-F is perhaps the worst-kept secret in cycling history, mainly because Decathlon-AG2R riders such as Sam Bennett have been making good use of one of these since last July.

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F 105.jpg (credit: road.cc)

First things first, this is unapologetically an aero bike. It's by no means a replacement for the RCR, a bike that Van Rysel calls 'Aerolight' and everyone else calls an all-rounder.

In fact, during the press briefing when someone asked about the super deep profiled handlebar - not exactly ideal for climbing on the tops up a long mountain - the design engineers were quite categorical that mountains are not what the bike is for.

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F riding shot 9 (credit: road.cc)

What is it for, then? Well, thanks to a pretty comprehensive whitepaper, we do actually have the answer of when you might use the RCR-F over the RCR:

• Does your ride have less than 1,500 metres of elevation gain per 100 km? Well, if so, then you might be better off on the RCR-F
• Do you ride at a speed greater than 35 km/h? If so, then you’ll probably be better off on the RCR-F
• Do your rides always involve gradients of more than 5%? If so, then stop reading this immediately and read our review of the RCR instead, or consider any other endurance bike

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F 105 - fork shoulder.jpg (credit: road.cc)

The main problems with pure aero bikes, and why I think other manufacturers have stopped making them, are because: 

1. There's a limited number of us amateurs who want a fully-fledged race bike, and an even smaller amount that want a race bike that's optimised for one specific task. Simply put, there’s a smaller market and so brands can’t sell as many.

2. Brands make all of these aero tweaks and add a hell of a lot of material and deep tubes for a watt-saving equivalent to a new pair of socks. Aero bikes of old were heavy, far less comfortable than all-round bikes and generally just quite cumbersome.

Don't get me wrong, I love an aero bike. I actually purchased a Specialized Venge ViAS a few years ago, which was a stupidly fast bike - but also stupid in lots of other ways, such as the horrible integration. In the end, I swapped it out for a Tarmac SL7, which is just a far better bike to live with day-to-day and gives away very little on the flats.

The big aero claims

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F wind tunnel test (credit: Van Rysel)

So, how much faster does Van Rysel reckon its new bike is? Well, that's been answered too! According to the brand's wind tunnel testing, this RCR-F is 13.6 watts faster at 45kph. That’s compared to the RCR. I’ve ridden it, and that wasn’t exactly a slow bike!

That difference increases to 20.1 watts saved at 55 km/h - and while those sort of average speeds are definitely out of reach for most of us, in response to that I would argue that I wouldn’t mind betting that your local amateur crit race does see those kinds of speeds on the regular, especially in a sprint finish.

The thing is, we’ve all heard brands come out with wild claims in the past, and so it’s hard not to look at these without a degree of trepidation. Having spoken to the design engineers, they do seem to have done things properly. They’ve tested with the same width bars for a start, which sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how often that doesn't happen!

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F riding shot 3 (credit: road.cc)

Even so, it's probably best to ignore the big shiny number above and focus on the next one. According to Van Rysel, the RCR-F is 9 watts faster than the RCR with a rider on it. Why is this less than the number above? Because moving legs create turbulence, and therefore the aero tube shapes at the rear make less of an impact. 

The only slight grudge I do have with Van Rysel’s aero testing is that it has done it without bottles or bottle cages, which seems like a slight oversight given that it will almost always have at least one fitted. I mean, it’s still better than Trek testing its latest Madone with an aero bottle versus the old one with a round bottle, but hey ho.

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F 105 - front.jpg (credit: road.cc)

On that note, there are also no proprietary cages on the RCR-F. That bucks the trend slightly. A lot of the latest aero bikes do, such as the Giant Propel, BMC Teammachine R and the Ribble Ultra Aero. Maybe this will be something that Van Rysel add in the future.

Just looking at the RCR-F, you can see that it takes full advantage of the UCI relaxing its rules on tube shapes. The bladed fork now saves 1.2 watts compared to the RCR, the downtube a further 1.7, and the super deep head tube is the biggest difference at 4.4 watts. Finally, there's another 2.7-watt saving from the all-new cockpit.

Cockpit

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F handlebar drop insert (credit: Van Rysel)

You can't reinvent the wheel, but apparently you can reinvent the handlebar. Van Rysel has implemented what they call 'Ergodrop'. It has basically got an insert designed to fit the hollow of your hand so that you naturally hold them in the right place. The insert apparently orientates the wrist into a more aerodynamic position, which is clever stuff!

Unfortunately, the test bike we received did not have these fitted, so we can't comment on their comfort. The bars we had without the inserts did the job very nicely though.

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F 105 - bars 1.jpg (credit: road.cc)

The bar also has more flare than the RCR's, 12 degrees vs 7 degrees. That’s just the way things are going.

We also like the way that Van Rysel hasn't shied away from showing that body position makes a far bigger difference than any bike ever will. A topic that we recently explored in our aero bike vs aero position video. According to the testing at 45kph, a bent elbow position is fastest. Riding in the drops leads to a 27-watt penalty, and sitting upright on the hoods is a massive 63.6 watt penalty. All of this and more is in the whitepaper.

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F 105 - down tube 2.jpg (credit: road.cc)

So, they’ve done that testing... great, and then you go on the Van Rysel website. Can you change things to put your body into a more aerodynamic position, or make the bike better suit you? Nope, each size bike comes with one size of handlebar and one length of cranks. That’s that, take it or leave it.

Van Rysel is by no means alone with this, but in my humble opinion it’s just not good enough in this day and age. On the Canyon Aeroad you can at least change the bar width. What happens if I don’t want this stem length or the 172.5mm cranks that come as standard on the 54cm bike we've got for review? I realise that I could pick on lots of brands for the same issue, but when the bikes will primarily be sold online, direct to consumer, it removes the chance for bike shops to tidy up something that I think most bike brands need to do better.

And that leads me to…

Five things that could be better on the RCR-F

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F slammed stem (credit: Van Rysel)

• This is nitpicking, but the axle ends aren’t covered. I don’t know if that impacts aerodynamics, but I don’t think it looks as neat
• Saddle choice is very personal, but the own-brand Van Rysel saddle on this 105- equipped bike is rather slippery. Thankfully on the higher spec bikes you do get Fizik saddles
• As mentioned above, there's no option for customisation. I'd be keen not only to swap out the stem length and crank arm length, but potentially the 25mm tyre and 20mm internal width wheels too
• It's got a press fit bottom bracket - this is purely down to personal preference, but I would rather threaded for easier home maintenance
• And finally, a controversial one - are the 52/36 chainrings that come on all the Shimano equipped bikes big enough? I am a big advocate of semi-compact chainsets, but this is not the RCR. It's a bike that in Van Rysel's words is designed to win bunch sprints and average over 35kph on. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on this in the comments below!

Thankfully, there is also lots to like about the Van Rysel RCR-F...

Five things that I like about the RCR-F

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F riding shot (credit: road.cc)

• I like the fact that it doesn’t have steering stops like the Ribble Ultra SLR. Yes, it’s an aero bike but we kept on being caught out by the lack of steering on the Ribble Ultra SLR and Allroad SLR to the point that my colleague stacked it on the latter
• I like the fact that even this cheapest version gets the fancy bar, which does feel stiff and definitely looks the part
• I like that the whole range comes with a power meter. That might sound like an easy win, but plenty of bikes far more expensive than this don't come with them equipped. The Pinarello Dogma springs to mind
• I like the fact that it has 32mm of tyre clearance. I maintain that a 30mm tyre is the fastest option around my local chain gang route, and also means that the RCR-F is likely to be the bike of choice for Decathlon AG2R riders at Paris Roubaix. Who said an aero bike can't be versatile?
• It comes with good tyres! Even this lowest spec model ships with Continental GP5000 S TR tyres. Again, this is an area where bike manufacturers often choose to cut corners

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F 105 - head tube badge.jpg (credit: road.cc)

Perhaps the thing I like most about the RCR-F is simply the fact that it exists! Realistically, the RCR-F, like many specialist tools, is not going to be a massive money earner for Van Rysel, because in its words 75% of amateur racers will be better suited to the RCR. For many brands, that would have been the nail in the coffin for the aero bike ever getting signed off.

First ride review

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F riding shot 13 (credit: road.cc)

That’s the stats, but how does it ride? Well, I’ve had the bike for just over two weeks now, so this is by no means a full review, but I have managed 600km or so on it. I have to say, I'm impressed. 

Firstly, the speed. If anyone tells you they can tell the difference between the speed of top-end bikes then they’re lying to you, because no one can tell the difference between five (or ten) watts as you ride along - but from laps of my regular testing loop, I can tell you that this is in the upper echelons of the latest and greatest.

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F riding shot 10 (credit: road.cc)

That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise because in the press briefing Van Rysel said it reckons this was the fastest bike on the flats in the World Tour peloton last year. The RCR-F was apparently tested against all of its competitors, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see whether the recently released Colnago Y1RS or Ridley Noah Fast manage to steal that self-prescribed crown.

The aero tubed frame and 62.5mm deep wheels really get a good whooshing sound on when you give it some beans out the saddle, so the bike definitely sounds as fast as it claims to be.

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F riding shot 2 (credit: road.cc)

What was more of a surprise is the way that this bike climbs. It’s actually pretty good considering it’s a bit of a tank. This 105 Di2-equipped bike is really not that light, it’s 8.2kg and yet it coped with some pretty nasty UK climbs just fine. I think that this is due to the stiffness, and it does feel reactive. It’s got a decent bit of get up and go, which some aero bikes really struggle with.

In many ways, the RCR-F behaves quite similar to the latest Canyon Aeroad CFR. I’d say the bottom bracket stiffness feels pretty similar to that (which is impressive) and so does the handling. That bike is around half a kilo lighter, though.

If you went for the all singing, all dancing RCR-F, the one with Dura-Ace, then you could get this down to 7.5kg with a set of deep Swiss Side wheels. Honestly, unless you’re climbing mountains, then that is more than light enough. 

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F geometry chart (credit: Van Rysel)

As for the geometry, well, that’s very similar to the RCR. It might look slightly lower at the front on a geometry table compared to the RCR (and it is a bit), but then you have a mandatory transition spacer which basically puts the contact points in all the same places.

Don't be fooled this is still a pretty aggressive bike, it's a specialist tool for going fast and hence is more aggressive than all-rounder bikes such as the Tarmac SL8 or Cannondale Supersix. This is clearly a bike designed for the pros but there are amateurs out there too that still want a 'proper' race bike. Rather than me natter on about geometry, it's probably easiest for you to compare the chart above to your current bike.

The bike feels planted on descents, and the bar did feel very good. Again, ours didn't arrive with the magic aero hand position inserts, so we can't comment on that.

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F riding shot 12 (credit: road.cc)

In terms of comfort, it'll come as no surprise that it's not on the same level of rear end compliance as the best all-rounder bikes such as the RCR Pro, Tarmac SL8 or Giant TCR, but neither is it unbearable like aero bikes of old. The bike feels firm and certainly stiff, but not 'crashy'. The bike handles its weight well, and things only improve with a wheelset upgrade and some wider rubber (the bike ships with a 25mm tyre at the front and 28mm at the rear). 

What does it cost then? Well, Van Rysel has made a bit of a reputation for itself for being rather good value in recent years, but I’m not sure that this RCR-F is on quite the same level as the RCR is.

Pricing and availability

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F top tube (credit: Van Rysel)

This RCR-F with 105 Di2 (£5,000 / €5,499 / ¥39999.9) gets the same bar and frame layup as the uber-fancy ones, and you also get some proper wheels and a power meter for your £5,000. Now that’s obviously quite a lot of money, but how does it stack up against the competition?

Well, the comparative 105 Di2 Canyon Aeroad doesn’t get the fancy CFR carbon layup, but is still lighter at 7.88kg vs 8.2kg for the RCR-F. That bike also gets a single-sided power meter and is a smidge cheaper at £4,599. I reckon I’d have a hard time deciding between the two.

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F Ultegra (credit: Van Rysel)

Van Rysel then make an Ultegra Di2 (€6,499 / $7,999 / £7,000 / ¥46999.9) equipped version in this purple colourway, that’s £7,000 which a whopping £1,500 more than the equivalent RCR Pro with Ultegra Di2, this one definitely seems like worse value than the 105 level bike we tested as the Ultegra R8170 groupset can currently be picked up for around £1300.

And finally, there’s the Dura-Ace Di2 (€9,499 / $11,999 / £10,000 / ¥69999.9) versions with fancy everything. They will set you back £10,000. That’s cheaper than the new Colnago by some distance, and a fair bit cheaper than the Giant Propel Advanced SL, but there’s also plenty of cheaper aero bikes out there. For example, the Dura-Ace equipped Ribble Ultra SLR is £9,799 even when paired with Zipps 454 NSWs, and the Canyon Aeroad CFR that I tested and loved is currently reduced to £8,369.

The RCR-F isn’t bad value then, but if you want this aero bike then you’re going to have to pay a premium compared to the brand's all-rounder bike. Or you need to find a way to purchase one in euros, because that would save you absolute mega bucks!

Next question: can you actually buy one? Well apparently yes, Van Rysel is prepared this time around and has bikes in stock. It’s the three Shimano groupsets for now and then SRAM models are expected in the summer. Here in the UK your choices are either direct with Van Rysel or through Sigma Sports.

Conclusion

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F riding shot 11 (credit: road.cc)

Is this a good bike? Yes, is the simple answer. If this was a full review, which it isn’t, then I think I'd be looking at giving the bike an 8. It’s once again proof that aero bikes are back, and there is a place for them not only in the peloton but also for us amateurs.

If you live somewhere flat and just want to tear up chaingangs and crits, then this is an ideal bike to do it on, which is a rarity these days. It’s comfortable enough, it’s really well thought out, it rides really well, it’s certainly fast - and while I agree with Van Rysel that 75% of us would be better off on the RCR, I just think it’s great that this thing exists. 

2025 Van Rysel RCR-F riding shot 4 (credit: road.cc)

Now sort out that UK pricing and allow me to spec it with a different stem, cranks and wheels and you’ve got yourself a sale - because I think the frame itself is phenomenal!

Let us know what you think of the new RCR-F in the comments below, and whether you think aero bikes still have a place in the real world as well as the pro peloton.