Van Rysel RCR shoes review: Pro performance for half the price

In support of the Decathlon CMA CGM WorldTour team, Van Rysel (which is owned by Decathlon) offers the RCR line of products, which are designed to combine performance and value.

The RCR Road shoes aim to compete with products more than double their price, and, on paper at least, they look pretty good. Of course, where shoes are concerned, the best spec sheet in the world is worthless if the fit is poor.

Design details

The RCRs are white, very white in fact, with just the silver Van Rysel branding alleviating the monochrome upper.

Even the rear of the sole is white, with a moulded rubber heel piece for off-bike grip. There is a black rubber toe piece at the front of the sole too, although neither is replaceable. The rest of the outsole is made from carbon, and receives the full 12/12 marks from VR for stiffness, although as this scale is entirely of their own making, it is a fairly meaningless metric.

There are two large mesh vents on the sole to aid cooling and airflow, while the three-bolt cleat slots are reasonably generous in length. The sole is marked with graduations to help with cleat positioning and replacement.

Those ventilation holes align with perforations in the mint-green insole, so all the fresh air reaches your toes, keeping them cool and fresh. The insole doesn’t come with different-sized arch supports as some brands provide, but it feels a level above the basic insoles that some cycling shoes use as standard.

The perforated theme continues on the upper, with tiny holes across pretty much the whole shoe. This is great in a heat wave, less so for frosty spring starts. The synthetic upper material is seam-free, giving the shoes a clean, minimalist look.

Although they are branded ‘habu’, the two Boa-style dials are in fact made by Boa and work very similarly: twist one way for incremental tightening, the other way for incremental loosening and pull out to disengage entirely. The dials are rubberised for a good grip. Van Rysel has used fabric ‘pulleys’ for the straps, to better spread the load, apparently, and the tongue is captive down one side so it always sits centrally. The top of the tongue is well-padded, as is the heel cup, both of which aid retention and comfort.

My pair in size EU44 weighed 612g (156g per shoe), which certainly isn't the lightest shoe around but is in the ballpark for similarly priced products.

As well as the Ultra White colourway, there is an Ultra White / Pink (Roubaix special) and Smoked Black. Sizes run from EU36 to 47 in full sizes, with half sizes available between EU42 and 46.

Performance

It's a rare and beautiful thing to instantly click with a product, and even more so when it is a pair of performance road shoes which you might reasonably expect to have to break in for a few rides. However, before I’d even reached the end of my street on the first ride, I knew that the RCRs and I were going to get along marvelously.

A thousand kilometres later, and I still love them.

I suppose I should try and be a little more objective and informative, but, spoiler alert, I am already positive that these will make it into my annual ‘Gear of the Year’ list.

The sole’s stiffness was noticeable when pedalling, especially out of the saddle, and provided nice power transfer and a good, stable platform. I am not a WorldTour sprinter, and I am unlikely to hit four-figure wattages, but I have used softer shoes and don’t particularly like the feel; the RCRs are certainly stiff enough for most riders and are used by some of the sponsored pros, too.

Recently I’ve ridden in Sidi Ergo 6s, Quoc Mono IIs and even some older S-Works, and I think that the RCRs stand up to all of them in terms of stiffness.

That stiffness is all the more impressive given the large ventilation holes in the soles, and there is no doubt that the ventilation works very well. I’ve never struggled with my feet overheating, but on some long, 34°C rides in Mallorca the airy feeling was very pleasant. Earlier in the year, in the UK, it was a bit less welcome, but was easily fixed with a bit of pre-ride gaffer tape over the hole.

Of course, where footwear is concerned, fit is virtually the be-all and end-all, and luckily, the RCRs were the perfect match to my foot shape, which is low volume and maybe a little bit narrower than average. As a result, the slim shape of the Van Rysel shoes couldn’t have been better for me.

The double habu/Boa dials allowed tension over the instep and forefoot without too much tightness at the ankle, and the micro-adjustment allowed easy fine-tuning throughout the day as my feet swelled in the heat.

The deep, padded heel cup and plush tongue held my foot securely, with no slippage or pressure points, and the overall feel was an unusual combination of comfort and performance.

I guess I ought to pick out a few negatives, although they are few and far between. At 612g, they are maybe a little portly for a range-topping pro shoe (though not for their price peers), and the white upper requires some care to keep it looking its best. I also imagine that wide-footed riders might not find them as comfortable as I did, but that’s just how it is with shoes. Some potential buyers might wish for replaceable heel and toe bumpers, but given that I have recently lost two of my Quoc heel pieces during rides, maybe them being permanently attached is better (Shimano’s £350 S-Phyres also lack replaceable sole pieces). And lastly, some foot shapes would benefit from a more customisable insole with arch support options, but the price of the RCRs leaves plenty of cash for a change of insoles.

Value

At £180/ $279, these shoes are a bargain. For roughly half the price of the S-Works Torch, Sidi Shot 3 or Shimano S-Phyre RC9, the Van Rysel RCRs gave me all the performance I could want, coupled with comfort enough for eight-hour rides in hot temperatures.

Even as a bit of a weight weenie, I’d happily pay the 50-100g weight penalty that these have over some of the lightest shoes available for the comfort they provide, and that’s without considering the £150+ cost saving.

On my feet at least, the Van Rysel RCR are a near-perfect fit, look great and perform well, so it's an easy 5 stars for them.

Tech spec

• Price: £180/ $279/ €170
• Weight: 156g per shoe (actual, size EU44)
• Outsole: Carbon fibre
• Retention: Twin Boa (habu) Li2
• Colours: 3
• Sizes: EU36-47 (including limited half sizes)