IN BRIEF
Van Rysel, Decathlon’s cycling brand, is moving into mountain biking with the RCR-XC, a full-suspension cross-country bike on 32-inch wheels with a 130 mm fork. The brand says it saves 15.5 W at 35 km/h over the Decathlon Ford Racing team’s current mountain bike, with a carbon frame that is 230 g lighter. It will first be raced by the team, for which Van Rysel becomes the equipment supplier in 2027; sales to the public will follow at a date to be announced later.
| Type | Full-suspension cross-country mountain bike |
| Wheels | 32-inch |
| Fork | 130 mm |
| Frame | carbon, 230 g less than the team’s 2026 mountain bike |
| Aerodynamics | -15.5 W at 35 km/h versus the team’s current mountain bike |
| Team | Decathlon Ford Racing, from 2027 |
| Sales | at a date to be announced later |
After road and gravel, Van Rysel is taking on mountain biking. The RCR-XC is a cross-country race bike, and Decathlon’s brand is developing it first for its riders: from the 2027 season, Van Rysel becomes the official bike and clothing supplier to the Decathlon Ford Racing team.
Van Rysel RCR-XC: all about the 32-inch bike
The RCR-XC rolls on 32-inch wheels, with 130 mm of front suspension. Van Rysel writes that this combination showed better agility on descents during testing. Escape Collective reports that there will be no 29-inch version, and that the brand’s engineers began considering 32-inch wheels shortly after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The carbon frame draws on the experience Van Rysel has gained on the road. The brand states that it was co-developed with the team’s riders, and that it weighs 230 g less than the 2026 mountain bike it currently uses.
A mountain bike in the wind tunnel
Van Rysel says it has put a mountain bike in a wind tunnel for the first time. It claims a gain of 15.5 W at 35 km/h compared with the Decathlon Ford Racing team’s current mountain bike. road.cc notes that the bike appears to be fitted with deep-section Zipp rims, and Singletracks spots in the photos a SRAM XX drivetrain, Zipp carbon wheels, a RockShox fork and Vittoria Mezcal XC Race tyres.
The team first, the public later
Singletracks states that the RCR-XC will be raced by Luca Martin, Samara Maxwell and Savilia Blunk. Escape Collective points out that in 2027, Van Rysel replaces Rockrider within the team, bringing Decathlon’s performance ranges together under a single banner. The official page announces that the bike will then go on sale at a date to be announced later. The official page adds that the move into mountain biking will also include a clothing range, planned for the general public during 2027.
