Van Rysel EDR CF ULTRA

All road is dead, long live all road.

An introduction to the VAN RYSEL EDR CF ULTRA

Now, I’ll let you all jump to your own conclusions. Maybe I need to preface this for those who are new, but for those who already know me, you’ll know what a massive cynic I am.

The phrase “all-road” has always been one I’d struggled with. No matter how many bikes or styles of bikes I rode, “all-road” seemed like something some lucky bastard who lives in California and works in the marketing department of a cycling company came up with. They probably ride somewhere with stunning roads and gravel (wait, what?) trails where they can mix and match the surfaces. In fact, having worked with Cervélo and talked to that lucky person, I can confirm that that’s the case.

Now here’s the reality check, I live in London, but I’ve ridden and raced both MTB and Cyclocross and for a few seasons I was a guide in Sierra Nevada where we were all riding trail bikes with a 140 - 160 mm travel, but that was a lifetime ago. As a kid I’d ride and train on my cross bike on the same trails we now ride our gravel bikes on. I’ve kind of come full circle, I still nip off road on my road bike in the summer when the trails are dry enough. There’s something about being on the wrong bike in the wrong environment that I really enjoy. I’m still drawn to the same trails but in reality they only make up about 20-30% of any ride. I have no need or desire to race, I won't be travelling to places to ride #EPIC gravel, so I don’t need a gravel bike that can take massive tyres as is the current trend but I still love the peace, tranquility and getting a bit loose that this kind of riding offers.

I previously wrote about my Standert Pfadfinder, my Swiss Army knife of a bike. It was my winter bike that could take mudguards (fenders), it could take a knobbly tyre, up to 35mm and I regularly loaded it up and went bike packing on it. I loved it but its only downside was the weight, it was heavy compared to my other bikes (inc other steel ones). It was maybe the bike that first convinced me that “all road” had its place. That bike racked up thousands of KM’s, it gave me a sense of freedom unlike any other and for me that’s what I want from a bike and why I now think the term “all road” works for me.

The latest addition to the line up is the Van Rysel EDR CF Ultra. The frame is carbon, and weighs 830 grms. It has mudguard mounts, clearance for officially 38mm tyres but I fitted some Pirelli Cinturato M 40’s and I still had clearance.

I’ve been waiting for this bike for a year since I first saw it. Light enough for all my road duties, tall enough for any endurance and bike packing duties and mounts for guards. Designed with maybe a 70/30 mix of road and off road in mind and squarely aimed at Ultra Distance and Audax riders but in reality the geometry is what most of us “should” be riding. It is not a gravel bike and I suspect the more adventurous riders will want more mounts and greater clearance, this is Endurance road or what I now like to call “All Road”.

I’ve only been riding this for a few weeks with two sets of wheels, road and off road. It works.

I’ve planned a bike packing trip so I can give a fuller review of how it coped and with a UK winter ahead I’m hoping this will rack up thousands of KMs. I think over the last couple of years I’ve wanted my bike packing trips to be a bit faster and wanted a lighter set up. I’m hoping this is it.

I’d also like to add I’m stoked to see that this bike looks a bit more traditional, the seat stays aren’t dropped and the top tube doesn’t slope too aggressively. On the flip side I also love the clean looks of the Deda DCR stem and the super ergonomic custom to Van Rysel bars with an 8 degree flare, personally i would’ve preferred nearer 12 - 15 degrees but that’s nit picking.

I’ll add a fully review after living with this for a few months. Nothing like a UK winter with all that slop and grime and hopefully an early season bike packing escape to put this through it’s paces. I may out in Los Angeles in December and I think this will be the bike I take.

Any questions please do drop me a line.

A couple of foot notes. This build isn’t an option, I went to town on it with a couple of sets of Chris King wheels and SRAM RED AXS, sorry I couldn’t help myself. Secondly I work for Van Rysel. So these posts, while hopefully honest, will always have a bias.

A link to the Decathlon site and my affiliate link can be found HERE