Van Rysel Gravel bike as all purpose bike?

[midliferider]

I would be grateful for your views on this bike.
Purpose: I will be using this bike when I visit my friend who lives in Eastern Europe. Road surfaces are terrible, tarmac suddenly becomes gravel. I sometimes travel on dirt roads. Occasionally on muddy tracks along the river. Very occasionally on light snow. Area is hilly, officially it is mountain region.
I currently use Narco Valance Endurance with 700X32 tire. Gears are compact and rear cassette only goes to 30 although I can change it. It is not so suitable for all terrains.
So I thought I will get this bike.
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/gravel-bike-van-rysel-carbon-edr-grx-gold/_/R-p-327757?mc=8601607

I can get it further £300 cheaper in Europe. But the issue is not the cost. Bikeradar says that it is not so good, it is not comfortable and it is actually a cyclocross marketed as Gravel.
https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/gravel-bikes/van-rysel-edr-cf-carbon-gravel-review/

I do not need mudguards, never use them
I do not intend to use this to carry anything. So not need for pannier mounts.

I would like to hear your views / experience. Thanks.
ps. I am a big fan of Decathlon bikes. Still my best bike is Btwin Triban 3

 

[Cycleops]

Certainly looks like a road bike with fat tyres but so what? You can go up 42c tyres so should handle the sort of terrain you’ll be encountering. The steering is going to be sharper than a gravel/adventure bike but if that doesn’t worry you why not? Should suit your purpose.
Don’t know what Bike Radar mean by the geometry is ‘not progressive’. Maybe it doesn’t follow the current fashion which sounds like a bit of nonsense.
Another thing to do with fashion is the 1x gear train. I wouldn’t like the gaps between gears too but that’s a personal thing. As you suggest it might be an idea to change the cassette for lower gearing.
If you can throw a leg over one and then decide. I understand Decathlon are quite amenable to test rides. And yes Decathlon offer great VfM with a great warranty.

 

[vickster]

What else are you considering?
Decathlon allow you to test ride in store…ie sit on it if they have one

 

[midliferider]

What else are you considering?
Decathlon allow you to test ride in store…ie sit on it if they have one

I am not comparing it with any other bike. I just thought it is good value for £1500. I can buy it for that price in Europe. GRX group set itself will cost about £900 I think. Then it's a good quality carbon frame.

 

[wafter]

On the face of it seems like very good value given the spec; although personally I'm not a fan of carbon fibre (and am especially wary of cheaper stuff). In addition, if it's said to be more like a CX bike I assume the steering's quicker and the geometry more race-like; making it more responsive but less stable and harder work - so something else to consider if your rides will be particularly long / on poor terrain.

 

[midliferider]

On the face of it seems like very good value given the spec; although personally I'm not a fan of carbon fibre (and am especially wary of cheaper stuff). In addition, if it's said to be more like a CX bike I assume the steering's quicker and the geometry more race-like; making it more responsive but less stable and harder work - so something else to consider if your rides will be particularly long / on poor terrain.

My usual routine ride is 50 Km without a break. If I stop at a café I will extend it to 60-75Km. But I am not a fast rider, I now average about 24Km per hour. Used to be bit higher but I think age is catching up!.

 

[Hacienda71]

Personally I would go for a xc hard tail MTB for the sort of riding you mention.You could get a cracking bike at that budget. More capable than a gravel bike but quick enough with the right tyre choice. All that said Van-Rysel/Decathlon in my experience always provide a good product at competitive price point and the bike looks great value.

 

[midliferider]

Personally I would go for a xc hard tail MTB for the sort of riding you mention.You could get a cracking bike at that budget. More capable than a gravel bike but quick enough with the right tyre choice. All that said Van-Rysel/Decathlon in my experience always provide a good product at competitive price point and the bike looks great value.

I have a mountain bike but I really don't like it. It's not fast enough on the road and i like the drop bars.
Maybe this shows that there is nothing called all purpose bike!

 

[chriswoody]

To be fair to that Bike Radar review, they do have it pretty spot on, that bike really is a road bike built for light gravel use only. With the 700c wheels it comes with, you can only fit 38mm tires max, which to be fair, is far too narrow for any serious mug plugging duties, if you want to go up to 42mm (Which is still narrow in my view) then you need to purchase a set of 650b wheels. With the head angle/reach numbers combined with a 110 mm stem along with the narrow 420mm bars, it's going to have some pretty horrible handling characteristics on any thing rougher than fine gravel.

Another glaring problem is the gearing, a 11 - 42 cassette, married to a 42 tooth chainring is going to need the strength of a bear to get it to move off-road and forgot climbing up hills. I run a 32 tooth chainring married up to a 10 - 42 cassette on my bike and when I'm touring, I even drop that down to a 28 tooth chainring.

The problem with 1x on gravel bikes, is that only road derailleurs will work with drop bar levers, which leaves you with a max tooth capacity of 42 on your cassette. This then leaves you with changing the size of your chainring as the only official way of changing your gearing, which isn't always viable and also leaves you with a narrow range of gears biased towards speed or hill climbing. There are unofficial ways of doing it, the so called "Mullet" drivetrain, but that entails a bit of money and mechanical know how.

Edited to add:

If you want a well priced, general purpose, proper gravel bike from decathlon, the European stores offer this bike:

https://www.decathlon.de/p/reiserad-riverside-touring-920-reifen-schwalbe-thunder-burt/_/R-p-332473

 

[midliferider]

To be fair to that Bike Radar review, they do have it pretty spot on, that bike really is a road bike built for light gravel use only. With the 700c wheels it comes with, you can only fit 38mm tires max, which to be fair, is far too narrow for any serious mug plugging duties, if you want to go up to 42mm (Which is still narrow in my view) then you need to purchase a set of 650b wheels. With the head angle/reach numbers combined with a 110 mm stem along with the narrow 420mm bars, it's going to have some pretty horrible handling characteristics on any thing rougher than fine gravel.

Another glaring problem is the gearing, a 11 - 42 cassette, married to a 42 tooth chainring is going to need the strength of a bear to get it to move off-road and forgot climbing up hills. I run a 32 tooth chainring married up to a 10 - 42 cassette on my bike and when I'm touring, I even drop that down to a 28 tooth chainring.

The problem with 1x on gravel bikes, is that only road derailleurs will work with drop bar levers, which leaves you with a max tooth capacity of 42 on your cassette. This then leaves you with changing the size of your chainring as the only official way of changing your gearing, which isn't always viable and also leaves you with a narrow range of gears biased towards speed or hill climbing. There are unofficial ways of doing it, the so called "Mullet" drivetrain, but that entails a bit of money and mechanical know how.

I think 38 tire should be fine as the old mountain bike I currently use in river side trail has the same size.
With regard to the gears, I was under the impression that 42/42 gives me a gear ratio of 1 which is slightly better than 38/32. Is that not correct?
I assume I can change the chain wheel to 38? Is it not possible?
Some on Decathlon website suggested having a shorter stem to have a more comfortable riding position.

 

[chriswoody]

I ride a lot on gravel/sand and mud and I originally rode a bike with 38mm tires and found that I was having to get off and push a lot. Since upgrading to the Kona, I now run 47mm tires on 700c rims. I find that I can keep riding a lot more and the bike will roll over a lot more rougher ground more easily. Tire width is a very personal thing and will be very dependant on where you ride as well, but I would always be looking for a bike that could accommodate wider tires in order to give me a range of options should I need it.

The stock gears on the bike are skewed towards speed, the 42 - 42 on 38mm tires will give you a low gear of 28 gear inches(Other ways of measuring are available, it's just what I'm familiar with!). In my opinion, that's far too high, again it will be subjective and depend on your leg strength and where you ride. For me, on sand and mud then I would find it far to high and would end up just pushing the bike through. It is a GRX crankset though, so smaller chainrings are indeed an option, I just don't know how small they would go, but I would certainly be pondering about looking.

As for bars and stem, I have a 70mm stem married to 500mm wide bars and this gives me great slow speed responsiveness off-road and a nice relaxed ride on road, though to be fair you can kiss goodbye to any aero advantage with those wide bars!

Please bear in mind, all my blathering above, is just based on my own experience, circumstances and preferences for a gravel bike and may bear no resemblance to your own needs. I'm just trying to show another way of looking at things. The bike you have linked to is a nice bike indeed, but as the Bike Radar review remarks, it is a fast road bike suited to light off road use. If that's what you want and need, then it's a good bike for you.

 

[midliferider]

I ride a lot on gravel/sand and mud and I originally rode a bike with 38mm tires and found that I was having to get off and push a lot. Since upgrading to the Kona, I now run 47mm tires on 700c rims. I find that I can keep riding a lot more and the bike will roll over a lot more rougher ground more easily. Tire width is a very personal thing and will be very dependant on where you ride as well, but I would always be looking for a bike that could accommodate wider tires in order to give me a range of options should I need it.

The stock gears on the bike are skewed towards speed, the 42 - 42 on 38mm tires will give you a low gear of 28 gear inches(Other ways of measuring are available, it's just what I'm familiar with!). In my opinion, that's far too high, again it will be subjective and depend on your leg strength and where you ride. For me, on sand and mud then I would find it far to high and would end up just pushing the bike through. It is a GRX crankset though, so smaller chainrings are indeed an option, I just don't know how small they would go, but I would certainly be pondering about looking.

As for bars and stem, I have a 70mm stem married to 500mm wide bars and this gives me great slow speed responsiveness off-road and a nice relaxed ride on road, though to be fair you can kiss goodbye to any aero advantage with those wide bars!

Please bear in mind, all my blathering above, is just based on my own experience, circumstances and preferences for a gravel bike and may bear no resemblance to your own needs. I'm just trying to show another way of looking at things. The bike you have linked to is a nice bike indeed, but as the Bike Radar review remarks, it is a fast road bike suited to light off road use. If that's what you want and need, then it's a good bike for you.

Of course I am looking for your own personal experience. This is helpful.

 

[midliferider]

Update: I have now had the bike for nearly two months. I have done nearly 800 Km. I have cycled on Tarmac, poorly maintained country roads, cobbles, gravel, mud, and in rain, over puddles etc. Climbed, descended etc.
It is an absolute joy to ride. In fact, I am thinking of getting rid of all other bikes and just having this one.