Usually there is a fanfare at the World Tour Class bike launch. Perhaps they are invited to a team camp or to a stand-alone launch where the associated bicycle press can test ride the new machines, but usually there are several seasoned pros there who tell us that they are significantly better than anything they have ridden before and that they can't wait to ride them next season. I can't wait to ride it next season.

Van Reisel, famous for its high-priced bikes like the RCR Pro, seems to have announced its new aero bike without any fanfare at all, hiding it on a subpage of its website titled 'ready for 2025'. In cycling media terms, this is like something out of The Hitchhiking Guide to the Galaxy, where the blueprints for a new hyperspace bypass are “displayed at the bottom of a locked filing cabinet in a disused bathroom, with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of Leopards.’”

Little information is available about the new machine, but this is not the first time we have seen it. It was first spotted on the opening stage of the Tour de France earlier this year, with an eye-dazzling and destructive paint job. Frankly, the photos of what was previously referred to as the “FCR” are more detailed than the few photos from this website.

The YouTube video is full of dynamism, action, and cinematography, but no detail at all. Unless this bike is more French than the standard Van Rysel RCR and the F stands for France, we could probably figure it out.

According to Van Reizel's website, the RCR-F was developed in conjunction with Swiss Side, which, as with the development of the RCR, matches well with the team's ongoing wheel sponsorship. We don't know much more than that the bike is “designed to cut through the air with precision” and “set a new standard for aero bikes.”

On the last point, the brand may claim to set a new standard, but it will be an improvement over the standard RCR, since our own wind tunnel testing has concluded that the absolute aero difference between the best bikes in the sport is really small but probably on par with other aero bikes.

A search of Van Rysel's website reveals that the bike is not currently available for sale. A consumer model does not yet exist, but given the UCI rules and Van Rysel's strong commercial interest in selling the bike, it is expected to hit store shelves relatively soon after the first race of the season. The brand likes to show off its Flemish heritage, so we expect it to get a lot of press at the spring classics.

This is perhaps not the full, all-singing, all-dancing launch of the RCR-F, but it is another model in the industry's growing trend back to proper aero biking. The latest wild Colnago Y1Rs is another example, and there seems to be a renewed appetite for full-bore aero bikes, as brands have made their lightweight bikes more aero while staying within UCI weight limits.

When teams have the choice between aero and lightweight bikes, the aero machine is often used as the default. Canyon's Aeroad, Cervélo's S5; if this is the trend, what about today's all-rounders? Specialized has room to maneuver, and if it wanted to commit to aero, it could reintroduce the Venge. Pinarello has Dogma and has always been a one-bike company. But Trek seems to have painted itself into a corner by making the Madone a sleeker all-rounder. There is no chance that the Emonda, which has sadly passed away, will be resurrected as an aerobike.