Source : Biketo.com|美運网 Author : kingfar
How much does it cost to have a pair of lock shoes that can be used in the ring law? If it is a common big name, the price is about 3000, but what if it is Decathlon? Decathlon said: I'm sorry for everyone here, in my place, I only need 1000. Hello everyone, I'm Kingfar, and I want to share with you a product experience that is neither fair nor comprehensive enough, but has enough heart.
In recent years, Decathlon has launched a sub-brand VAN RYSEL focusing on the road bike field, and the new products are improving every year, and I have become a fan of this brand since I bought the first pair of VAN RYSEL cycling pants, and I am very concerned about every time VAN RYSEL releases a new product. Just before last year's National Day, VAN RYSEL put their new RCR lock shoes on the shelves, and the price of 1099 made me feel that I couldn't walk, and my appearance also made me see that I couldn't pull it out in my eyes, so I started it as soon as possible.
In fact, I have been paying attention to this lock shoe for a long time, and spy photos have leaked on the Internet about half a year before it was released, but the real product was unveiled at the 2023 Tour de France, and Nans Peters of the AG2R team wore the shoes on the track as Decathlon's personal sponsor driver and posted a small video.
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At that time, when I watched the video, I felt that this little white shoe was really good-looking, and people couldn't believe that this was the design of Decathlon, which is known for its straight male aesthetics. It was later learned that the shoes were co-developed by Nan Peter.
Static experience
Judging from the outer packaging, Decathlon has put a lot of effort into this pair of shoes, in the past, Decathlon shoes almost did not have a shoebox, but this time Decathlon not only gave RCR a shoebox, but even a disposable packaging, which can only be opened by tearing off the seal.
The inside of the shoe box is also divided into a design to package the two shoes separately to avoid colliding with each other during transportation, which can be said to be quite distracting. However, I don't understand what this "FULL GAS" topic means, the following QR code can be scanned to enter the multilingual technical support page of this lock shoe, including product introduction, cleaning and maintenance methods, lock plate installation methods and many other information, unfortunately there is no Chinese.
The RCR is made of synthetic leather as a whole, and the material is stiffer than the touch. This harder material makes the shoe look quite "stylish", but the harder material also has the potential to bring a decrease in comfort, which has higher requirements for the design and production of shoes.
The upper of the RCR uses a one-piece upper design, and there are no unnecessary stitches on the surface. The upper is covered with a lot of perforations from the upper to the tongue to increase the breathability of the shoe. The synthetic leather fabric used by RCR has a thin line pattern of protrusions, and I don't know if it is just a pattern or a TPU thread that increases the strength of the fabric is synthesized inside the fabric.
The VAN RYESL print on the outside of the shoes is very cleverly designed, and this design is the finishing touch to the appearance of this pair of shoes, which can not only show their own brand of GOLO but also not look very abrupt, and this label also has a reflective effect.
The seam of the heel of the shoe is also covered with a piece of material, which cleverly hides the stitching, and the small Decathlon logo on it is also printed with reflective prints.
The outside of the heel part of the shoe uses a TPU reinforced heel cup design, which is not high, but in fact, the inside of the shoe is reinforced with a layer of heel cup, and the inner and outer double layer design is used.
The inside of the heel is printed with the model number RCR RARBON, indicating that the shoes were designed in the Flanders region of France, and the logo of the Lion of Flanders has always been a little easter egg that I like.
The shoes are locked with two habu knobs, and I heard of the habu brand for the first time, and then I checked the official website and found that it is a sub-brand of BOA, and the technology and after-sales service are completely consistent with BOA, and the lifetime warranty is guaranteed. This uses the Li2 knob that is only used on many top-of-the-line lock shoes, not the L6 knob that is common in lock shoes at this price. It supports two-way fine-tuning, and it can be quickly released when it is pulled out, and some people have even seen it directly replaced it with the metal knob cover of Lightning.
The RCR forefoot uses a figure-8 loop routing method, and a cloth wire buckle is used to reduce the local pressure that may be caused by the plastic cable crossing, but the disadvantage is that you cannot adjust the routing method yourself. The inner buckle is also designed with different directions for uniform tensioning. I feel that the white cloth buckle will be very unstainable.
The sole is made of Decathlon's newly designed UD full carbon sole, which looks very thick.
It can be seen that the mounting hole of the cleat provides a large range of adjustment, which can not only be adjusted back and forth, but also provides a certain space for left and right adjustment. There are scales for adjustment on the outside of the left and right screw holes, and the consistency of the left and right foot scales is still good after measurement. The lower part lacks the SHIMANO scale that adjusts the height of the cleats. Slightly inconvenient.
The toe cap is wrapped with thick TPU to protect the toe cap and toe, and there is a ventilation hole in the middle to cool the toe area.
There are also ventilation holes in the arch of the foot.
The heel of the shoe uses a non-replaceable heel, and the material is also TPU material, and the support of the heel cup is one. Don't expect a replaceable heel at this price, but fortunately, the heel is quite thick and the durability should be good.
The overall workmanship of the shoes is not bad from the outside, and there is no obvious glue overflow.
The inside of the shoes is a small and fresh azure, and the color scheme complements the main white color. The label of the shoe is sewn separately and is not difficult to remove.
The internal test of the tongue is made of suede, which is very pleasant to the touch. A padding is added to the part of the foot surface over the steel wire to reduce the pressure of the steel wire on the foot surface, which is a very careful design.
The overall lining of the shoe is made of a fabric officially called "3D mesh", which is breathable and sweat-absorbent to increase comfort, and the lining is also a seamless combination with the outside.
The ankle area is made of artificial leather, which is delicate and soft to the touch. This material is more like the common "artificial protein leather" touch on the earcups of headphones, and there is no special anti-slip design, but the overall friction is not bad. The ankle padding is very thick and holds the heel in place.
Compared to the upper and the field, the midsole looks "unremarkable". The material of the midsole looks very similar to the kraft paper midsole that was common on basketball shoes in the past, and it is actually very hard to the touch.
The midsole on the official website is made of polycarbonate, but it does look a lot like kraft paper. The front and back vents of the sole are sewn with ABS insect nets. This midsole is still a bit low compared to SHIMANO's no-midsole technology, so even if you change the color, it can be more advanced, right?
The insoles used in RCR are also ordinary, the color is really good-looking, and there are holes in the corresponding parts of the ventilation holes on the sole, but this insole does not seem to have any functional blessings.
The back of the insole looks like a non-slip pattern, and the support is not enhanced. There's also no separate arch or metatarsal support, which isn't as good as SHIMANO. The EVA material used in the insole is relatively dense, and the overall support is not bad, so I will consider replacing a pair of insoles with better functionality in the future.
I have heard a lot of complaints about Decathlon's previous lock shoes, mainly because they are too narrow and the design is very anti-human, and I have even heard that many Europeans think Decathlon's lock shoes are too narrow, and this pair of RCR lasts have been optimized for better foot compatibility.
The first thing I felt when I got started was that the design of the last and toe was very similar to that of SHIMANO. But the size 442 RC5 I have been wearing before has always felt that the size is a little too large, and I bought this pair of shoes in size 41 and couldn't compare it directly, so I went to the official website and took the official pictures of RCR and RC903 to make a perspective comparison.
I was surprised by the comparison, the RCR's silhouette was almost identical to that of the SHIMANO. So if you have a foot shape that can wear SHIMANO, then these shoes should be no problem. However, this comparison also shows another difference, which is the opening.
The opening of this pair of RCR lock shoes is on the small side, and the upper material is hard, if your foot neck is thicker, or the instep is relatively high, this pair of RCR may have the phenomenon of stuck foot neck, which needs to be noted.
Static experience
Since I had been wearing the RC5 before, the sole was thinner thanks to the RC5's nosole technology. And my first impression of this new pair of shoes is that the sole is thicker, of course, compared to the RC5. The overall wrapping of the shoe is very good, and the strong upper can wrap the foot firmly and provide enough support.
In addition to the bottom stitching, the inside of the tongue is also sewn together with the upper to form a whole, which ensures that the tongue does not run around and provides good support for the instep, but at the same time, it is not very friendly to people with high insteps.
The opening of the shoes is on the small side, and the margin of BOA wire is slightly short, and with the thick ankle lining, it is slightly inconvenient to put on and take off.
The all-carbon sole is very stiff, and although I don't have a lot of power, I don't weigh a lot. In the past, when I wore the RC5, I could feel a slight deformation of the sole when I stood on the ground and stepped down, but this pair of RCRs will not be deformed at all. Grade 12 hardness (Decathlon's own highest grade, for reference only) is not covered.
If you want to talk about the downside, the weight of these shoes is slightly heavier. The SHIMANO RC7 weighs 42 yards and 255 g in this price range. The size 42 RC5 I wore before weighed at 510 grams, and this pair of size 41 RCRs weighed around 275 grams.
Dynamic experience
In the actual riding, the first feeling when you get on the bike is "hard", whether it is the sole or the upper is a hard feeling. Because I have more vegetables, I always thought that the compound carbon bottom of RC5 was enough for me, and I only understood the power of full carbon bottom when I stepped on this pair of shoes. In contrast, you can still feel the slight deformation of the RC5. Whether it is a sprint or a rocking car, the force is very direct. Even the feeling of locking and unlocking is more crisp than the previous RC5.
The sole arch support of this shoe is in place, but because the insole is relatively shabby, there is no arch support and no metatarsal pad, and the wrapping and comfort of the arch part of the foot are poor.
The heel cup part and the thick padding of the ankle area can lock the foot well during riding, providing good stability and comfort. The leather ankle lining also holds the heel in place in the shoe and does not loosen even if the knobs are not tightly locked.
The locking design of the double twist is quite reasonable, and I did not have the situation of harness compression. Due to the low profile, the knob on the forefoot will accidentally lock too tightly, causing the upper to press on the top of the foot. However, the LI2 knob can be easily adjusted during riding. If you don't feel comfortable, just loosen a bar or two.
Thanks to the large openings at the toe and arch, the shoes are quite breathable. It will feel cool as soon as you ride it. I even thought there was a problem with the heat dissipation in the heel area, but when I looked closely, I realized that it was not the heel area that was hot, but the illusion that the toes and arches were cooler. Also, remember to cut off the tag before riding, the tag will affect the heat dissipation.
Due to the relatively large hardness of the upper, the wrapping and power feel are good, but the stiffer upper and the small opening cause the position of the inner tongue and the upper to coincide when the toe hooks the action, and the impact will be greater if the ankle is thick or the instep is high. However, normal pedaling will have no effect. In addition, when wearing the upper for the first time, due to the stiff upper material, the knob is tightened, and there will be a slight feeling of pressure on the side of the forefoot, and after wearing it several times, the upper will gradually become softer after wearing it several times.
To sum up, as a pair of shoes on the Tour de France, VANRYSEL RCR is cost-effective at this price, compared with other international brands at the same price, it should be a mutual winner and loser, plus very good appearance and good performance, it can be said that it is a pair of shoes that are worth buying. If you have disliked the RC7 all over the street, then this double RCR should give you a different experience.
Easter Egg: When I bought SHIMANO's S-PHYRE insoles from the seafood market, I felt that this was the complete body of the lock shoes, but, the ventilation holes in the arch of the foot were wasted......