Van Rysel RoadR 900 Full Carbon Road Cycling Shoe review

The higher-end bike and kit brand of the French retail chain Decathlon has delivered its usual combination of excellent quality and great value with the RoadR 900 shoes.

The spec includes a full-carbon sole and a pair of dial closures, with a raft of features you'd only expect to find on more expensive cycling shoes.

With a stiff sole, secure fit and plenty of support, the performance level matches the impressive spec.

Van Rysel RoadR 900 Full Carbon Road Cycling Shoe spec and details

Carbon soles and twin dial closures are rare sights on shoes at this price – and for Van Rysel to provide both without any obvious compromises is a great achievement.

While stiff soles may not offer the performance advantages they were once thought to, a lot of riders still hanker after them.

In addition to this, the pair of Atop dials ensures a secure, comfortable and highly adjustable fit for both the top and lower part of your foot and an insole that offers more support than most.

Van Rysel RoadR 900 Full Carbon Road Cycling Shoe performance

The Van Rysel full-carbon sole is made in Italy. As with most shoes around this price, it has a three-hole-only fitting. However, if you’re looking for stiff-soled carbon shoes at an affordable price, the Van Rysels are extremely hard to ignore.

There’s more to these excellent road cycling shoes than a sole that's noticeably stiffer than you’ll find on most similarly priced shoes, though.

Velcro closures and laces are all very well, but most cycling shoes these days feature dials in one form or other. Boa is the biggest name in this area, but you’re more likely to find Atop dials on lower-priced shoes – and, often, you’ll only see one.

In these inflationary times, Van Rysel has plumped for two (or “4 lace holes and 2 micrometric wheels for perfect adjustment” in Decathlon-speak) and arguably this has more of a positive effect on the shoes than the carbon sole.

If you like to get a secure fit across your entire foot, the twin-dial setup is hard to beat for snugness and adjustability. The comfort is enhanced further by a plushly padded, well-vented tongue and one of the most supportive insoles you’ll find in a budget shoe.

The ‘Neutralongitudinal Arch’ insole provides support to your arch, and is perforated to match the sole’s front and rear vents, which, in my experience, isn’t the case with a lot of insole and arch pairings.

The stiff carbon sole makes walking a little more duck-like than with the slightly more flexible soles you find on most budget shoes.

These are accompanied by a high heel bumper, though the toe reinforcement is on the shallow side and I’d prefer it to be more prominent.

I found the sizing good and fitting cleats is aided by guidelines that are clearer than on many shoes, which is something I always like to see.

The soles may be stiff, but the Van Rysels proved extremely comfortable during both leisurely rides and full-on training sessions (or as ‘full-on’ as I manage these days).

Their most obvious rival in this price bracket is the Boardman Carbon Cycle Shoe, which comes in at an even more impressive £85 (with heel bumpers).

The specs and performances are similar, though I think the Van Rysels edge it for looks.

Van Rysel RoadR 900 Full Carbon Road Cycling Shoe bottom line

The Van Rysels are very hard to fault when it comes to the all-round quality and the price.

The sole is as stiff as you’ll find at this price, two Atop dials offer easy-to-adjust security across your whole foot and the vented insole is a fair bit more supportive than most.

These are great shoes at a great price.