This week Ridley announced the launch of its new Falcn RS race bike. Despite some rumours as well as prototypes being spotted earlier in the year, the Falcn has now landed officially. You can also head to our Falcn news story to read up on the bike’s release news, but here, we’ll focus on our experience with the bike.
I’ve been able to test-ride a Falcn for the last few months, and even attended the bike’s press launch in Italy earlier in this year, so have a pretty thorough understanding of how it rides, where it excels, and perhaps more importantly, where it doesn’t.
The Ridley performance road line currently consists of the all-out aero race bike the Noah Fast, the lighter-weight Helium model, and the Fenix endurance model. The Falcn will slot into the range between the Helium and Noah and bridge the gap between lightweight and aero.
It’s no secret we’ve already seen the days of the all-out, no-compromise aero bike fade a little with race bikes now aiming for a blend of aero, lightweight and overall performance. Things seem to have been going in this direction over the last several years now, with many brands moving away from the all-out, at times overbuilt and slightly heavier aero race bike in favour of bikes that are easier to live with across a wider range of terrain.
Or as Ridley puts it: a focus on ‘aero to weight’. The Falcn looks to be Ridley’s way of slotting another option into its road arsenal that, put simply, utilises the aero performance of the Noah but paired with the lighter weight benefits of the Helium.
I have ridden the Falcn in two different guises: around Como in Italy over a period of three days running a Shimano setup and then for a couple of months here in the UK with a SRAM Force AXS groupset. It’s billed as an all round performance road bike and I tried to test it across as wide a range of conditions as I could during that time. Keep reading to find my thoughts below.
TECH SPECS: Ridley Falcn RS
Price (as per review spec) : €9399 / £8599 / $12.399
Weight: 7.4kg
Models available: Three
Sizes available: XXS-XL
Design and Specification
Straight out of the gate, as per its billing, the Falcn does look to blend elements of the Helium and Noah’s designs. Like its two…
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