~rene-herse-cycles | Bookmarks (42)

If you’re running 700C tires on carbon rims, the wheel situation is better than ever. As companies have rolled out new rims, they’ve redesigned them to (mostly) meet the ETRTO / ISO standards for rim/tire fit. That’s good news, whether you run your tires tubeless or with tubes. Things don’t look as great for 650B […]

When we were growing up, the year 2000 was short-hand for ‘the future.’ Now we’re a quarter century past that landmark. To celebrate that landmark, Natsuko and I compiled an (entirely subjective) list of a dozen innovations that have reshaped cycling during these last 25 years. These range from wide tires and disc brakes to […]

The new Corkscrew Climb semi-slick tires are now shipping. First priority went to our racers who’ve been testing and racing on prototypes for months now. Above is the Stars-and-Stripes bike of the current USA Gravel National Champion, Brennan Wertz. Jenna Rinehart (above) and Ted King (below) rode their prototypes at the UCI Gravel World Championships […]

Interest in our new Corkscrew Climb Semi-Slicks has far exceeded our expectations. It’s clear that the cycling world has been waiting for a semi-slick that finally delivers—combining the speed of a slick with the traction of a knobby. Our first production run of Corkscrew Climbs will start shipping to our customers in about a week. […]

To all our readers (and everybody else) in Los Angeles, we hope that you and yours are safe. We are saddened by the lives lost and hope that the count will not go up further. That is the most important, but losing homes, neighborhoods, and places you love is devastating. We cannot even begin to […]

We’ve added one more patch and alcohol wipe to our TPU Tube Patch Kits. Patching TPU tubes is easy—just wipe the area around the puncture with the included alcohol wipe and apply the self-adhesive patch. There’s no need to sand the tube or use vulcanizing fluid. And since there’s no fluid that might dry out, […]

We’re introducing the Rene Herse Ultimate headset to complete our program. Some readers may wonder: Why would anybody run a 1″ threaded headset in this day and age? There’s no doubt that carbon forks need massive tapered steerer tubes—that’s how makers have finally eliminated the dreaded brake judder of earlier carbon bikes with disc brakes. […]

We just received a re-stock of the forged Drust Taillight Mounts. They just received a coveted ‘Gear of the Year’ award from www.bikepacking.com. Now they are also available in anodized colors in very limited quantities. Get yours while stocks last! More Information:

Selecting Rene Herse tires for your bike is easy, because our program is logical and simple. It’s all based on performance. We don’t offer dozens of functionally similar tread patterns—just three that cover all riding conditions. Rene Herse tires are available with four different casings, because the casing, more than anything else, determines the performance […]

It’s always fun when somebody mentions Rene Herse components among their favorites, but it’s doubly meaningful when it’s somebody of the stature of Joe Cruz. bikepacking.com contributor, route finder, philosopher—Joe is an absolute legend! Imagine our surprise (and delight) when Joe mentioned TPU tubes among his four favorite new products of 2024. He wrote: “Here’s […]

“Not just another semi-slick.” We don’t ‘innovate’ just to create something new. We have a lot of respect for pioneers who came before us, like the U.S. Army engineers who discovered suspension losses or the mid-century constructeurs who built the original gravel bikes at a time when most roads in the mountains were still unpaved. […]

It’s almost 2025! A quarter century has passed since that big landmark, the year 2000. It’s a great moment to take stock of the revolutionary changes in cycling over those 25 years, and then have a look how things might develop in the future. Natsuko and I talked about the things that have shaped cycling […]

A ‘wide tire revolution’ has swept through the cycling world. Whether it’s gravel racers on 48 mm rubber or Tour de France champions on 30s, today’s tires are wider than ever before. At the same time, pressures have dropped. In the past, 4 bar (58 psi) would have been a sign that the tire was […]

All of us at Rene Herse Cycles wish you Happy Holidays! We are grateful for your support this year, and we look forward to being part of your rides and adventures in 2025! Natsuko, Jan & the Rene Herse team

When we work with the world’s fastest racers, our main goal is not marketing, but R&D. These riders test our tires to the max, in the real world, under conditions that are impossible to replicate. An essential part of this testing is examining the tires they’ve raced on, so we can see how they’ve fared […]

This is just a quick note that we’ve received our latest shipment from Schmidt in Germany. We’ve got the famous SON generator hubs in stock again. If you’re looking for the fastest and most reliable generator hub to power your adventures, look no further. We also carry the excellent Edelux II headlights with their layered […]

When Rene Herse couldn’t find the bags he wanted for his bikes, he began offering his own, way back in the mid-1940s. As far as we know, he pioneered the forward-opening flap that allows accessing the bag’s contents while riding. Building on those 80 years of experience, as well as 1000s of miles of testing […]

Two shipments came in this week. From Japan, we received MKS pedals. I’ll never forget visiting the MKS factory during my first visit to Japan, years ago. After seeing huge machines forge all kinds of specialized parts for the automotive industry, we entered a small room where the top-end pedals were assembled by a single […]

The last time I bought a new bicycle was 17 years ago. Long-time readers of Bicycle Quarterly might be familiar with my ‘Six Hands’ bike that served as the control/reference for numerous bike tests and has carried me over tens of thousands of miles through many unforgettable adventures. I didn’t buy a new bike because […]

We get a lot of questions on how to run a generator lighting system. Compared to a self-contained battery-powered light, it can seem complex. Why are there so many different parts? They are mostly for special installations, and you don’t need them for a basic setup. In fact, the simplest setups are super-easy—no soldering or […]

The Winter Bicycle Quarterly is now arriving at our subscribers, just in time for reading over the holidays. It’ll be an opportunity to turn off their screens, make a cup of tea, and immerse themselves into long-form stories of rides, adventures, shop visits, product tests and history. We’d like to send you a copy, too. […]

Bicycles are fun first and foremost. Sure, we use them for transportation and fitness, but the main reason we ride, race, work on our bikes, discuss technical details and generally nerd out about bikes is simple: Bikes are fun! When we saw Dominique Ehrhard’s delightful pop-up book at a local bookstore, of course we bought […]

We got another shipment of TPU tubes from Germany. Demand has outstripped our ability to make these tubes all year. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that so many cyclists share our enthusiasm for these TPU tubes. They are superlight, pack super-small, roll faster than butyl tubes or tubeless setups, and are more puncture-resistant, too. Many […]

When we wrote that our Universal Mudflaps were the result of two years of R&D, some people found that hard to believe. Of course, we didn’t work full-time for 4,000 hours on these mudflaps… but it really did take two years from the first discussion with Ass Savers, who make our mudflaps, to the finished […]