A long time ago, the leading American bike magazine called us 'Fender Snobs.' Perhaps that was the inevitable result of our belief that 'Everything Matters.' Nobody has ever been called a 'Derailleur Snob.' Yet we don't shift all that often during our long winter base miles, but the spray from our...
Our latest batch of TPU tubes has arrived. Every tube size and valve type is in stock now, but some quantities are already running low: Most of the tubes were pre-ordered. We also got the patch kits back in stock... There are quite a few TPU tubes on the market. What...
Next weekend are the third-ever UCI Gravel World Championships. That's a big deal—it doesn't get bigger than that. You can say that gravel has really arrived and carved out its place in the bike world, not just in North America, but world-wide. We're especially excited that four of the elite/professional racers...
It probably doesn't make sense to get a minimalist taillight like the Busch & Müller μ (pronounced 'Mu' for 'Micro') and mount it with a big bracket that weighs more than the light itself. Konstantin Drust, the framebuilder from Berlin, Germany, felt the same way, and so he created an...
After we published the story about a steel bike for Unbound XL lighter than most carbon bikes that line up for this gravel ultra race, a number of you asked about detailed specs of the bike. That makes a lot of sense: Almost everything (except the bottom...
Light weight isn't everything, but a lighter bike is faster and more fun. There is the simple physics of climbing—less weight means more speed. More important, to me at least, is the feel of the bike when I rock it from side to side as I climb or sprint out...
Realizing that Rene Herse tires are named after real passes, ridges, and climbs—places that one can go ride—Henley Phillips schemed a route that linked together as many passes as he could squeeze into a short bikepacking trip. He wrote up his adventure for bikepacking.com, complete with beautiful photos of mid-summer riding...
Natsuko and I met Dustin at a café in the neighborhood. We talked about bikes and book projects. We had recently published The All-Road Bike Revolution, and Dustin was working on his first book, Blood and Lightning (link below), about becoming a tattoo artist. As we talked, he told us...
After a hard-fought race against America's fastest and most experienced racers, Brennan Wertz won the 2024 USA Cycling Gravel National Championships. John Borstelmann was second, Colby Simmons third. Defending champion and general favorite Keegan Swenson finished sixth, while Inno Zavyalov was tenth. Brennan and Inno were on Rene Herse tires....
In a field of mass-produced carbon bikes, it's refreshing to see a national championship won on a custom-built metal frame. Brennan's Mosaic GT-1 iAR is the latest all-road offering from the Colorado maker. With an Enve Gravel fork and Mosaic's All-Road chainstays, Brennan's bike juuuust clears the 44 mm-wide Snoqualmie...
One reason behind the popularity of gravel racing is that it treats female riders as equals to men. That is a big break from traditional racing that used to focus on men first and foremost—women were either completely ignored or treated as an afterthought. Throughout history, a few women have tried to...
Before we go into our sale, just a quick note that another shipment of TPU tubes is on the way. There isn't much we can say about the tubes that hasn't been said, so I'll quote a friend and customer instead. He's definitely not a racer, but uses his bike...
We just received another shipment from Ostrich in Japan. Included are the chain covers—essential protection when you travel with your bike. The Chain Cover keeps your chain away from luggage and clothing during travel or bike storage. The Chain Cover attaches with Velcro and fits virtually any bike. Made from...
Last weekend, the MADE Show in Portland celebrated the art of framebuilding, as the show's official motto put it. Of course, the exhibitors brought much more than just beautifully crafted and gorgeously painted frames. There was some real innovation, as well as other news that didn't make it into the...
Congratulations to Inno Zavyalov for a stunning 2nd place at Gravel Worlds in a star-studded field, riding on Rene Herse 700C x 44 Snoqualmie Pass Extralight tires. Here is his report: Gravel Worlds 150Lincoln, Nebraska 5:55 am start High index 105 Wow. I’m still processing exactly what happened yesterday. I’ll be fully transparent and say...
Long sold out, we now got a small number of Nivex T-Shirts back in stock, with Manga-inspired artwork by Franck Stephan. Only a few in each size…
Summer in the Pacific Northwest is a glorious time, when the days are long, the sky is blue, and the mountains are calling. We answer that call as often as we can, creating memories that tide us over the long and rainy winters, when the high passes are covered under...
FMB tubulars are made to order in a small shop in Plurien, France. Our latest order has arrived. If you've pre-ordered tubulars, they'll be shipped shortly. We also have some more 'cross and road tubs in stock. Get them while they last! More information: FMB tubulars in the Rene...
It's natural to wonder whether what we say about our Rene Herse dual-purpose knobbies is just marketing. We've all heard the word 'revolutionary' bandied about too many times. Who really believes it when a company says that they've created something completely new, something that eclipses everything that came before? "Come...
This is just a short note that our TPU tubes arrived. If you pre-ordered tubes, your order is being shipped first. For those customers who've been waiting for the tubes to actually be in stock, I really hate to say: "Get yours while supplies last." But that's the current situation...
When we started riding wide, supple tires more than a decade ago, we wondered about rim width. Do extra-wide tires need extra-wide rims? Figuring this out was part of our research into tire and bicycle performance. Last week, Zipp introduced their new 303 XPLR gravel wheels. Their main selling point are...
We've been working hard to get more of our customers' favorite products in stock. Our TPU tubes have been incredibly popular. Perhaps that shouldn't surprise us—superior strength, ultra-light weight, ultra-low rolling resistance and leak-free all-metal valves are convincing arguments in their favor—but we've just not been able to produce them...
Headsets are among those bike parts that you don't think about much—until you have to, because they aren't working as they should. Fortunately, the headsets on modern carbon bikes rarely intrude into the cycling experience—massive, tapered steerers spread the load over much bigger bearings than in the past. For steel bikes,...
More and more bikepackers and adventurers are adopting generator hubs. Having lights whenever you need them, at the flick of a switch, without worrying about battery charge, is liberating when you want to focusing on the road, trail and scenery. SON hubs, with their precision manufacture and unique pressure compensation...
Interviews are always interesting, because many questions are unexpected, and impromptu answers often chart new territory. That was definitely the case when Bike Gear Database talked to Jan recently. Among the questions: What is the vision for Rene Herse Cycles? Why did Jan continue a company with a rich tradition rather than...
At Rene Herse Cycles, we've been running some of our bikes tubeless for more than a decade. Back then, neither rims nor tires were tubeless-ready yet, so there was much improvisation. On rough terrain, the tires tended to burp, and there were other issues, too. It was all part of...
These days, Rene Herse Cycles is often associated with gravel and bikepacking, so it may come as a surprise that my love of cycling started on the road. Growing up in Germany, my family lived at the edge of a small village on a popular training route. Seeing groups of...
Four years ago, I first attempted to reach Humptulips Ridge. It was the first year of the pandemic. There were no races, and group rides were frowned upon. Vaccines were not yet available, and nobody knew yet what was safe and what wasn't. But I yearned for big adventures. I...
We just received a new shipment from Berthoud in France. Included are Ted King's favorite mirrors in silver and black. Machined from aluminum, these mirrors plug into the end of your (drop) handlebars. They are small and unobtrusive, yet they give you a good view of what's approaching from behind. We...
It feels like summer has just begun in Seattle, and yet cyclocross season is just two months away. 'Cross is huge fun and riding multiple laps on a slippery course is a great way to hone bike handling skills. If I take a corner too fast, I'll scrub off most...
Our shipment arrived earlier than expected (yes, that can happen!), so the TPU tubes are now in stock. If you've pre-ordered your tubes, yours will be shipped first. Stocks of some models are already low, but all sizes are still available—for now. Production of Rene Herse TPU tubes is running...
We want to apologize to our customers who have been trying to order our TPU tubes: We didn't anticipate this much demand. By the time many customers saw our newsletter announcing the last re-stock, the most popular sizes were already sold out. We understand your frustration. It wasn't intended that...
The Robidoux Rendezvous may be a new race, but very generous prize money brought some of the best gravel racers to Gering, Nebraska, last weekend. The result was an action-packed race. We're proud to report that both the men's and women's winners rode on Rene Herse tires. Here's the report from...
For years, I used to think that road bikes were relics from the past, when we thought that pencil-thin, rock-hard tires were a prerequisite for speed. Then Gerard Vroomen and Andy Kessler sent us the appropriately named OPEN MIN.D.—their road bike for tires up to 32 mm wide. And we...
You don't expect steel bikes to be ridden to the top steps of the podium in international races any longer these days, but that's exactly what happened last weekend when the UCI Gravel World Series came to Collingwood in Ontario (Canada). Blue Mountain Gravel was the last opportunity in North...
After racing (and winning) the Bon Jon Pass Out race last weekend, Ted King made a video for his 'King of the Ride' series. In seven minutes, he sums up the experience of gravel racing in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Click on the arrow below to watch him...
The Summer 2024 Bicycle Quarterly is at the printer. With every edition, we bring you a variety of fascinating articles by some of the best authors in cycling. Stories you won't find anywhere else, with award-winning photos that come to life on the printed page in a way monitors simply...
A new shipment of TPU tubes has arrived in Seattle. The new tubes have been so popular that each of the first production runs sold out in less than a day. The tubes are made in small batches. We rigorously check each tube for quality. That's why those batches aren't...
Unbound, the gravel race across the Flint Hills of Kansas, keeps getting bigger with every year—in every way. This year, more than 5,000 riders lined up in various categories to test their stamina, skill and speed. I don't know whether Unbound is the world's biggest gravel race, but it certainly...
Thank you to all our readers and customers who've made our charity drive a success. We were able to round up a bit—also to take into account subscriptions that came in after the deadline—and donate $ 2000 to Doctors Without Borders. Thank you to everybody! If you missed the
Update: Thanks to the great response to the charity drive, we've extended it by a day. It also covers renewals to Bicycle Quarterly subscriptions. Cycling is a wonderful part of our lives, and it's fun to talk about fascinating bike tech and inspiring adventures. At the same time, as cyclists, we...
Why do people ride 355 miles on hilly gravel roads? On the face of it, Unbound XL seems a little crazy. Perhaps something you suffer through so you can tell the tale afterward? Actually, quite to the contrary, it can be hugely enjoyable, because it combines endorphins, beautiful landscapes and...
What do you pack for a 350-mile gravel race into the Flint Hills of Kansas? There are two philosophies: Pack light and buy what you need on the road. That's the classic bikepacking strategy. For races that last a week or longer, you simply have to resupply on the road. Bring most...
Yesterday's post about my Unbound XL bike mentioned tire pressure: 21 psi (1.5 bar). That is very low. In fact, it's about 20% less than the 'soft' value from the Rene Herse tire pressure calculator. Should we all run our tires that low? Not necessarily—what works for...
The Flint Hills are totally different from the Cascade Mountains where I usually ride, but equally fascinating. Flying here yesterday, Kansas seemed flat, but the Flint Hills are anything but. The climbs are shorter, but relentless. The rocks are chunky and can be sharp. The climate is hotter, especially at...
Today, Wired magazine published an article titled: "Your Bike Tires Are Too Skinny. Riding on Fat, Supple Tires Is Just Better." It's not like we don't know this already—after all, Tadej Pogačar is currently dominating the Giro d'Italia on 28 mm tires. Rubber that wide was considered appropriate only for...
Just in time for bikepacking season (and for the long brevets), we received a restock of the wonderful generator hubs and lights from Schmidt in Germany. It's no exaggeration to say that these hubs and lights have changed the way we ride. Having lights available anytime, at the flip of...
Summer is finally arriving in Seattle, and the rides and adventures that we've been dreaming of all winter are approaching. It's an exciting time, full of training, preparation and anticipation. This year, my calendar is organized around a few big races. I love that these races are fixed dates on...
The days when all we needed on a ride was a spare tube that fit into a tiny underseat bag are in the distant past. Today's rides are longer and venture further off the beaten path. That means carrying several tubes—just in case—plus some food and a rainshell. We need...
The courses for Unbound Gravel 2024, the famous race across the Flint Hills of Kansas, were announced today. This year, the race heads north from Emporia, where the gravel is rougher and the hills are steeper and longer than in the south. We've asked two of the pro racers who...
To celebrate 85 years of Rene Herse Cycles, we're offering some of our most popular models as Limited Editions with all-black Endurance casings. Because some bikes, like the 'Super Fern' from our friends in Berlin, Germany, simply look better with black tires. We've just received a big tire shipment that...
Tadej Pogačar is the undisputed star of pro cycling this year. After winning the Volta a Catalunya, Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in dominant fashion, he's the favorite for the Giro d'Italia that starts on Saturday. That may not come as a surprise if you are following pro cycling: Pogačar has...
On Saturday, Jenna Rinehart and Brennan Wertz won Elite women's and men's categories at the UCI Highlands Gravel Classic in Arkansas, which guarantees each a spot at the UCI Gravel World Championships in Belgium. It was an exciting race over 68 miles (109 km) with more than 7,000 ft (2,100...
Rene Herse TPU tubes are back in stock. The first production run sold out in less than 24 hours. We have mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, we are happy that so many customers share our excitement about the new TPU tubes. On the other hand, we consider our...
We're excited to announce a few new products in the Rene Herse program. For a while now, we've been working with Schmidt in Germany, the makers of SON generator hubs and Edelux headlights, to make a taillight that mounts in various places on a bike. The result is this taillight...
More than half a century after the first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970, there has been much progress, and yet the world we live and ride in faces more challenges than ever before. At Rene Herse Cycles, we shy away from meaningless promises of becoming carbon-neutral at some point...
...and achieves P2 in the road race! A huge congratulations to our friend Brennan Wertz for two amazing races at the Sea Otter Classic. The big festival of bikes in Monterey, California, started with the 68-mile road race. Brennan raced his custom Mosaic RT-1 titanium bike, shod with tubeless Rene...
This year's Paris-Roubaix was a gripping race. With 60 km to go, Mathieu van der Poel launched a crushing solo attack and won the race at the fastest-ever speed, averaging 47.8 km/h. (That's almost 30 mph!) It was bike racing at its best. Van der Poel was one of the...
To celebrate 85 years of Rene Herse Cycles, we're introducing a new line of Rene Herse bags. The first model is the Ultralight Handlebar Bag, a minimalist bag that's designed for long and challenging adventures. In recent months, eagle-eyed readers have spotted a new bag on my bikes—those were actually...
The new Rene Herse TPU tubes are here. It's still surprising to me how tiny and light these inner tubes are. There is much to like about them: Lighter than butyl and latex tubes. Lighter than tubeless sealant. Faster than butyl tubes or tubeless. As fast as latex tubes. Better puncture- and pinch flat-resistance than...
The same boat that brought the first of our 85th Anniversary Limited Edition tires also carried long-awaited shipments from Nitto, Honjo and Ostrich. Many customers have been patiently waiting for our handlebars, which had been out of stock due to high demand. As more riders embark on...
This year, we are celebrating 85 years of Rene Herse Cycles. In late 1938, René Herse built the world's lightest bikepacking bike and entered it in the prestigious Concours de Machines, the competition for the best bicycle, to showcase the innovative components he had developed. Drawing on his experience of...
Seattle, April 1, 2024: Now that the Nivex derailleurs have been in production for a while, Rene Herse is taking analog shifting to the next level with the Floating Chain. This system is lighter, has less resistance and costs far less than all derailleur systems available today. Jan Heine, head of...
We're beyond excited to introduce the new Rene Herse TPU tubes. They take the performance of our tires to the next level. Why tubes? Tubeless is great for many applications—anytime you ride on debris-strewn highways, where the sealant will seal small punctures from glass and steel wires. Or during gravel races,...
Global Cycling Network (GCN) has been following Bicycle Quarterly and Rene Herse for a long time. Recently, they covered our Nivex derailleur in their Hot Tech review. Back in 2018, they talked about a "brand-new idea": suspension losses due to vibrations of rider and bike. And they credited Bicycle Quarterly...
Mid South has been called the opening weekend of gravel: It marks the real start of the season's big races. And for good reason: The team in Stillwater puts on a festival like no other, and the red dirt of Oklahoma makes for great racing. Rene Herse has a long...
The reception of our new road tubeless Orondo Grade tires has been overwhelming. Riders love the speed, grip and road feel that Rene Herse tires are famous for, in a tubeless-ready tire for road bikes. In fact, demand has been so overwhelming that our first production run sold out quickly....
One-by cranks are great when the going gets rough: There's always another gear just a click away, and modern cassettes have a range that gets you up (and down) the steepest hills. They work great with 11- or 12-speed drivetrains: Few riders need 22 or even 24 gears. Many of...
Valley of Tears is a new gravel race, and the stars of gravel racing lined up last weekend in Turkey, Texas, as a prelude to next weekend's Mid South. Ted King described the 115-mile (185 km) course: "The Texas panhandle is true Wild West, and the sand presented quite the...
If you are following bike racing and/or tech, you will have heard of Thomas De Gendt's mysterious crash during Stage 5 of the UAE Tour in Abu Dhabi. Video footage shows the front wheel of the Belgian breakaway specialist jerking to the right before he falls. After the crash, De Gendt's...
An acquaintance once remarked: "Isn't it funny that Rene Herse tires always score best in your tests?" There was a twinkle in their eye, and their voice made clear that this was a gentle ribbing and not an accusation, but it got me thinking... It's easy to suspect foul play...
The 2024 gravel racing has started with exciting racing in California's Grasshopper Adventure Series. Last weekend, the second event of the series, the 88.8-mile (142.9 km) Huffmaster Hopper saw an all-star field. There was the long-standing, but friendly, rivalry between local favorites Brennan Wertz and Peter Stetina. Lachlan Morton and...
Some cyclists find it hard to believe that a small company from Seattle can make some of the best tires in the world. Surely the big names must have much greater resources. How can a couple of scientists compete with an army of technicians in white lab coats who have...
The days of shortages in the bike industry are largely over—thankfully—but for small companies like Rene Herse Cycles there is still some catching up to do. Many of our products take a long time to make, with multiple steps, each done by a different supplier. That takes time. And sometimes,...
Rene Herse tires have won many awards over the years, starting with the bikepacking.com's 'Gear of the Year' award and the Design and Innovation Award when the 29" x 2.2" Fleecer Ridge was first introduced. More recently, our 650B x 55 Umtanum Ridge won road.cc's coveted 'Recommended Tire 2022/2023' award, and...
Every edition of Bicycle Quarterly brings you carefully curated stories that will surprise, delight and inspire. We cover many areas of cycling and refuse to be pigeonholed into one category, because the world of cycling is simply too great and exciting for that. As one reader recently put it: "It's nice...
Riding 1200 km (750 miles) almost non-stop is never going to be easy. That's one reason Paris-Brest-Paris, the world's oldest long-distance event, is held only every four years. There's enough time in between to forget how hard it was, yet it's short enough that we remember the lessons from the...
Our new tubeless road tires have a lot of people excited—including the editors at Cycling Weekly, the world's oldest bike magazine. Luke Friend penned the article. He mentioned the three casings—Standard, Extralight and Endurance—and he was especially impressed with the new tires' longevity and light weight: Of course, the truth...
I love solo rides, especially on flat terrain. They have a different rhythm from rides with friends, and from mountainous courses. They invite meditation und contemplation. They are also a great time to test equipment and ideas. During our year-end trip to Japan, I discovered perhaps my favorite course for solo...
A while ago, we mentioned our new road tubeless Orondo Grade 700C x 31 mm tires to our friends at Above Category Cycles, the famous pro shop in Sausalito, California, in an email. Almost immediately, we got a message back: "Have been waiting for that type of tire from you....
The new Rene Herse 700C x 31 mm tubeless-specific Orondo Grade road tires are now available. As true road tires, the Orondo Grades are designed to handle high pressures of up to 90 psi (6.2 bar) whether you run them tubeless or with tubes—enough for heavy riders and those who...
Gravel riding isn't really a big thing in Japan, because there are so many wonderful mountain roads, and almost all are paved. There is no need to head onto gravel just to get away from traffic and explore interesting places. And yet, there is a burgeoning gravel scene... It's spearheaded...
The new year is off to a good start: We've just received a shipment from Europe, plus we've made use of the days between the year-end holidays to assemble more Nivex derailleurs. We're excited to have Ted King's favorite mirrors (above) back in stock, as well as the ultra-comfortable, fully rebuildable...
When we posted about the tires ridden by Sofiane and other top-ten finishers in the Tour Divide, Mark Rude contacted us and asked—maybe half in jest—whether we'd want to look at the tires of a heavier rider after a full season of gravel racing. Mark seemed surprised when we took...
As riders prepare for rides and races in 2024, they also wonder what tires to run. How do you choose the right width, tread pattern, casing, pressure, etc.? It can seem overwhelming, but in reality it's simpler than you might think. We've distilled the science down to five points. With...
Wishing you a great 2024 with health, happiness and many great rides! Jan, Natsuko & the RH team
It's no secret that we love steel bikes at Rene Herse Cycles. (We are fond of carbon and titanium, too!) Bikes from each material have their purpose in our stables. I love my carbon Rene Herse × OPEN U.P.P.E.R. and my titanium Firefley for what they do. Both are wonderful...
In many ways, 2023 has been a year full of challenges. For me, that's where cycling provides an antidote, and I'm glad 2023 will be a year to remember for the incredible rides and emotions it brought. At times it seemed like a whirlwind, with a packed schedule that forced...
Usually, we don't pay much attention to 'favorites' lists, since most are little more than paid advertisements. (We get plenty of solicitations to have our products placed on these lists.) This one is different: We didn't even know Josh Weinberg, on of the contributors on The Radavist, was using a...
At Rene Herse Cycles, we take protecting your data seriously—and your privacy, too. We don't store sensitive data in our systems, we don't collect data we don't need, and we'll never sell your data. This means that sometimes our website doesn't know things about you that you think it should...
It's been a year since we've introduced our Suggestion Form as part of our revamped customer service. Twelve months and more than 600 (!) suggestions later, we can say: Our customers have a lot of great ideas—and quite a few far-out ones, too! Earlier this week, we discussed the most...
We're on the final straight toward the holidays. If you need last-minute gifts—or your own reading material or bike parts for projects you'll tackle over the quiet days at the end of the year—don't worry: There's still time. Here's the shipping situation at Rene Herse Cycles for the next week: Most...
It's been a year since we've revamped our customer service. The main objective was to make it easier for you to contact us with questions about your orders, how to set up your Rene Herse parts, warranty requests, etc. At the same time, we've also added a 'Suggestions' form to...
There is joy in reading a magazine or book that is hard to explain, but easy to experience. As we get more and more of our information on-screen, we also become aware of the pitfalls. With ads popping up, links begging to be clicked, and beeps alerting when messages arriving...
The wait is over! We have Nivex derailleurs, shift levers, cables, dropouts, brazing jigs—the entire program is in stock now. We appreciate all our customers who've waited patiently while we finalized this innovative drivetrain. At a time when electronic shifting works extremely well, developing an alternative only makes sense if...
It's that time of year again... when we tend to ride less, spend more time indoors with family and friends, and also think about gifts that show how much we appreciate them. At Rene Herse, we're no fans of the holiday shopping frenzy, and we don't want to sell you...
We wish all our readers, customers and friends a happy Thanksgiving! We honestly think we have some of the nicest customers in the world, and we're grateful for your support. Let's celebrate our love of cycling together! Jan, Natsuko & the RH team
Rene Herse Cycles is excited to team up with the Peninsula Adventure Sports as a sponsor of the Gravel Unravel race series. The Pacific Northwest has some of the best gravel roads in the world, yet there aren't many well-known gravel races in the region. When I heard that there...
We always work on improving our products. For every ground-breaking change, there are dozens of small improvements that we make all the time in our production runs. One recent one was to increase the length of the standard struts on our UD-1 racks from 240 to 250 mm. Why does...
Tire design comes down to one essential rule: Supple, wide, high pressure—pick two. Why can't we have all three? At high pressure, wide tires have to withstand extreme forces, so they need to be stronger (and thus less supple). Here is how this works: The tension on the casing is directly...
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