Bookmarks (41)

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 the learning process, and things […]

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 racers whizz by our house […]

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 figured that riding to one […]

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 also got a restock […]

Summer has finally come to Seattle. After finishing some work in the morning, followed by a short brunch, we drive to Duvall, a short 45 minutes by car from Seattle. Today we’ll head into the Cascade foothills on some favorite roads and trails. The weather forecast is for sunny skies, and mid-summer days are long, […]

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 of my speed in a […]

Our shipment cleared customs without the usual delays, 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 at full speed—while maintaining our high quality […]

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 way. When we got our […]

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 the men’s winner, Innokenty […]

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 really, really liked it. For […]

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 America to qualify directly for […]

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 scouting the course, setting up […]

Ed.: We invited Ted King to the Bon Jon Pass Out gravel race to show him a part of the local gravel racing scene in the Pacific Northwest. Despite the weather—showers and even sleet all day—a lot of fun was had by all. Here are Ted’s impressions from the race, the course and the atmosphere: […]

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 cannot convey. Sofiane Sehili. Josh […]

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 exactly huge… Now we have […]

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 has become the most important […]

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 charity drive, you can donate independently […]

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 pride ourselves to be engaged with the world. We don’t lose sight of the challenges that exist in many parts of the world. That’s why, from time to time, […]

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 great people. Add spending 27 […]

What do you pack for a 350-mile gravel race into the Flint Hills of Kansas? There are two philosophies: My usual strategy is mostly the latter, something that’s also born out of necessity: Many areas in the Cascade Mountains are very remote, and resupplying is simply not an option. When Unbound XL starts at 3 […]

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 one rider may not work for others. Tire […]

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 night. It’s really a different […]

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 touring bikes just a decade […]

The Accursed. A 1,600 km bikepacking race with 32,000 m of elevation gain through the wilds of Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. This year was the first edition, and Adrien Liechti traded the lead with Alexander Kopp for much of the race. In the end, Alexander eked out the victory, with Adrien finishing […]

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 a switch, allows us to […]

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 calendar: Ready or not, […]

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 a place for our arm […]

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 work with us on tire […]

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 includes all the 85th Anniversary […]

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 been a rising star ever […]

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 m) of climbing, and we’re […]

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 products staples that should […]

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 that mounts on a GoPro […]

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 in the distant future. We […]

…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 Herse 700×31 Orondo Grade Extralight […]

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 favorites, and he delivered for […]

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 multiple iterations of prototypes for […]

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: Quantities are still limited—these are made in Germany in small batches, which takes time. More tubes are in production as we try to catch up with demand. […]

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 long-distance adventures, many turn to Rene Herse handlebars. […]

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 making parts for record-setting prototype […]

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 R&D at Rene Herse Cycles, explained: “One-by drivetrains […]