~rene-herse-cycles | Bookmarks (43)

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 compete with the men. Exactly […]

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 every day for commuting and […]

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 fabric left over from the […]

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 more mainstream reports from 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 that going into […]

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 20 ft (7 m) or […]

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:

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 on—these are knobby tires,” you […]

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 with Rene Herse TPU tubes. […]

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 ultra-wide rims. Their outer […]

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 fast enough. We now have […]

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, oversized and tapered steerers […]

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 system, are the only generator […]

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 put his own name […]

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 […]