Re: [CR]Herse racing bikes

(Example: Framebuilders:Chris Pauley)

Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 11:26:58 -0700 (PDT)
From: "dee bee" <gumpowderdream@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]Herse racing bikes
To: Jan Heine <heine@mindspring.com>, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
In-Reply-To: <a05010400b97c3b013024@[165.121.43.198]>


Jan et al,

The bike is indeed a René Herse with the chromed, ornate "French-style" lugs. I forgot to mention that it has the internal brake cable routing. The crank is indeed a TA model with 35/45t TA rings, an interesting pairing (for a racing bike) with the 14-28 Regina Oro 5spd freewheel! I've taken the bike for a short round-the-block ride to confirm the fit, so I can't really comment on the quality of the ride. In addition, the previous owner's set up has the bars a few inches above the saddle with an extremely short forward reach - rather different from my preferred riding position. The current tires are fairly large/voluminous (700 x 32/35) in comparison to a contemporary 'racing' bike. Perhaps the customer specified the limited tire clearance because he/she rode only in races on well-finished road surfaces? I'm certainly no expert on this subject, so please take my comments as total speculation. Never the less, I intend to swap them for narrower tires so I should be able to squeeze in some fenders. Sorry, no photos yet - the bike still officially belongs to the shop, though I'm nearly paid in full, and there's the issue of borrowing a friend's digital camera (my film photography skills are atrocious!). We will likely cross paths again in Freemont before I get any photos online, anyhow. Thanks for the clarification, Jan.

Dan Boxer Seattle, WA (Ballard) gumpowderdream@yahoo.com

PS - You mentioned your newsletter. I've loaned my copy of the Riv Reader with the subscription info to my boss. Can you please reply directly with that? I'd hate to miss out on any issues! Thanks again. db


--- Jan Heine wrote:


> Dan,
>
> From your description, it sounds like a racing
> bike. I assume you are
> sure it is an Herse and not something relabeled? The
> serial number
> does sound correct. Some of these racing bikes had
> no braze-ons,
> others had some. I've seen them with and without
> brake bosses brazed
> on, with and without internal brake cable routing,
> with and without
> front derailleur braze-ons, etc. Yours is more
> "racer" than most, in
> that it has Campy dropouts. Most I've seen have
> vertical dropouts.
> Probably rides great, like most of them do. Does it
> have the
> "French-style" lugs (like most Herse and almost all
> Singer), or the
> "Italian-style" ones?
>
> A lot of people in the U.S. who bought Herse and
> Singer in the 1960s
> and 1970s didn't want/understand randonneur bikes,
> so they ordered
> racing bikes. "Make me one like a Cinelli
> Supercorsa" is what they
> must have said more or less. Almost all Singers that
> were imported by
> Spence Wolf at Cupertino came as frame and fork only
> and followed
> that spec. Herse and Singer were happy to oblige, a
> racing bike being
> so much easier to build than a randonneur. (I even
> have a Singer with
> braze-ons for those awful Blackburn "Custom"
> lowrider racks! Why
> Rodriguez, who ordered it, didn't go with a Singer
> rack must have
> been a matter of money.)
>
> The lack of clearance on your bike is surprising on
> a 1961 racing
> bike... Do you have photos?
>
> Good luck,
>
> Jan Heine, Seattle

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