Even if the Herse pista that was exhibited at the Poly Japon gathering a few years ago rode like a dog, (though it gave far from that impression), it still has to be well up there in the upper echelon of desirable bikes, based solely on it's aesthetics. The lug work, balance, and overall design sentiment were rather breathtaking....and the bars as I have already alluded to, were old time French "magnifique". One could not help but get the impression that the maker of this bike took great delight in it's creation. It won first place at the event, and that year there was a great turnout of classic bikes from all over Japan. I was disappointed that it was not at this year's event, as I was "camera ready". Perhaps it will again appear next year, but I'm told that the theme for the next gathering is tandems. (Curious, as almost all prefectures in Japan make tandem riding illegal). It would be very interesting to know how many of these Herse gems might be out there.
Dennis Young
Hotaka, Japan
>
> Dennis Young asked about the rarity of Herse track bikes.
>
> Of course, I really don't know much about this, as I care mostly
> about cyclotouring, and thus my friends in France usually aren't
> track racers.
>
> That said, Herse did build some track bikes (like the one Dennis saw
> in Japan). I suspect if you ordered one, he'd build one, but I also
> suspect few racers went to a cyclotouring specialist to have their
> track bikes built. That leaves bikes for sponsored riders. Clearly,
> Roger Baumann had a track bike when he set the 24-hour track world
> record on a Herse (interview with M. Baumann in VBQ vol. 1, No. 2, as
> well as photo of his "team" in VBQ 2, 1). Since he didn't ride the
> track otherwise, I suspect the bike was a loaner from Herse, and
> later was used by others (if they were as tall as "Le Grand Roger").
> There even was a track tandem, as shown in the second volume of "The
> World of Daniel Rebour." I have the story somewhere in an interview
> that still needs transcribing from the tapes (for a future VBQ), but
> I don't recall it off-hand. On the other hand, D=E9t=E9e/Bult=E9 (first in
> PBP 1956 on Rene Herse tandem) used a La Perle for their tandem 10 km
> record and attempt at the hour record (unsuccessful), even though the
> Herse ads had them listed (with their 10 km record) as a success of
> Herse. I guess it wasn't worth making a tandem for a few hours on the
> track! In fact, tandems rarely were made for a special event, the
> exception being, possibly, bikes for daughter Lyli Herse and the Poly
> de Chanteloup hillclimb race. Otherwise, people used what was around,
> for example, Detee/Bulte used Detee's tandem, which he bought
> second-hand. It was a tad small for Detee and a bit big for Bulte,
> but that doesn't seem to have slowed them down much.
>
> So, to conclude, I think Dennis is correct in his assessment that
> Herse track bikes are rare. What I wonder: Are they any good? I am
> sure Herse could make a supremely comfortable track bike for a
> 24-hour record attempt, but if you wanted a Keirin bike, you might
> have been better off looking elsewhere! After all, Herse specialized
> in cyclotouring bikes and tandems. And those are excellent.
> --
> Jan Heine, Seattle
> Editor/Publisher
> Vintage Bicycle Quarterly
> http://www.mindspring.com/
> ------------------------------