At 7:58 AM -0500 10/11/07, Marty Eison wrote:
>One further question, if I may, did Herse make true Piste bikes?
Herse built frames for a number of professional racers in the 1950s, including apparently Louison Bobet. I am not sure whether they made track frames for them.
The randonneurs from Herse's team also set a number of 24-hour track records in the 1950s, riding Herse track bikes.
Rene Herse's daughter Lyli was a successful racer and raced at several world championships. Obviously, she used an Herse track bike for the track events. I have seen photos of her competing against the Russian team at the 1958 Worlds.
In the late 1960s and 1970s, Rene Herse sponsored a small team of women riders, including two-time world champion Genevieve Gambillon. These riders used Herse track bikes for the track events. Gambillon won the French championships in the pursuit a number of times. Contemporary reports in the sports papers considered her unbeatable.
So to answer your question, Herse did make true track bikes. These bikes were ridden to quite a few victories. In fact, he even had a track bike in his 1970s catalog.
Jan Heine
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