Re: [CR]Rene' Herse Piste - We want to make some

It is odd luck seeing this post today (OK, it was posted yesterday). This morning I ran an errand on my fix, (not an Herse) and was thinking that it would be really neat to make a small batch of Herse track frames. I was thinking that we'd paint them all in the team colors of the Herse ladies team which is a reddish orange with contrasting yellow headtubes. Hand lettered RH logo on the headtube and name on the downtube of course. Herse was pretty successful with those bikes, having won a world championship in Montreal in 1974.

Lugs would be handmade of course as would the bb. We'd use a production crown and dropouts. The frames would be a fantastic showcase for Mark Nobilette's talents, and of course we'd make sure the geometry was spot on for a proper track bike that was still road friendly (drilled for front brake unless otherwise requested). These would not be cafe racers - they would be made for 23mm tires max perhaps, but optimized for classic 21.5mm silks (no idea how to optimize for silk, but had to say it out loud). Price would probably be in the mid 4K range depending on the exact paint finish. I figure we're saving a bit per frame by doing them in a batch. We'd probably do the run in about 16 months or so. Any takers? If nothing else, I want one for myself.

Mike Kone in Boulder CO USA
Rene Herse Bicycles Inc.
(303) 284-9721