Thoughts on the Rene Herse transfer to Compass Bicycles

So as you may have heard, Compass Bicycles now owns the Rene Herse name and brand! And it is very good news for all involved. In a sense, we've sold to Compass Bicycles "all the things that we do not do." And now Compass Bicycles can do some of the things they really want to do which we weren't.. The result is that things are nearly unchanged at Boulder Bicycle and the production of Rene Herse bicycle frames through Boulder Bicycle remains unchanged.

And most importantly - our passion and ability for making the finest bicycles possible, under the Rene Herse name, is not changed in any way! The dream lives on!

It is no mystery that there are things we do really really well - and some things that we don't do well. We are very inefficient when it comes to project management. Its probably due to our obsessing so much that we get nearly paralyzed into inaction. But we are extremly adept at obsessing over details and making top level bikes. And we are also, we like to think, very good at running a parts business that is quick and accurate and which provides customers with a high degree of customer service. Initially, I figured Rene Herse would be making components in addition to the bikes, but that always was pushed off. And I was starting to feel bad about that.

In the meantime, Jan Heine at Compass Bicycles wanted to get into the component end of things (such as the upcoming Compass Rene Herse crank). And since we had done nothing in that area, and since he was all fired up about it, he made an offer to puchase the Rene Herse name and remaining assets (from the original purchase we'd made from Lily) from us. We now license the Rene Herse name back from Compass Bicycles for use on the bicycle frames we make. Plus, we are able to do any custom fabrication of parts for complete new bicycles we sell, as needed, on a bicycle by bicycle basis. So nothing changes on the Rene Herse frames and bicycles that we produce.

What has changed is that we now answer the phone "Boulder Bicycle" and we can't use the Rene Herse name on T-shirts or Jerseys without getting approval and paying a license fee to Compass. And we can never make a component labled Rene Herse. And we've modified the Rene Herse logo we use when advertising the Rene Herse bicycles we sell to the one shown above.

Hopefully Compass Bicycles will enlarge their offerings to provide restoration parts for classic Rene Herse bicycles. And hopefully in time they will make components that we will purchase from them as a retailer (and to use on our own bicycles).

In the meantime, we are growing steadily. And at some point, as our project management skills get better, we'll even up the production rate of Rene Herse bicycle frames and complete bicycles. Its an exciting time in Boulder!

Mike Kone
Boulder, CO USA

Schmidt wide body - or not!

We've been getting lots of questions the past week or so from our Boulder Bicycle customers regarding the new Schmidt wide body hub. So we thought we'd put our thoughts out there on this. We will be getting this hub in the near future, and are happy to sell it. And there are certainly instances where this hub makes sense. But in many ways, this hub for most of our rando customers is a solution in search of a problem. And there are some downsides - albeit minor, that go with it.

First and most important (this was brought to light by other shop's comments to us). The bracing angle which is what is really important, is more than sufficient on the regular SONdeluxe. Think about it, wheel trouble is typically always on the rear. We never ever have had a problem with a front wheel. But on a high dish wheel, such as Campagnolo 10sp, the rear drive side flange can be less than 18mm from the flange center - it is actually approaching 16mm if I recall correctly. So the 25mm on the front wheel is way beyond that. It is 50% farther out from the flange center than a modern Campy drive side rear!

And remember too - classic road hubs may be 70mm wide at the flanges, but many are small flange. The higher flange diameter of the SONdeluxe serves to increase bracing angle. All this adds up to why we don't see problems with folks using this hub!

Now for heavy riders on a loaded bike riding off road, we can see why the higher bracing angle of the wide body hub can help in theory. But we've never had a customer report a problem on a front wheel. So we are bit skeptical.

Now the downsides. The first is cost. Not much, just $20 extra. But then there is a weight penalty of the hub itself. Then the spokes are all longer by a smidge, so that adds weight. Finally, there is the likelihood that there is some aero drag. A significant amount of wind resistance comes from the spokes cutting through the air. Now I'm not sure, but I'd guess that there is some effect on speed at the margin.

So for the typical rider, and for my own bike for example, I'll be reaching for the regular SONdeluxe. If I'm building a bike for a heavier rider, or one riding off road extensively and especially if loaded, this hub is a great new addition to the Schmidt line up. But as I look over our roster of bike builds at the shop at this very moment I don't see any where the wide hub seems to be a better option. Now I do know of a couple coming up later on where this hub might make sense. But those are more the exception.

Mike Kone - Boulder CO USA

Pre-season Frames and new Berthoud bag

Just in time for some holiday consideration, we're pleased to offer some special treats. First, we are taking advantage of Waterford's winter slack season to offer a pre-season special on stock frame and forks. Instead of $1,300 plus shipping, if you order soon, you can get one of these for $1,195 plus shipping. In addition, to help x-mas tapped budgets, the deposit is only $800 instead of the usual $ 1,000. So how about a new frame/fork for the coming season?

And what really has us excited is that coming in a few weeks (should be well in time for the holiday), we are getting from Gilles Berthoud our "dream" handlebar bag. This is the model 25 in grey, but with the zipper compartment on the underside of the main flap. Many(but not all) folks prefer the elastic closures to the buckles found on the deluxe bag. But at the same time, almost everyone really likes the zipper underside compartment as a perfect place for wallet and keys. Now we can have it! This was a special run done for us by Gilles Berthoud that the US importer arranged just for us.

Again, these bags should be ready for shipment aound December 10th or 15th.

Thanks so much, and have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving holiday!

Mike K

October 26 - We are not at Philly this year...

Rene Herse Bicycles inc. and Boulder Bicycle will not be at the Philly show this year.

All year we planned on it, but we just fell too far behind to justify the trip. Even with a quick fly in and fly out, it would still take at least 4 days. And with family and business it was just too much. We just barely managed to get our Veloswap show stuff together this past weekend. And the final kicker is a family commitment that popped up for the end of October that we wanted to attend.

The reality is that right now, our Herse build list is pretty full, and Boulder Bicycle sales and assembly are keeping us very busy already. The parts business and website has been rather neglected. So if anything, we're best off staying local and trying to chip away at those projects.

Next year we hope to make it to the Philly show. The Belinky gang does a great job with the event, and aside from business, we were looking forward to the fun festivities. But the fun will unfortunately have to wait.

We appologize to those who were hoping to see us there.

Mike K

Rene Herse Projects September 2011

Its been very busy at Rene Herse Bicycles lately - lots of Boulder Bicycle sales and now we're prepping for an East Coast trip at the end of October. Right now we have two projects "on the hot seat." The first is the above new Rene Herse frame and fork which recently came back from paint and lettering. It will emerge as a complete bike in the coming weeks.

Also being worked on is something a bit "new" for us. We are reconditioning a vintage Rene Herse. Parts have come back from the chromer, we're doing some touch-up, and then it is on to assembly. We'll hope to have photos of that one in the coming weeks.

If all goes as planned, we'll be bringing these bikes east for the Philly Bike Expo at the end of October. The weekend before that is VeloSwap, and Boulder Bicycle and Rene Herse will be on display there as well. This year, VeloSwap is going to have a builder display area which should be fun. We are VeloSwap junkies. We sell and show our stuff, and we always keep our eyes out for cool goodies. Last year, a Team Raleigh 753 followed us home (too cheap to pass up). Lots of folks are now into the idea of bikes that "plane" as Jane Heine calls it. For us, that just means that a frame has a flex characteristic that works well with one's pedaling style. The Team Raleigh with 753 tubing is the perfect example of a classic light tubed frame that performs in this fashion.

We're starting to thing about the idea of building some Boulder Bicycle or Rene Herse bicycles that will be "road sport" style. They will not be rando machines, but rather slightly laid back designs that will accept 30mm tires (that gets close on the old 753 Raleigh) but neither a fender or a rack. A fun go-fast day rider bike we think. We'll think this idea through a bit more. But we've had a few folks express interest in this already.

Finally, we couldn't resist the photo above. It was shot with a really old Leica Summarit screw mount lens wide open. The lens has a mixed reputation, but is known for a bit of a dreamy quality. We're having fun with old Leica gear these days. The camera body we used is digital, so we're mixing old and new. Not terribly different than what we do with our bikes we suppose.

Thanks for reading!

Mike Kone in Boulder CO USA

Fender Wedge - new cool widget August 29, 2011

Finally in stock, our proprietary Fender Wedge for underside of forkcrown. Machined in Boulder CO USA!

We realized years ago that fender hardware had a deficiency. When mounting a front fender with a forkcrown daruma, if you have the big rubber washer contacting the crown, the washer sometimes like to "creep" into the crown. (note that traditional French bikes typically had just the rubber between crown and fender, and the large metal washer on the underside of the fender).

Also, a typical installation results in the front of the rubber washer really squished, and the back not very compressed. Finally, sometimes its nice to take up a bit of gap between the fender and crown (depends on installation - if the fit is already tight, don't use this widget as it will reduce clearance even more and can be a safety issue).

So if your installation will benefit from the attributes of this fork wedge, than now you can avoid the hassle of making one yourself!

The wedge may reduce the amount of slide on the brake or rack stud inside the crown - in such a case you can enlarge the hole into a slot to give more room with a round file. But this step is not necessary unless you are working to get an exact placement so the fender lines up with a front rack fender mounting point and you've goofed and need the slide fudge factor.

The exact thickness of these will vary a bit. But on the one we just took from the bin, the thin front part is about 2mm thinck, and the rear about 3.2mm thick.

At some point soon, we may a run that are thicker for folks who want to take up larger gaps.

Danger - use of fenders has risks - if debris gets caught between a front fender and wheel, the bike can flip causing an accident with terrible consequences. Use fenders with caution!

Paris Brest Paris Excitement August 25 2011

Once again its been way too long since we've updated the blog - but that will change we hope - so much to discusss!

Most importantly, we want to extend our congratulations to all those who are completing PBP and those who tried. Above is Will deRosset with his modern Rene Herse (a rather understated blue). Will did a great job at PBP. Other folks on our products include Jan Heine who finally rode the 650b new Herse frame we did for him a few years back. Jan did some of his own work, and he outfitted the bike with nifty early items such as a Nivex rear derailleur. Apparently, Lyli Herse saw Jan's bike and was quite touched to see Rene Herse bicycles on the roads of France.

There were a considerable number of Boulder Bicycles at PBP. It is really amazing how many of our bicycles see very serious use. We started searching the list of Boulder Bicycle customers for attendance at PBP, and we were amazed how many are now in France.

We originally planned to travel to France to either ride PBP or at least attend the finish. But demands of business and family did not allow for that. But in the future...


With the business being so demanding, we made a decision not to attend PBP this year. It might have been a mistake.

The New Rene Herse Crankset

René Herse Bicycles and Compass Bicycles are proud to introduce a modern version of the classic René Herse cranks. The new cranks will be available this fall. A day hardly passes at René Herse Bicycles without a request for crankset that features a narrow tread, exceptional chairing versatility, light weight, easy removal and installation of chainrings, and outstanding asthetics. The original René Herse crank is a brilliant design that provides all of these.

Most modern-day riders have a few new requirements for their cranks. Triple front derailleurs have shaping, and therefore an increased distance between the outer ring and the crankarm is crucial for proper derailleur adjustment. Folks also do not want to fuss with specialty tools, so the use of a standard crankarm remover is desirable. Finally, a small bit of curve to the arm to provide a bit more heal clearance than pure “classic” designs is often beneficial. The new René Herse crank shown above has all of these new features.

More discussion of the new René Herse crank’s features can be found on the Compass Bicycle blog. (click here to read).

For a bit of fun history, here are some iterations of René Herse cranks starting from the very earliest.

The original René Crank was introduced during the late 1930’s and an early example is shown below. The exact dating of this crank is uncertain. This particular crank came from a bicycle obtained from the estate of Jean DeJeans, a famous randonneur with a proud history of riding PBP on Rene Herse bikes. He was also close friends with Daniel Rebour.

By the mid-1940’s, the René Herse crank evolved into the following shown below.


Note that the grooves are now present, and the shape is established. The ring to spider interface required quite a bit of hand finishing at this time. Later on, the fit and tolerances became more standardized. This is seen in the image below of a 1970’s era crank.


And finally, when was the René Herse crank shown below made? If you guessed the year as 2011 you are correct!

Berthoud Ahead Decaleurs now in stock!

After much waiting, Berthoud decaleurs for threadless stems are here! They are now available from our on-line store. The official threadless decaleurs come in two "lengths". Shown below, is a ruler showing measuring the 70 length model. As you can see, from center of the tube widget that holds the decaleur against the stem to the center of the multi part tube that mounts to the bag, the length is 70mm - surprise!


The other length that is offered is 50 version which is - you guessed it, 50mm for that dimension! For bikes where the declaleur will be pointed straight ahead, go for the shortest. Now on some installations, you actually need to get the decaleur to reach much further down. For such cases, we can supply the decaleur with the extension part that is usually used with quill type stems. For those, the measurements are roughly 83mm or 113mm.

Now, we've sold lots of folks Berthoud decaleurs, and on occasion folks have issues with the decaleur rotating. You need to get the bolts really tight to lock in the rotation. And we would suggest that you carry a 4mm allen to tighten it if it does come loose. We do make our own anti-rotation widget for these. But the new wave of Berthoud decaleurs are slightly different dimensionally and we are currently re-designing them. But we've talked to many folks who have been extremely pleased with the Berthoud design as it is, so it seems our anti-rotation modification while nice and helpful is both costly and in many cases unnecessary.

Currently, the Berthoud decaleur is probably the most reliable in terms of the bag not jumping compared with any other design including our own Rene Herse. The Berthoud design is a bit more cumbersome to remove, but we've been using it on the shop Boulder Bicycles that we ride, and we're very pleased.



Mike Kone in Boulder CO USA

Regina Track Chain Madness June 16 2010

New Old Stock Regina Fun!

In addition to rando stuff we love vintage items and track stuff too! We've been selling Regina Oro Track chains (1/8") at a pretty steady clip over the years for $69 each. We went to hit our source for some more recently, and they offered us the entire lot! It turns out that these track chains we've been getting are correct Regina oro (gold) track chains from around 1980 that were "bulk packaged". They were originally cut to a length for BMX bikes and include a master link. So our supplier was splicing in a bit more chain to get them to track length, and selling them to us. We sold lots and lots of these, with many folks buying multiples over time.

So what we've done is taken the BMX length (again, this is true Regina oro track chain that bmx folks wanted in on apparently) and are supplying additional links in order to get them to proper length. We're actually including more than enough - about 116 links or so. Thats long enough for a bike with a deraillieur! But so what, can't hurt to have a bit extra. So to use these, you will need to know how to wield a chain tool, but you needed that in any case. The chains even have a master link - but that is in the main length and you may choose to mess with it or just ignore it and use your chain tool and treat it like a typical chain (which it really is).

Now, we noticed that some chains have some discoloration. That is typical of most fresh Regina stuff, but some chains have more of it than others. The photo above shows the minimal quality chain you should expect to receive. You may get one that looks snazzier (more uniform gold), but if the above chain looks good enough, you are certain to be pleased. Afterall, these are chains and typically get a bit dirty.


We wiped down the above chain a bit and the photo below shows the chain after a wipe with alcohol. What shows up in the upper photo as looking like corrosion is really gook. Chains that had any notable corrosion are set aside and not sold in this batch. Again, your chain or chains may be snazzier, or maybe not, but they should be at least as nice as what you see. Afterall, we aim for happy customers. And of course, if you are not happy, just let us know and we'll do what it takes to make you happy (in reference to the track chains only, we can't provide global happiness. That would put all the shrinks out if biz).


The pricing is what is really cool here. Instead of $69 for one on ebay, for a limited time these are only $23 for one or $76 for 4, plus shipping! Now once we sell of a small quantity, we'll be bumping the price up as the price on these is silly low. So act soon and take advantage of this special deal. If you are a fix gear lover, this is a great opportunity!

Mike Kone in Boulder CO USA