Rene Herse Derailleurs

[R3awak3n]

Jan probably wanted this for himself so he decided to make it and sell it. I don't think they will sell too many but really it does not matter, its pretty damn cool.

[Smitty2k1]

I know Rivendell/Grant keeps talking about the RD project he has been working on. Are we entering some golden age of custom RDs or what?

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[Germany_chris]

Originally Posted by Smitty2k1

I know Rivendell/Grant keeps talking about the RD project he has been working on. Are we entering some golden age of custom RDs or what?

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I hope so most modern components are pretty ugly. Heck it’s becoming hard to find anything in silver let alone anything that fits with a tin tubed steel frame.

If I were to build a custom I’d consider this derailleur

[oldpotatoe]

We set a guy's bike up for Paris-Brest-Paris..just a Campag 10s Moots..and he said it was the hardest thing he ever did on a bike. With a triple and gearing. I guess if the guy is uber fit and doesn't need the gearing and such for P-B-P but 'seems' like a stretch just to look retro-cool at the start and finish..

[fiamme red]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

We set a guy's bike up for Paris-Brest-Paris..just a Campag 10s Moots..and he said it was the hardest thing he ever did on a bike. With a triple and gearing. I guess if the guy is uber fit and doesn't need the gearing and such for P-B-P but 'seems' like a stretch just to look retro-cool at the start and finish..

There's no reason that you can't have low gearing with this derailleur. From Jan's blog:

Another issue, depending on your preferences: Since the position of the upper pulley is fixed, the derailleur doesn’t work with extreme gear ranges. We designed it so it can handle up to a 12-30 rear cassette – plenty for my taste, but if you need a bigger spread of gears, the Nivex won’t work. It also takes some skill to set up, since there is no return spring to take up the slack. We’ll offer a cable tensioner that makes it easy to dial in the cable tension and get the indexing just right.

One of our forum members, completed PBP in 2019 on a fixed-gear in 75:31. You can read his report here: https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?p=2588513.

[charliedid]

Good for Jan, I like that he follows his own desires.

Does this come with a roll of film and a "real chamois" kit you stitch into your own shorts?

Things to talk about.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by fiamme red

One of our forum members, completed PBP in 2019 on a fixed-gear in 75:31. You can read his report here:

Seems like the logical path for Jan is to use a single speed with a flip-flop hub and wing nuts.. I mean, why does he need all those gears??

[bicycletricycle]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

We set a guy's bike up for Paris-Brest-Paris..just a Campag 10s Moots..and he said it was the hardest thing he ever did on a bike. With a triple and gearing. I guess if the guy is uber fit and doesn't need the gearing and such for P-B-P but 'seems' like a stretch just to look retro-cool at the start and finish..

I would be interested in seeing the comparison between the gears a campy 10 triple group and a compact double RH group would provide. It sounds like the RH derailleur will do an 11 speed cassette so I don't think you would be missing much other than a few big gears you would be too tired to use anyways. I think you would end up shifting less as well. I have a campy 10 triple bike with a lot of miles on it as well as a few ultra compact doubles and I prefer the doubles, I might feel differently if I had the legs to push the big gears well.

53/42/30 x 13/29 vs. 46/30 x 11/30

[palincss]

Originally Posted by fijichf

Well, nothing wrong with another approach, but I really can't see these derailleurs being taken too seriously. I mean, is there anybody out there that will have their frame taken to their "local" frame builder and ask to have another fitting brazed to their bike, just to accommodate this derailleur? Oh, every "good" shop stocks tandem cable, right? I guess the same person who would actually reach back between their wheel and seat tube to shift to between the front chainrings. This should have been a press release on 01 April.

What's so unusual about tandem length shift cable? My shop stocks it, and they aren't even a tandem dealer.

As for this being an April Fool joke, no. There are people who enjoy "old tech". When did they switch from black powder to smokeless powder? Sometime at the end of the 19th Century. And yet, it's not that difficult to find a shop that specializes in black powder and black powder guns. One of my routes has a rest stop at a country store right next door to a black powder shop.

Obviously, Nivex rear derailleurs aren't going to be for everyone or even most people. Certainly not you (and not me either). And unlike black powder arms, there won't be a special hunting season for Nivex derailleurs, and there won't be historic reenactments (as there are for Civil War battles) where everyone will be riding pre-Korean War equipment.

[Pastashop]

I don’t agree with Jan on everything, but I think this is great. And I’m calling BS on all the derision here. Y’all that gush over mechanical SINNs and manual shifting Sportvagens, gluing tubulars, or exert effort of any kind on a bike without electric assist — a bit of split in standard? I mean, why pedal your bike at all?.. If you’ve ever shot with a Leica M3, or played competitive tennis with a ProStaff 85 strung with natural gut, just as examples, you know what a “good feel” can do for the craft or the experience. Why else do this than for the tactile, physical pleasure? To post KOMs on the local half mile Strava segment that any has-been pro could blast in their sleep on a Varsity?.. Skill is enhanced by feel, too… During my graduate studies, we had a saying for people that liked automation a bit too much: “push a button, get a thesis”… Just sayin’.

[Hellgate]

Pretty cool, if I had a bike museum.

If I want cool old school shifter I'll dust off my old Mavic bits as it looks cool and works well.

[MikeD]

Is this a friction shift derailleur? Two cables? Where's the companion shifter?

[gone]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

We set a guy's bike up for Paris-Brest-Paris..just a Campag 10s Moots..and he said it was the hardest thing he ever did on a bike. With a triple and gearing. I guess if the guy is uber fit and doesn't need the gearing and such for P-B-P but 'seems' like a stretch just to look retro-cool at the start and finish..

Jan did PBP in Charly Miller time (56:40 or less) in 2007, 2011 and 2019.

So yeah, he's in pretty decent shape.

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

Man I’m sorry but I just can’t agree with most of the stuff this dude says. Modern shifting doesn’t work well enough for him up climbs? Give me a break. Modern shifters require too much force to operate... dude... really? Action on new shimano mechanical is quite light.

“ Our goal is to offer a derailleur that surpasses the best from the ‘Big 3’ in function and durability.” oooooookay good luck with that.

People can convince themselves of almost anything. That front derailleur? Clearly better than anything offered today. (emoji)

[dddd]

Originally Posted by JAGI410

"The Rene Herse Nivex isn’t intended as a novelty like those purple mountain bike derailleurs of the 1990s."

Shots fired at Paul Components? Or were there other purple derailleurs in the 90s?

I think there were about three such derailers offered(?).

Nobody used those derailers for long from what I remember. They didn't hold up so well and didn't match Shimano's shifting, only lighter weight.

I've worked to eliminate as much friction as possible from my friction-shifted derailer cables, and have even modified derailers to better conform to the convex profile of the freewheel. What this taught me was the really amazing shifting feedback and response that the old components could deliver, better than I could have imagined in those days. Adding retrofriction levers would be just more to like, really negating the need for indexing even when using bar-end levers with their long cables.

Jan mentioned there also being an indexed 11s version of his new derailer, so for sure the lever will have to be offered, perhaps in both DT and bar-end styles(?), and in indexed and friction versions. He should have his hands full with all of this, but he has featured the likes of a desmodromic-operated Allvit derailer in his quarterly, and might be loath just to copy that more-limited (in terms of # of speeds and impact resistance of the hanger) design.

Hard to believe that stuff like this is hitting the market but only because of my personal tunnel-vision of the bike industry I guess.
Jan has without a doubt done his homework.