Rene Herse Derailleurs

[ojingoh]

I genuinely wonder who the customer is for this kit. Jan is a smart dude, I imagine he's reached out to a number of frame builders/semi-constructeurs to at least offer the braze-ons.

I am not his target market but I'd like to try it. I see him out riding the cols of West Seattle all the time, I'll snap some pics if I see him!

[FlashUNC]

The bike world is a better place with Jan in it.

But man this is 17 levels of crazy.

[thirdgenbird]

Hear me out here...

This derailleur
Titanium frame, seatpost and stem
Steel segmented fork
Deda zero shallow handlebars
Chorus crank, front derailleur, chain, and gutted brake levers
Ultegra cassette
Phil woods hubs
30-35mm deep carbon rims
Paul Klamper brakes
Cambium c13 saddle
King titanium cages

Not what Jan probably had in mind, but I would ride it. No, it’s not rational, but nothing in that price tier is.

[El Chaba]

It would be easy to dismiss these derailleur designs except for one thing....Jan just used them successfully in the last PBP. That event is one of the greatest tests for road equipment that exists. Considering Jan’s time, none of his equipment seemed to handicap him.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by thirdgenbird

Hear me out here...

This derailleur
Titanium frame, seatpost and stem
Steel segmented fork
Deda zero shallow handlebars
Chorus crank, front derailleur, chain, and gutted brake levers
Ultegra cassette
Phil woods hubs
30-35mm deep carbon rims
Paul Klamper brakes
Cambium c13 saddle
King titanium cages

Not what Jan probably had in mind, but I would ride it. No, it’s not rational, but nothing in that price tier is.

I approve the idea....maybe a Chater-Lea crank?

[thirdgenbird]

Originally Posted by charliedid

I approve the idea....maybe a Chater-Lea crank?

I like the idea of going with carbon cranks.

Think Jan will offer this thing in black?

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by thirdgenbird

I like the idea of going with carbon cranks.

Think Jan will offer this thing in black?

Yeah I think I do too it just popped into my head stylistically for some reason.

Carry on!

[charliedid]

I think it comes oil-slick as a special order.

[thirdgenbird]

Originally Posted by charliedid

I think it comes oil-slick as a special order.

I would love to see that

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by thirdgenbird

I would love to see that

I would probably have to buy it.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by tomato coupe

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

Always lusted after one of these..not really sure why.

[mtechnica]

Originally Posted by El Chaba

It would be easy to dismiss these derailleur designs except for one thing....Jan just used them successfully in the last PBP. That event is one of the greatest tests for road equipment that exists. Considering Jan’s time, none of his equipment seemed to handicap him.

Is it one of the greatest tests that exists? I guess I don’t know that much about the ride.

Anyway I have to say that I think the derailleurs are cool, especially the front one. But calling it “better” than modern day designs is ridiculous. Sometimes people like Jan need to come in with “I like this and I think it’s cool” instead of “I like this and it’s better than what everyone else has”. Definitely opens yourself up for criticism. Unless of course your goal is to be a troll.

[Clancy]

Originally Posted by M_D_S

I know Jan rubs some people the wrong way, but I respect the fact that he marches to the beat of his own drum. He's clearly as bike-obsessed as the rest of us, and he loves to ride and innovate. Plus, it's good in any industry to have some contrarian thinking.

You put this very well. I don’t think Jan “rubs” me the wrong way. Instead I get frustrated at the sometimes quite specific statements about performance without any data.

The whole “plane-ing thing” drives me nuts. However the proper spelling is for turning the noun plane into a verb.

No doubt he’s contributed mightily to the cycling world. This derailluer thing though..... But he does focus on a very specific segment

I believe he’d be great fun spending a day along side on a long ride.

[El Chaba]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

Is it one of the greatest tests that exists? I guess I don’t know that much about the ride.

Anyway I have to say that I think the derailleurs are cool, especially the front one. But calling it “better” than modern day designs is ridiculous. Sometimes people like Jan need to come in with “I like this and I think it’s cool” instead of “I like this and it’s better than what everyone else has”. Definitely opens yourself up for criticism. Unless of course your goal is to be a troll.

PBP is a great test for equipment not just as a test for durability ( anything that messes up can easily end your ride or cost a severe amount of time) but that anything that doesn’t function nearly flawlessly can be extremely irritating over fifty something nearly continuous hours on the bike.
As for the derailleur themselves, personally my choices would stick closer to more conventional offerings, but I salute the effort. In my own choices I am not necessarily interested in hydraulic this or electronic that promising some number of seconds of advantage. I value slick, efficient operation, but also value dependability and reliability. Sometimes the trade off is to forego a couple of seconds of advantage in favor of avoiding repair delays of minutes or an hour or the premature end of a ride. In the end it is human power that propels the machine and bicycle technology is very mature. With respect to efficiency in accomplishing that goal there has been very little in the way of meaningful advancement for many years.

[coffeecherrypie]

I think the RD is quite cool though obviously very niche. I wonder if there is some possible benefit to the way it enables the chain to wrap more of the cog.

One thing I didn’t get, there are two cables (or both ends of one cable?) coming out of the RD, what does the shifter that works with this look like?