Vonruden

For the Francofiles. My French obsession continues, As I picked this one up from the original owners son who was inquiring in the What it's worth section. It's a rare 1970 Rene Herse demontible also know as a crotch shifter. I was very happy to find it is a 61cm which is just my size.

The front fender/Rack hardware was not included in box when the bike shop packed, hopefully I can recoup and install.

















Chrome not perfect, a little pantina





Another example can be found here
Rene Herse chrome demontible bike

TenGrainBread 

Not much to say other than "Wow".

repechage

Styling.

Thankfully it was way way too big for me to even consider.
But, being in the "no more" mood, that is much easier right now.

I assume no luck getting the shop to locate the missing bits... I have had that happen to me, always a disappoint.

gomango

If they can't find the appropriate bits, I would talk to Eric Estlund or Mitch Pryor about fashioning replacements.

I shudder to think about the ebay costs to replace the bits........

If even possible.

Really a superb bike btw.

This one would have challenged my no new road bikes rule.

Scooper

There aren't too many bikes I find covet-worthy, but this is one, and 61cm is my size.

Is there any way to identify exactly what hardware bits are missing for mounting the front fender and rack? Failing all else, maybe Jan Heine can provide an inventory of the necessary parts.

Vonruden

I should be able to find, just the chrome domed bolts and nuts for the fender mounts. Right now I am using a Home Depot bolt to hold seat. The bike shop that shipped took 8 days to pack after saying 2 days. I really was not in a rush as I wanted them to do it right. Missing parts and shows up with down tube protruding from box. Luckily not bent.

Vonruden

Question for you all. Would it be blasphemy to cut stem length? It's attached to the fork and very long. It's almost a hazard while riding. Thoughts?

Vonruden

Here is a pic from seller, I swapped out the old Brooks for a Brooks Swallow.

Check out that stem

Roger M

prettyawesome bike, Vonruden!

Can you just drop the sten farther down in the steerer tube?

Vonruden

Gotta double check, however I think it's part of the fork.

repechage

I think the steerer extends all the way, then there is a sleeve with quick release and another for the stem, I think a sleeve is missing.
This is one I would ask Alex March about.
I think it could be shortened at least to the to the top of the stem, or the first sleeve could be reduced to a varying amount and reassembled, that would require some facing of that part, similar to the facing of modern stems.
If that works, that is probably what I would do... Or, have a new sleeve made.
Shortening the steerer is a one time deal, but I would take it all apart and verify that the steerer is one piece, Herse did some interesting things, might as well test, don't guess.

Salamandrine 

Outstanding! Always nice to see a Herse, and the break apart model must be fairly rare. I've never seen one in real life. I hope the bike gives you much enjoyment.

merziac

Care to divulge cost and or worth?

kroozer 

That's an awesome bike, and of course a total classic as well. I would guess that the original owner was really tall and/or liked having the handlebar way up. It looks pretty weird IMHO and a bit dangerous too. If that's not your style then I'd say you're justified in lowering it, even if that means chopping something off.

non-fixie 

Beautiful! Do something about that stem.

toavii

Beautiful. Amazing the stuff people turn up with around here.

Rare classic and all that; do what makes it fit to ride comfortably without sacrificing integrity. Judging by all your builds, I'm sure it will turn out just fine.

Bikerider007

Wouldn't know and something like this in my size! Very nice. The stem is tall but fantastic!

repechage

I think this is a case where my opinion that tall guys are cheap does not apply.

fender1

Awesomeness in a bicycle form!

merziac

It seems to me they are not cheap for nice or desirable ones most of the time, especially if you really want one. Middle of the road ones seem to just not sell. My Merz's were not cheap, but were well worth it to me to find them at all, let alone 2 of them. We all know the Herse was probably not cheap by any stretch.

merziac

I would encourage you to research if there was a practical reason for this and maybe leave it if so, maybe Jan Heine could help. If this was done on purpose for a good reason you might want to leave it intact. All that being said I think you done real good.

AZORCH

Holy freakin' cow. I can only say that it's a good thing I didn't see this first. It's my size, and it's one of the few that I totally covet. I am SO envious, I could just spit. But in lieu of that I will just say congratulations. Great bike!

Sir_Name 

Dang, congrats VR, that's quite a grab.

merziac

Also my sentiments exactly, however it would have been hard to get out in front of VR as he was on it from the jump.

Flog00

The crankset is wonderful