[RBW] Re: Jean Desbois (Cycles Rene Herse) 1924-2010
> Now much information is available for the new generation of builders who are > picking up the > torch - mostly in the U.S., but not yet in Europe. Well and in Japan also. Although some of the builders there are getting on in years and experiencing currency problems as Rivendell knows all to well. It is one reason the sudden popularity of certain low cost - average workmanship knock off sellers concerns me. I certainly hope demand for craft built product remains high enough so at least some of these young builders keep at it. Over the last year and a half we have already lost a few promising U.S. builders to the need for the legal tender. From what I hear, there are others, one rather prominent, who are becoming quite hard to reach lately. Could be a lot of things but money problems forcing the builder to take a job in a different business frequently turns out to be the culprit. But with today's news, let's not allow worries about tomorow distract from remembering this all time great from years past. On Sep 8, 9:21 am, Jan Heine wrote: > On Sep 8, 3:06 am, Angus wrote: > > > Thank you for sharing this with us Jan. > > > It does feel like an era of great bicycles & people has slipped away > > from us a bit this year. > > Yes, with Ernest Csuka (Cycles Alex Singer) and Jean Desbois (Cycles > Rene Herse) no longer, we definitely lost two of the most > knowledgeable sources of information from the "Golden Age" of the > French constructeurs. Fortunately for us, these old masters have been > willing to share their knowledge in recent years, unlike the past, > where they considered it "trade secrets." I suspect if I had asked > Rene Herse in 1970 how he made his stems or why he chose certain > geometries, he wouldn't have told me... Now much information is > available for the new generation of builders who are picking up the > torch - mostly in the U.S., but not yet in Europe. > > Jan Heine > Editor > Bicycle Quarterly > 2116 Western Ave. > Seattle WA 98121http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
[RBW] Re: Jean Desbois (Cycles Rene Herse) 1924-2010
On Sep 8, 3:06 am, Angus wrote: > Thank you for sharing this with us Jan. > > It does feel like an era of great bicycles & people has slipped away > from us a bit this year. Yes, with Ernest Csuka (Cycles Alex Singer) and Jean Desbois (Cycles Rene Herse) no longer, we definitely lost two of the most knowledgeable sources of information from the "Golden Age" of the French constructeurs. Fortunately for us, these old masters have been willing to share their knowledge in recent years, unlike the past, where they considered it "trade secrets." I suspect if I had asked Rene Herse in 1970 how he made his stems or why he chose certain geometries, he wouldn't have told me... Now much information is available for the new generation of builders who are picking up the torch - mostly in the U.S., but not yet in Europe. Jan Heine Editor Bicycle Quarterly 2116 Western Ave. Seattle WA 98121 http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
[RBW] Re: Jean Desbois (Cycles Rene Herse) 1924-2010
Thank you for sharing this with us Jan. It does feel like an era of great bicycles & people has slipped away from us a bit this year. Angus On Sep 7, 5:39 pm, Jan Heine wrote: > Jean Desbois, builder of many of the finest Rene Herse frames and > components, died last week near Paris, France. He was cremated > yesterday, Sept. 6, 2010, in the presence of a small circle of family > and friends. > > Desbois was the chief framebuilder for Rene Herse during the 1940s and > 1950s, when the company made some of the finest randonneur bicycles > ever made. Rene Herse bicycles were ridden by the fastest riders in > Paris-Brest-Paris 1951, 1956, and 1966. Herse won the prestigious > "Challenge des Constructeurs" for the three best-placed riders in > every PBP from 1948 to 1966. > > Desbois apprenticed as an "ajusteur-tourneur" (machine shop fitter) in > Levallois-Perret, just outside the city limits of Paris. During World > War II, Paris was occupied by the German army, and the Germans were > deporting skilled machine personnel to work in German armament > factories. To avoid this, Jean sought different employment in November > 1941. He looked at the Rene Herse shop, where two fine bicycles were > on display in the shop window. Herse had started to make bicycles in > 1940 with a single employee. Lyli Herse remembered seeing Jean > Desbois, who still was a shy teenager: "He stood outside the shop, and > my mother asked me to find out what he wanted. So I went outside, > brought him in, and my father asked him whether he wanted a job." > > Jean quickly moved up the ladder at the Herse shop, first making small > parts like the cable hanger rollers for the Speedy brakes, then > cutting and finishing the brakes themselves as well as the chainrings, > before making stems and finally learning to braze the frames. By the > end of 1945, he was the best-paid of the seven workers at the Herse > shop. > > Desbois stayed with Herse until the early 1950s, when he felt he could > earn more money elsewhere. He first drove taxicabs, then worked in the > mechanical industry. Desbois returned to Herse in April 1975. After > Rene Herse's death in 1976, Desbois married Herse's daughter Lyli. > Together, they continued to run the shop until 1984. > > Jean Desbois was the last of a generation of artisans who worked in > post-war Paris during the Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles, where they > created some of the finest bicycles ever made. > > For a few photos of Desbois and of his work, see > > http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com/whatisnew.html > > Jan Heine > Editor > Bicycle Quarterly > 2116 Western Ave. > Seattle WA 98121http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
