Jan’s OPEN MIN.D.
These days, Rene Herse Cycles is often associated with gravel and bikepacking, so it may come as a surprise that my love of cycling started on the road. Growing up in Germany, my family lived at the edge of a small village on a popular training route. Seeing groups of racers whizz by our house on summer weekends, I was mesmerized by their elegance and seemingly effortless speed. I loved the whirr of the tires on the hot pavement and the gleam of the components as the riders flew by. I started dreaming of riding like that… and of a bike with the same Campagnolo Super Record components that all the pros seemed to ride.
Once I started college, I replaced the heavy 10-speed of my childhood with a ‘real’ road bike. I bought a frame and built it up myself. For a brief moment, I considered Shimano’s groundbreaking indexed components, but in the end I equipped my bike with the classic Campagnolo parts of my childhood, including a set of Super Record derailleurs. I loved their looks and light weight. I was impressed by the beautiful finish and the obvious quality of every Campagnolo part.
I raced that bike for ten years, moving up through the ranks until I lined up with American pros who were preparing for the Tour de France. During that time, my bike went from just-obsolete to almost-classic, but it never seemed to have trouble keeping up with newer machines. Looking back, it’s clear that the hand-made frame (by Guiseppe Marinoni) and the superlight wheels with top-quality tubular tires made a bigger difference than indexed shifting or dual-pivot brakes.
As my riding changed, rando, all-road and gravel bikes became the mainstay of my bicycle fleet, but my love for a beautiful stretch of pavement never went away. When Gerard and Andy from OPEN sent us their new MIN.D. road bike a few years ago for a test in Bicycle Quarterly (above), I remembered how much I liked road bikes. Especially now that they can run 32 mm-wide tires…
I’ve missed that bike so much that I asked Andy and Gerard to buy a MIN.D. for myself. They suggested painting it in the same colors as the collab OPEN × Rene Herse U.P.P.E.R. we did a little while ago. And then Andy liked the frame so much, he built one for himself, too. We featured his bike (above), built up with the new SRAM Red AXS group, a little while ago.
Now mine is ready, too. The design, by There There in Tokyo, works just as well on the MIN.D. as it did on the U.P.P.E.R. I love the blue paint that is inspired by the bikes that Lyli Herse and others rode to so many competition successes, including eight French championships. Rather than a throwback to the past, the paint is matte to accentuate the qualities of carbon fiber—so different from the cold and shiny metal of classic steel bikes. The dark blue panels on the insides of the stays and fork blades highlight the slender tubes of the MIN.D., making them look even lighter and more svelte. The classic René Herse logo is the icing on the cake.
Spec’ing my first new road bike in so many years, I could not resist: It had to be Campagnolo. The new wireless Super Record EPS just came out this year, and I am curious how it feels on the road.
Recent iterations of Campy components always felt more race-oriented than the competition, with immediate, snappy shifts that worked best if you let up on the pedals for a split-second—just like my classic Super Record drivetrain of old.
I have to admit that I wasn’t too fond of the looks of Campagnolo’s current components when I saw the first photos. It’s a big contrast to the classic elegance that defined Campagnolo for so long.
However, in the flesh, the new parts look much better than I anticipated. I’m reminded that great design isn’t just about pleasing shapes, but also about breaking new ground. In the flesh, I really like it.
One feature that is definitely breaking new ground is the gearing: Campagnolo now offers 45×29 chainrings for their racing cranks. (My old bike had a 42-tooth small ring!)
Together with a 10-29 cassette, that gives me roughly the same top gear as my old 53×12. At the other end, the 29×29 will get me up the steepest roads in the Cascade Mountains. Just as importantly, I’ll be able to ride in the 45-tooth big ring most of the time, without having to double-shift front and rear every time I attack a little roller in the foothills.
For the wheels, I went with Enve’s superlight SES 2.3, shod with our 700C x 31 Orondo Grade tubeless tires. As usual with Enve wheels, the tire fit is perfect. Why tubeless? Because sometimes I have to ride on the shoulders of busy highways, and the sealant will take care of those pesky steel wires left by exploded truck tires that will puncture almost any tire.
I’ve also gone with Enve for the stem and my favorite carbon bottle cages. The handlebars are our Rene Herse Maes Parallel for all-day comfort. When I weighed my new bike—complete with pedals and bottle cages—the scales showed 7.42 kg (16.35 lb). That’s seriously lightweight, especially considering that I’m using a comfortable leather saddle and SPD pedals for those cafe stops during long rides with friends.
Of course, the important question is: How does it ride? I haven’t put big miles on it yet, but so far the MIN.D. has exceeded expectations. Every time I get out of the saddle and rock the bike from side to side, I am reminded why I fell in love with road bikes the first time I rode one. The comfort of the slender seatstays and minimalist seatmast is really noticeable—a perfect complement to the supple tires. It’s almost too good to be true: keeping all the fun of the road bike without the harshness that turned me off road bikes for so long. The Super Record derailleurs shift with the immediacy that I hoped for. (With sports cars, shift times have become a big point of discussion. Why not with performance bikes?) And the brakes are strong, positive and not the least bit grabby. This will be fun!
If you’d like to get your own OPEN × Rene Herse MIN.D. (or an U.P.P.E.R. for wide tires), we are taking orders for these Limited Edition frames until 7/28/2024. The frames will be custom-painted in Italy, and you’ll get yours in late September.
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