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Rene Herse Cycles
Company blog · renehersecycles.comhardware
Rene Herse Cycles is the company blog at renehersecycles.com, writing about hardware. Since 2019, 16 different Hacker News readers have linked it 29 times, most often “Myths in cycling: wider tires are slower”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-11-01, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (15) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
Rene Herse Cycles' blog, home of Jan Heine's 'Myths in cycling' series testing claims about tire width, rolling resistance, brakes and frame stiffness. HN commenters cite it as evidence in bike tech threads.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 15 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
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Most-linked posts?
- /bq-tire-test-results/3 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2021-06-14
- Myths in cycling: wider tires are slower3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2021-06-14
- /why-wider-tires-are-not-slower/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2024-01-29
- /myth-12-disc-brakes-work-better-than-rim-brakes/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2021-06-15
What Hacker News says?
This is valuable context. Yet, some high profile riders such as Ted King (possible the top gravel racer) and Lael Wilcox (ultra endurance racing and bikepacking) use these tires with success. If someone is getting a lot of flats using the Extralight casing, they should consider the Endurance or Ultra Endurance casings and/or setting up tubeless. But even Jan will recommend the Panaracer Gravelkings when necessary, e…
Comment linking /how-are-compass-tires-different-from-panaracers/
on “Myths in cycling: wider tires are slower”Submitted Myths in cycling: wider tires are slower as a story · 419 points
HN discussionThese are interesting articles, but in https://www.renehersecycles.com/myth-12-disc-brakes-work-bet... , it just says outright "Many rim brakes for wide tires are too weak to do this quickly, so in the rain, you end up with almost no braking power at all." It's not a myth, it's just conditionally true.
Comment linking /myth-12-disc-brakes-work-better-than-rim-brakes/
on “Myths in cycling: wider tires are slower”Submitted Aerodynamics of Gravel Bikes as a story · 151 points
HN discussionI think folks might be interested to consider some of the other myths and tests in the series, such as: * Titanium is ligther than steel * Fenders slow you down * Stiffer frames are faster * Disc brakes work better than rim brakes * Higher tire pressure is faster * Bigger wheels roll faster https://www.renehersecycles.com/category/myths-in-cycling/ For more nuanced tire testing and results, check out these two more…
Comment linking /bq-tire-test-results/
on “Myths in cycling: wider tires are slower”Submitted Bikes in the age of tariffs as a story · 90 points
HN discussionThis article is really a summary, as part of a series on myths in cycling. Here's a pair of much more recent article with more data and methodology and nuance specifically about testing and speed: https://www.renehersecycles.com/how-we-test-tires/ https://www.renehersecycles.com/bq-tire-test-results/
Comment linking /bq-tire-test-results/
on “Myths in cycling: wider tires are slower”Submitted Why Pogačar Rides on a Car Tire Brand as a story · 1 points
HN discussionIndeed! In the same series: Myth: disc brakes work better than rim brakes[0]. The rim is the rotor of a bit disc brake rotor that cools better and doesn't add any weight. But the wider tires make disc brakes a necessary choice. [0] https://www.renehersecycles.com/myth-12-disc-brakes-work-bet...
Comment linking /myth-12-disc-brakes-work-better-than-rim-brakes/
on “Myths in cycling: wider tires are slower”Don't forget Jan's signature word: planing . This is prob the Open vs Firefly test you're thinking of: https://www.renehersecycles.com/what-makes-a-bike-fast/ In the test, they apparently isolated the wheel weight by swapping out wheels on the slower-on-paper Firefly and the bike didn't ride up the hill significantly faster. However Jan Heine's experiments are often pseudo-sciencey and subject to rider effort. In th…
Comment linking /what-makes-a-bike-fast/
on “Myths in cycling: wider tires are slower”There is another article with a newer batch of tire tests here. https://www.renehersecycles.com/bq-tire-test-results/ Basically, they looked at even wider tires 40+mm and they still aren’t any slower.
Comment linking /bq-tire-test-results/
on “Myths in cycling: wider tires are slower”As for evidence, here you go: https://www.renehersecycles.com/why-wider-tires-are-not-slow... The aero drag of wider tire is not a lot. It is more the wider tires are not slower. Wider tires allow: more air volume in tire, lower PSI. In turn those help ride quality.
Comment linking /why-wider-tires-are-not-slower/
on “Bicycle Rolling Resistance: Tire Rolling Resistance Tests and More”Quoting the article posted in another comment ( https://www.renehersecycles.com/12-myths-in-cycling-1-wider-... ) > The German magazine TOUR built a sophisticated setup with a motorized dummy rider and found that a 28 mm-wide tire had the same wind resistance as a 25 mm tire when the wind was coming from straight ahead. With a crosswind, the wider tire was very slightly less aerodynamic. Even then, the wider tires r…
Comment linking /12-myths-in-cycling-1-wider-tires-are-slower/
on “Bicycle Rolling Resistance: Tire Rolling Resistance Tests and More”Unless you're on the ProTour, choose riding comfort over rolling resistance. Also see https://www.renehersecycles.com/12-myths-in-cycling-1-wider-... for a related myth-debunking of the impact of tire width (which contributes to rolling resistance) on speed.
Comment linking /12-myths-in-cycling-1-wider-tires-are-slower/
on “Bicycle Rolling Resistance: Tire Rolling Resistance Tests and More”Perhaps also interesting, an approach for bicycle tires that optimizes the thread pattern to cancel out road noise: https://www.renehersecycles.com/fleecer-ridge-introduces-noi...
Comment linking /fleecer-ridge-introduces-noise-cancellation/
on “Honda's Hidden Resonators Keep Tire Noise to a Minimum”It's my firm opinion, and that of many people who've looked at it, that flipping over the bars is caused by the rider not bracing themselves as they use the very powerful front brakes. https://www.renehersecycles.com/how-to-brake-on-a-bicycle/ https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html If most cyclists don't use the front brake, that is their loss. Most advanced cyclists, in my experience, rely heavily on the more p…
Comment linking /how-to-brake-on-a-bicycle/
on “Monowheels: Vehicles with Insufficient Wheels”Yes, I edited that when I reread the article. The conclusion drawn from the article is that the 70+W is vibration of the bike that is damped (lost) in the rider's body. Adding suspension by running supple tires at lower pressure reduces the energy required to go over the rumble strips ( https://www.renehersecycles.com/myth-16-higher-tire-pressure... ). That one compares 26mm tires at 75 vs 95 psi, but there's a page…
Comment linking /myth-16-higher-tire-pressure-is-faster/
on “Spring-powered wheel claims to be ‘E-bike alternative at lower cost’”There is some research into how much energy is lost to suspension style losses, and it's on the order of 100W (was 300) when riding at 20mph/30kph over rumble strips. ( https://www.renehersecycles.com/myth-17-bigger-wheels-roll-f... ). This can be changed pretty dramatically with good tires and proper inflation. On more reasonable road surfaces, it's less than 1/10th of that number. (but good tires make ooooh so muc…
Comment linking /myth-17-bigger-wheels-roll-faster-amended/
on “Spring-powered wheel claims to be ‘E-bike alternative at lower cost’”> Carbon fiber frames dampen road vibrations a lot better than aluminum and are noticeably less “harsh” to ride. This opinion piece argues that steel, not aluminum, is the alternative. Slightly wider tires makes differences between frame materials subtle[1]. Wider tires are more comfortable and certainly not dramatically slower[2]. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcRzp6xwuzE [2] https://www.renehersecycles.com/w…
Comment linking /why-wider-tires-are-not-slower/
on “There's No Good Reason to Buy a Carbon Bike”Works great. I entered "bicycle tire" and found the article I looked for a while ago: https://www.renehersecycles.com/tires-how-wide-is-too-wide/ Try with the Algolia search engine: you really have to enter "how wide it too wide" to get the match on the first page.
Comment linking /tires-how-wide-is-too-wide/
on “Metaphor: Searching the Web with Language Models”I can't recommend a SON hub enough. Thousands of miles of flawless service and always-on lights, no stupid tire wear. https://www.renehersecycles.com/product-category/components/... If you want to charge your phone, support a small shop and get you a sinewave: https://www.sinewavecycles.com/
Comment linking /product-category/components/hubs/
on “CadenceX promises a powerful alternative to classic dynamo generators”Obligatory reference to Jan Heine, the "heretic" who has been talking about this for many years: Frame stiffness double blind test: https://www.renehersecycles.com/what-is-planing/ https://www.renehersecycles.com/the-biomechanics-of-planing/ https://www.renehersecycles.com/expert-discussion-on-frame-s... https://www.renehersecycles.com/myth-4-stiffer-frames-are-fa...
Comment linking /myth-4-stiffer-frames-are-faster/
on “Bike frame stiffness: Why it matters and all you need to know”As a recovering bike mechanic of 20 years (my retirement goal is to be able to afford doing that job again, it’s joyful but hard to make a living) the writing has been on the wall for several years about the many benefits of wider tires (and rims too I suppose). From fewer puncture flats, to greater comfort and traction, to actually lower rolling resistance, I dknt see a move back to narrower tires being something t…
Comment linking /bq-tire-test-results/
on “On Pneumatic Tires”