Before becoming a bicycle builder, René Herse worked on prototype aircraft at Breguet. He helped build Point d’Interrogation, the aircraft that flew from Paris to New York in 1930. Working with metal taught him to pursue light structures without sacrificing strength.
At the 1938 Concours de Machines, he and framebuilder Narcisse presented a bicycle weighing 7.94 kilograms, including mudguards, lights, a rack and a pump. Its construction faced a 680-kilometre trial over four stages on mountain roads.
A little play in the bottom bracket brought penalty points and cost him victory. Even a light bicycle loses value when one component lets it down. He later developed his own bottom bracket with pressed-in bearings.
His daughter Lyli was closely involved with the workshop and won eight French championships between 1958 and 1967. After her father died in 1976, she and her husband, framebuilder Jean Desbois, continued the business. They completed the last classic bicycles in 1988.