SEATTLE (BRAIN) — A René Herse Cycles gravel bikepacking tire with a tread designed to minimize noise has won a Design & Innovation Award in the European program's road components category.
The René Herse Fleecer Ridge TC 700C x 55 tire was developed with ultra-endurance racer Lael Wilcox specifically for bikepacking, said Jan Heine, the owner of Rene Herse.
"The noise canceling works totally different from most tires," Heine said.
"We located the knobs so that the frequencies of one knob hitting the ground cancel the frequency of the next, and so on. It’s the same idea as noise-canceling headphones – it’s not quieter in the room, but you generate frequencies that smooth the waves – except that it’s passive, since we know beforehand what frequencies to expect," he said.
"This allows us to make a tire with a very aggressive tread pattern that works great in mud and snow, yet doesn’t hum or roar like other knobbies. And since we also made the knobbies large enough that they don’t squirm, you also get the same cornering as on a slick tire. There’s a lot of calculation and Finite Element Analysis in these tire treads, something that apparently no tire maker has done before."
The awards jury said the tire "is noticeably quieter than comparable tires yet still offers great levels of grip."
The Fleecer Ridge is available in 700x55, with four casing options and black or tan sidewalls. Retail pricing starts at $75. Rene Herse sells directly to bike shops.
More information: renehersecycles.com/shop/components/tires/700c/700c-x-55-fleecer-ridge.
The Design and Innovation Awards are decided by a 30-member international test team that includes journalists, test riders and engineers. All products are tested in real-world conditions over a two-week period in the Dolomites of Italy.
The Fleecer Ridge was the only tire to receive an award this year. All of the 2021 Design & Innovation Award recipients are on the award's website.
