"Herse made few frames personally, and less and less as time progressed. He had talented hired help. He was more of a machinist and businessman, and conceptualizer. Remember that RH's popularity was unfairly exaggerated by his relationship with Rebour, who promoted Herse by his position at Le Cycle. As a person he was not well liked, even despised, including by his daughter. Because documentation itself gives "credibility" to almost anything, this explains the disproportionate
prestige of RH cycles. RH was also savvy enough to "sponsor" the best riders in the era to produce impressive showings in the various "epreuves", and of course, this was all highlighted by Rebour. These facts are not meant to (and do not)
detract from the innocent machines themselves. Studied as a quantity, RH bicycles vary as much as any handmade "quantity", price being a large influence. His membership in the FFCT "morally required" him to offer a "Federal" model, for example. "Innovation" is difficult to ascribe other than to perhaps the stems. He borrowed the internal wiring/sprung bushing theme from somebody else (local). Oversized downtubes, internal cables, nice racks, nice work, fancy cantilevers, roller brake hangers, SKF BB bearings, etc... were ALL common amongst the elite builders of the day, although you wouldn't guess that because Rebour didn't tell you. Lily's performance in World Championship events didn't hurt either, but that was HER, not the bike. In the end we have a 40 year production, dominated by above average to very nice, but sprinkled with mediocre and even bad. Completely normal and understandable. The "religion" is
beyond practical reasoning, and is primarily a derivative of the documentation, and the fact that until now (sort of) only the French of the 40's-70's (NOT currently) and the Japanese of the 40's till present, shared the same bicycle "culture".
As to the "credibility" of carrying on a name/tradition of bike making,
it's a relatively neutral thing, colored by perception/reputation of the brand. Hence the above fairly accurate assessment. It has practical/buy-able business strategy, and will "work" with a limited client base who go to that church. There's reasons why the name WAS sold, and why there was no French buyer. "