I've been reading this with a good deal of interest, and there seems to be lots of different and well thought out opinions on it.
I'm looking forward to seeing what the bikes are like. They should be wonderful, whatever name they have.
So here's my thoughts on the naming thing. It's not such a big deal, and wouldn't be seen that way if the Herse name didn't carry so much weight.
Many of the bikes I have are team bikes, and as such are "branded" by the most recent sponsor. Like the motorpacing bike I got from Matteo. All the castings say Merckx, but the decals are Atala. And it's certainly no less of a bike for having an altered identity. Same for the U.S. team bikes, they say Raleigh or Huffy, but are pretty far removed from the usual offerings of either company. So, I tend to take bikes as what they are, with small regard for what name ended up on it.
To be sure, a classic name like Motobecane on a recent Taiwan (Or Singapore or China or anywhere else) robot welded frame seems a bit wrong, but most of the current bigger manufacturers sell the same frame as theirs as well. If the original company had survived, they'd probably offer the same bikes now being sold. Regardless of the name they are what they are, both good and bad. And the same would be true of frames built by todays well known builders while learning from others, or under contract, or of those made by contract builders anywhere in the world. Masis are seen as Masis despite being made by several contract builders.
I think the new Herse bikes will be very nice, so they won't seem oddly unusual for the name. And they'll definetly be a new chapter in the history of the marque/brand that will develop its own bit of history.
Steve Birmingham
Lowell, MA
USA