EMT

Or is this just a vicious rumor? It appears that they have lost certification. Anyone know more about this? I heard something about mechanical failures, something to do with the front fork.

nateintokyo

https://keirin.jp/pc/dfw/portal/guest...071017_01.html (in Japanese)
lost it. they've been disallowed since mid-September but official revocation came on the 16th.

there was an incident in Shizuoka. fork crown separating from the steerer tube. the NJS commission investigated it and found that they had production problems and voted to revoke their certification because they "could not be expected to meet safety standards". A lot of riders (30%?) use Vivalos and they are sometimes called 'tsukaisute' or one-time use frames. Maybe that is why lots end up on the street. Others in the 2ch I was reading pointed out that the reason Vivalos tunr around is so fast for frames is because they were one of the few builders with in-house paint.

there are a few Japanese sites for people trying to rally them back to certified status. the NJS page has a warning list for all the riders currently using their frames that was up before the ban.

EMT

thanks nate!

shants

man, i love the **** out of my vivalo. it's a shame.

dookie

still nice frames no doubt. how many of y'all will actually be affected by the ban? perhaps a good thing...a flood of used bikes on the market?

nateintokyo

you'll never be able to race keirin on it

nah...it does suck though. odds are your bike is fine. I don't know how new the frame/fork involved in the crash was, but I'd wager that it was fairly new.

nateintokyo

and it looks like that flood is already starting:

https://search4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/...ale=0jp&acc=jp

one guy was getting asked by buyers if this was the same Vivalo that got de-reg'd....

EMT

not necessarily bargain prices though are they?

bonechilling

I know almost nothing about the NJS certification process, but I presume Vivalo can regain their status, right? They probably just have to jump through a bunch of hoops.

Also, this is pure conjecture/speculation, but would any of the blame be put on the current US demand for keirin frames? Like, are they saying that Vivalo was skimping in order to keep up with demand?

jdms mvp

actually a BUNCH of vivalos were had at like 400$ just recently and even the 48cm vivalo on ebay was bought in japan for like 300$....now the seller is trying to make 800$ off it. LOL

nateintokyo

I think it is "regainable" given the people pushing for that, but I haven't read about that happening in the past.

I don't think the US demand has much to do with it. Vivalo's were fairly cheap and fast to get (compared with long waits for the others--hmm, maybe that is how the US influenced it? I think the Tokyo hipster market is bigger, but I don't know), and lots of pros used them, hence their flow to the streets of Tokyo as a result. Have you seen many Vivalo's in the US? They seem sort of low profile compared with how ubiquitous they are here. There was a round of races (nationals?) that started right after the Vivalo ban, and there were lots of complaints that people couldn't race because in many cases all their frames were the now-banned Vivalo.

As for the prices.....yeah, they aren't super cheap are they? But there aren't really any bids on them either. Usually there are a couple at least before the '2 days left" stage. But who knows....

bonechilling

Well, you nailed it. I shouldn't have said US demand, because "Hipster" demand is what I meant. Bikes intended for non-racing purposes, especially off the keirin.

deathhare

By the extremely rare chance that they regain their certification, it wont matter.
Most japanese racers would nver buy a Vivalo again after all this hype.
A big strike like this on your rep pretty much ruins you in that country.
They had best focus on making street frames or something.
Go for the trend if they wanna stay afloat.

For the record, i met a guy one night at Punch whose Vivalo broke. He had no explaination for why it broke. No hard hit or anything bad. He assumed it was from riding brakeless and having to skid...which i thought wouldnt have caused the break.
I think back on it now and wonder.
It was just under the lug on the downtube.

br995

I figured it was because he was CRAZY. But maybe he just knew something we didn't.....

fayjairay

When I saw this thread I immediately thought of these two pics.

deathhare

Nice pics.
Probably wont see any Vivalos in my crotch.

moe sizlack

That's f*cked up.
I still don't see a catastrophic meltdown of every Vivalo on the planet happening, however.

Oh No

i'd still buy one, granted if it was cheap.

nateintokyo

that'd be what happens.

I still think most are probably fine. and if anyone is worried, it'd be a nice excuse to get a rad fork to replace the stock one

br995

If they keep failing I'm sure we'll see them in someone's crotch eventually.

shants

i, or my estate, will be sure to let you know if mine decides to fail.

jgarcia186

hopefully lower prices on ebay because noone wants a non-NJS frame. am I right.

deathhare

Probably wont affect ebay prices.

Igneous Faction

Won't this pretty much be the end of Vivalo? What other markets could they possibly build for?

jgarcia186

dang cause i wanted that black 47cm w/silver ra-me that ended yesterday