Super nice clean & classic build of an all-chromed Kinfolk. All of the Kinfolk frames built by Kusaka-san just look so good.
Pic from here.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Chrome Kinfolk
Super nice clean & classic build of an all-chromed Kinfolk. All of the Kinfolk frames built by Kusaka-san just look so good.
Pic from here.
You shouldnt "tag" Kinfolk with "Keirin", as they (Vivalo) lost the license, due to laziness while building frames. The forks snapped, and not only one time... Frame look good, but...
ReplyDeleteJoakim, thanks dude, I'm very much aware of this.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, if I choose to tag Kinfolk frames as "Keirin", I will. They're not NJS-vertified, of course.
The geometry of those bikes is supposedly 'Keirin-inspired', whatever that means. BUT as Shuichi Kusaka has about 30 years' experience of building frames for Japanese pro-Keirin riders, I think it's ok to call all traditional lugged steel track frames he builds 'Keirin frames'.
Hey Jussi
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you. Of course Kusaka San knows what to do, but his frames should not be in any way have a relationship to the word Keirin. The JKA or also NJS assoc. in JP know why they took the license away from Vivalo (Kusaka San also builts Ocean among Kinfolk etc.) They are very sensitiv when it comes to things like that.
I heard that Vivalo will try to go for NJS again, but it never happened that someone who lost a license got it back, and Vivalo should never get it back, terrible frames...
Keirin inspired means that the frames are a bit longer, like let's say Cino Cinelli's geometry.
Hi, Gary.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I strongly disagree with about the quality of Vivalo frames but you're of course entitled to your opinion. Though I'd love to hear what makes them so terrible when compared to other similar Japanese framebuilders' track frames?
Secondly, Keirin is just one type of race among all the others on the cycling track. So why couldn't someone race Keirin on a Kinfolk bike? And I'm not talking about the Japanese official NJS-sanctioned Pro racing circuit here but just Keirin as itself.
But yeah, you're right about the general difference between the relative geometries of Japanese Keirin frames and classic Italian track frames. Often lower and longer VS usually bit. shorter and higher. The angles of these frames are usually not that different, though, if I'm correct. And maybe the geo of those Kinfolk frames is closer of the Italian ideal. Who knows?
Of course you could race a Keirin race on any kind of race, but you won't really have a chance on a steel bike, unless you have a certified njs frame and of course you finished the keirin school and are allowed to race keirin in jp. who rides steel anymore, guess almost no one, at least internationally, havent seen that in years, you will probably get lapped, unless your name is theo bos or chris hoy!
ReplyDeletesorry, but i do think (that's my opinion) that vivalo's are the lowest of all keirin frames, the paintjob might be very nice, but if you take the paint of, the lugwork and welding isn't as nice as it seems, they lost the licence, cuz those forks broke, but maybe that was a thing njs was just waiting for?
the angles are pretty much similar, but there is not any rule whatsoever in japan, i figure that kusaka san (if he builds those frame, another vivalo story, ne?) goes after keirin style, but thats up to the kinfolks folks???
the frames might look nice, but for that price you can get much much nicer frames in japan, but of course also in italy!
fashion attracts sometimes all kinds of people.
peace out!