New Nirve Bike - Tahitian Sunset (tiki laced)

Check out this sneak peek of the new Nirve beach cruiser bike called the Tahitian Sunset. Shoots!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coDTukhsK8A

Should be available in a couple of weeks!

Kool for kids. But here is a good opportunity for me to point out my pet peeve again, because we don't know the artist, and folks have not jumped in and oooh-ed and aaaah-ed about this bike yet, so nobody will feel personally attacked or like I am intending to "spoil their fun":

To me, this is another sad example of uninspired, generic Tiki, with the designer not having looked further than the internet, and copying a bunch of standard Tiki revival designs from it. Here is one, a cheapo (but cool) Tiki lighter, I could dig up each and every one, it's just to tiresome:

As I said many times: Drawing a cartoony face with a toothy grin and slapping the label TIKI on it does not make it a Tiki. The joke of Polynesian pop lies in using original Oceanic AND mid-century concepts as inspiration and giving them a new twist. By just repeating standard Tiki revival Tikis, Tiki culture will go in circles creatively, and become as cliche and redundant as Cadillac tail fins and Marilyn Monroe. And that would be a shame, considering that the initial appeal of Polynesian pop lies in its infinite variety of re-interpreting an art form in unique, creative ways.

Knowing the Nirve bike line(been looking for months now for a bike for the GF), this will be simply, a nice accompaniment to the ladies "minx" model bike. Their other styles are pretty simple. I think this bike is alright, and it beats out "party city" by a longshot and it's still better than the "Jeep Wrangler" tiki package shown in another thread! :lol:. I can only imagine what it might cost to have a known artist to design graphics for a mass produced bike...I think its not bad for an off the shelf bike. No lie, I've seen worse tiki motif bikes! hahaha :lol: It kind of reminds me of the TF mugs that came out not too long ago....
(OT congrats Sven on the CD endeavor, and hope it is going good! The book and graphics look great!)

Thanks Tom. I am not saying the bike looks BAD. But at the same time, it is a good example to make my point, which, I am aware of, will not be understood and does not matter anywhere else -but on Tiki Central.

Santo Guacamole Sven! It's impossible to please you!

JAJA I'm joking... I agree with you... The bike is cool but it could been subzero if they invested more creativity and originality in the tikis... time and love... it is possible, you know? But the bike is great anyway... How much?

I am just trying to keep peoples eyes and minds sharp. They are saying that, because of the uncertain economic times, people are looking for the familiar, the things they know, the easily recognizable, to make them feel safe.
But that ain't the way of Tiki.

Do some degree, the internet and "desk top publishing" (is that phrase used anymore?), shares the blame for lack of original artwork. Wouldn't you agree? It's just so easy to take an idea such as "tiki-themed bike" and mock it up in minutes. Then, why spend months designing? "We're here to make money aren't we? We'll just adjust the mock-up a little!"

What's most interesting to me, is the fact that "tiki" is still occasionally used as a design theme. What brand position does the product acquire with this theme?

I get Sven's point. They didn't push the creative realm hard enough. The Concept is there, the fit and finish product as far as the artwork goes falls short. But devil's advocate here, Don't you think that Nirve used a more generic "public domain" tiki to avoid lawsuits, and avoid paying someone royalties or a fat paycheck given the economy? I would guess so, personally.

Believe me, I would have sold my soul, and ran out to Nirve factory if it was done in Bumatay fashion, but I'm sure nobody at Nirve has heard of him before. Still, I stand by my original post, that I actually like it, even the way the colors blend and fade into eachother, kinda like the "flounder art decal mug" from tiki farm.

Something strange about a page I found, stating it was a bike made in 2004?
http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=34075889
Maybe I'm not reading this right, or the bike has been a long prototype that came to being?

Just in from Nirve.
Steve from Nirve here. We did have a "Tahitian Sunset" bike in 2004. This is an updated re-release. you can find more info about on our website.

Solved my question.

The bike will cost $339 available in a mens frame made of aluminum, which is lighter then the steel frames. There is going to be a matching tiki bell to come out later this month. I talked to Marissa the girl that created and designed the bike which is a Nirve in house artist. If you have any questions or comments you can reach her at [email protected]

I personally won't be buying the bike, but if any artists want to contact her and collaborate in the future maybe i would buy a tiki metamorhopsis of this one. I think a mix of Tiki Tony and Bosko would create a bitchin bike.

Heaven forbid the creators didn't spend a lifetime devoted to researching polypop and tiki before they made it. How dare they use a tiki in their design that has been copied from similar images already out there!!

Good grief already. Its just a freakin bike!

Not my style but they do make nice bikes.

[ Edited by: leleliz 2010-05-14 20:36 ]

On 2010-05-14 14:49, leleliz wrote:

Not my style but they do make nice bikes.

Thats basiccly what i said. I own a Nirve also and im a fan of their bikes. I was just thinking and suggesting something along the lines of a collaboration like Nirve did with the Paul Frank bikes. Why not find that niche (Tiki Central) get input then design it? Marissa seemed very interested in this site, so im sure her exposure to the different artists on Tiki Central could inspire the next creation. But a collabo with the artists we know and love would be evolutionary!

Maybe a mix of a tiki bike and the breast artwork going on that other thread... that would be nice.

On 2010-05-14 14:49, leleliz wrote:
Heaven forbid the creators didn't spend a lifetime devoted to researching polypop and tiki before they made it. How dare they use a tiki in their design that has been copied from similar images already out there!!
Good grief already. Its just a freakin bike!
Not my style but they do make nice bikes.
[ Edited by: leleliz 2010-05-14 20:36 ]

I kinda thought I relativated my perspective with:

On 2010-05-12 21:43, bigbrotiki wrote:
I am not saying the bike looks BAD. But at the same time, it is a good example to make my point, which, I am aware of, will not be understood and does not matter anywhere else -but on Tiki Central.

My post was for the folks out there who care for Tiki as an art form, and who are turned off by generic-ness.

Then there are many who just use Tiki for fun, like partying, collecting, social networking, and tupperware parties, which is totally OK by me too. :)

Unfortunately this seems to hold true for almost all of today’s “pop” culture, think about architecture, music, design, when was the last time you thought to yourself that ordinary thing is extraordinary? There was a time when marketing had to appeal to a vibrant middle class, some things from that era we can even appreciate today (many years later) because they were really great! Since a majority of people today are either poor or want to been viewed as rich why would a company bother wasting it’s time? I agree with Bongo Bungalow a lot of this has to do with the ease that a non designer can come up with some slick crap on a computer. Tom I know you have great taste and I appreciate your playing “Devils advocate” but look at that thing, take the “tikis” off and put parrots on it or sea life or anything and you would have essentially the same thing and equally as effective.
I don’t want to come off like I am picking apart the bike or this person’s work, because that is not my intention (it’s just what got me started) and sorry if it sounds like I am now going off on a weird rant. But we should be able to have a serious discussion which deals with what defines the concept of Tiki/Polynesian pop or degrees of its quality. The idea that someone can know nothing about a (any) style or (any) artistic movement, create something that misses the mark and proudly say they’ve nailed it on the head is bizarre, it’s what happens in elementary school. Way back when, I took my first batch of Tiki carvings to Los Angeles, Sven was nice enough to give me a critique of my work. It certainly wasn’t all positive but I was forever grateful for his incite and honesty, I took his comments and applied it to my future work and have benefited from it ever since. Yes as leleliz points out it’s “just a bike” but if we can’t agree on why a thing is not understanding this particular art form, we quickly end up where we are today. You could do a whole thread about things that say “Tiki” and aren’t, now days places get built with NO Tikis and they happily say it’s carrying on the tradition, how cool and right on for a new generation? And this whole idea that we shouldn’t say anything about something mediocre, at least they did “something” or it could have been “worse”, really? Would you accept this excuse with anything else in your life, the dry cleaner left spots on your clothes, the chef burned the food, oh well better than nothing? That a small group of people are making (a lot of) money dumbing down our culture is nothing to be happy about. Trust me it is just as easy to create a thing with depth and beauty as it is to make it mediocre, the difference between the two is someone has to want to do one, the other just happens.

Again this is not about the bike (it looks OK) or even Tiki necessarily, it is about how little value our culture places on things that affect us on the most ordinary level, we are now at a place where almost anything is seen as good and quite often great.

Bosko

it is a nice little bike but it also epitomizes the "stuff syndrome". we manufacture stuff for sale and people buy stuff, use it briefly and then look for new stuff because this stuff isn't new anymore or some ad on tv or in a popular magazine says "this is the new cool stuff forget that old stuff, this is MUST HAVE stuff." in the end this is old stuff they made into new stuff. it is sadly how our minds have been stuffed into business' mold. i just love corporate america.