Vivo is/was based in the magnificently named Plainview on Long Island, New York, USA. The dominant figure in the company appears to be one John L. Calendrille Jr., who is referred to at different times as the President of the company or the Director of Product Development. He is also registered as the inventor on Vivo’s various patents.

During the 1990s, perhaps in 1997, Vivo produced a set of rubber boots for covering derailleurs and marketed them as ‘Grunge Guards’. As you may have guessed they were an inelegant, but effective, way to keep mud out of your precious gear mechanisms.

I believe that, in 1999, Vivo released the Vivo V1 rear derailleur, that included an all enclosing rubber boot. It was essentially a CNC mountain bike derailleur fitted with a perfectly tailored, and much more minimalist, Grunge Guard. This derailleur was definitely manufactured in some quantity. Unlike the Grunge Guards, I rather liked the look of it at the time.

In 2001 Vivo appears to have launched the Vivo V2 derailleur, which was similar to the V1 but had straight cable routing. I don’t know if the V2 ever went into serious production. I have never seen one.

In 2002 Shimano appears to have bought a couple of patents from Vivo relating to their neoprene mud shield technology. This prevented Vivo from making any further derailleurs wearing rubber boots. John Calendrille apparently said that it was unfortunately, but unavoidably, true that he would earn far more money by selling his patents to Shimano than he ever could by manufacturing and selling his derailleurs.

Before the Interbike show in 2009, someone leaked that Hayes (who are famous for their hydraulic disk brake systems), would show a derailleur called the Vivo V5 Enduro. This was possibly hydraulically operated - or possibly had in-board cable routing a bit like a Suntour Cyclone Mark-II (3500). However , I believe that it never actually appeared on the Hayes stand - and I don’t know if any were ever manufactured.