I was riding home earlier this week and spotted some guys having a go at cycel polo and thought i’d watch for a bit to see how brutal it was.

next thing i know, i’m on a bike, with a mallet trying to work out how to go backwards one handed while hitting a ball!

Its more than a little fun!

so how mnay of you people have tried it out? any tips on how to practice/get better?

where can i get the materials for a mallet/buy one complete?
any tips on what to buy for the n+1 bike that is almost certainly going to be required?

and has anybody ever made a single brake lever that pushes two hydraulic disc brakes?

I played it for a couple of years but stopped when competition took over from fun.

Malets can be bought off the shelf but most will be yellow gas pipe and ski poles. One of the group should be able to sort you out with an old one or guide you through building a new one.

Bike wise, it was all crap fixies in my day but any cheap bike will do. 26 & short wheelbase are generally good for manoeuvrability

People have done twin hydro brakes but never had much success, twin cable discs are much easier, single disc is more than adiquate

You’ll also need one for cycle speedway

I dabbled a couple of years ago. Caused me an n+1 problem straight away too, but never got as far as building anything.

The London fixie forum (LFGSS) seems to be the most active place for organising, and not just London. You might find a local thread on there. Where are you BTW?

It’s good fun.

Then people try to take it seriously.

It’s fewer fun.

I might have some bits kicking around that will build you something lighter than a yellow pipe.

I’ll looksee

I’ve just played for the first time tonight after watching it last week…….. Absolutely loved it and even scored twice ‘.

Yes…… Can definitely see n+1 happening in the near future !

It looks like most guys are on a frame size smaller than ‘normal’ ….. All single speed with a mixture of 26″ wheels and 700c …. So I’m now looking for a suitable frame or bike ! I actUally played on a giant Anthem 29er ! Far from ideal……

If anyone has materials for mallet I’d be chuffed

It’s great fun. Single speed, short wheelbase and upright are all handy, there are some companies that make polo specific bikes. Twin cable brakes (one to the front and one to the rear from one lever) are useful. 26″ is robust, but you’ll still need to retension regularly unless you have spoke covers in my experience. There is also an on grass variant which I’ve never played

Ok ….. The search is now officially on for components to build one !

Also remember to make it safe. No sharp pointy bits. I.e. Bar end plugs, Bash ring preferable, any chainring must at least have a chain on it.

I’ve had my BTR Bantam polo bike for almost 3 years.

Steepest headangle they’re ever stuck their badge on.

Polo must be what STWers try out in the summer. I tried it for the first time last week, and played my first games this week. Was really good fun, and I’m too considering my n+1.

Plenty of info on mallets online. Magic polo do ones for £45 which seems pretty expensive, so I’m going to stick an ofcut of pipe to the end of a ski pole.

My current bike is my wife’s old hack bike. It’s a cheap alloy frame, which will be stronger than most steel frames of it’s weight. It has 26in wheels which are strong and cheap.

Most polo bikes seem to have narrow bars and long stems which is a bit alien to me. I’ve currently got some Mary bars on a mid length stem, but fancy going short and short.

I find cable brakes to be a good compromise as you can easily swap the brakes from one side to the other, but that could be done with some Hydro levers with a split clamp. Depends if you want to brake with your front or rear, and weather you need to use the bike for riding off the court. I ride there and back on the road, and don’t want to kill myself by grabbing the wrong brake, but prefer using left hand with front brake on the court.

I run two gears, one low ratio on court, and one for the commute.

I’m amazed that there isn’t more commercially available equipment considering the growing popularity ……. It’s actually pretty hard to find mallets to buy !

Its a very grass roots sport which is developing fast and there is not official international rules that everyone pays to so a legal mallet and manoeuvre in Tokyo may well be illegal in Christchurch… as I found out when I was playing.

I think because of this its difficult to produce something that suits everyone making your market limited.

I’ve been looking to produce some disc guards for my local lot but minimum order from the laser cutter means they’ll need to sell 80 or so. You’d think that would be easy but they doubt they’d manage it so its been sat on a back burner.

there is not official international rules that everyone pays to so a legal mallet and manoeuvre in Tokyo may well be illegal in Christchurch… as I found out when I was playing.

Most scenes and all championships currently use the NAH (North American Hardcourt) organisation’s ruleset.

Most polo bikes seem to have narrow bars and long stems which is a bit alien to me. I’ve currently got some Mary bars on a mid length stem, but fancy going short and short.

Depends how tall you are. The longer the stem the shorter the wheelbase, for a given cockpit length.

emyr – Most scenes and all championships currently use the NAH (North American Hardcourt) organisation’s ruleset.

This was a good few years ago, I’ve not been keeping particularly up to date

Try Laserit in Bristol, don’t think they’d need a minimum order quantity.