Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Bike Polo - "The Skinny"

So in my town (Ann Arbor, MI) we have a Bike Polo group that plays every sunday (occasional wednesday games too). I have been thinking of giving it a try, however, I would like to know a little bit about the game before I start.

Basically it appears as if you have two goals, people with mallets and a ball. Assuming you score goals to win.

Is it basically like hockey then? passing, shooting, and goaltending?

Secondly, from an equipment standpoint:

It seems to be Fixed only sport, which is fine.

But it seems to me that any group sport like this is going to be hard on a bike, would it be in my best interests to find some ****ty old bike and Make a Polo-Specific bike?

Also, i see lots of lower-gearing when I see Polo bike pictures, I assume this is because acceleration and quick stopping is more important than top speed.

Also, where can I find bike polo mallets?

Tips, good sites to go to, Funny polo stories, Ann arbor locals?

Yeah, its basically like hockey, in the broadest sense. There are polo specific rules, but you can pick those up pretty easily by playing/watching.

You should go and try it out before building up a polo bike. The first few times I played I used my commuter bike. See if you can get into a game with at least one other new person on the other team. There should be some community mallets you can use. Later you'll either build your own or buy one from someone in the group who has/makes extras.

Most players use single speed bikes with a rear brake. Not as many fixed as you'd think. The bikes get beat to hell during play, so any gearing system won't survive very long. You're also right about the reasons for low gearing.

Tips: show up, hang out, make friends, play, drink, repeat. Not necessarily in that order.

I'm sure different groups play different rules all over, but maybe half of the local polo players ride fixed gear bikes. A bunch of them are single speed with a rear brake.


Really most basic rules that you'll wanna know before you go out:

- If you put your foot down, you've gotta ride back out to mid court. Usually there's a place on the wall you hit with your mallet.

- You can pass and dribble with any part of the mallet, but you can only score by hitting it with the end. Depending on the house rules, you probably have to actually "hit" the ball with the end, too, not just push it.


I'd just go out there and say "hey guys I've never played before, can I try?"

Chances are they'll have mallets to lend, maybe even bikes to let you borrow for a match, and they'll help you with the rules.

Make sure to wear a helmet, and gloves. Full fingered.

Thanks for the tips! Trying before buying anything is definitely a good idea.

The foot down thing explains why the fixed gear is a little more popular. Though the 'beating to hell' of my bike makes me scurred to bring my beloved fixie. That being said, hopefully they have someone nice enough to lend me their bike for a game or two.

Why full fingered gloves?

Because there is a lot of mallet swinging in close quarters, and if they swing their mallet and hit your mallet at a bit of an angle... it'll slide right up the shaft and smash your exposed fingers.

Good way to lose a fingernail or two.

Because there is a lot of mallet swinging in close quarters, and if they swing their mallet and hit your mallet at a bit of an angle... it'll slide right up the shaft and smash your exposed fingers.

Good way to lose a fingernail or two.

I played Street hockey bare handed for a while, never had a problem with that kind of thing except very occasionally. that said, you hold a hockey stick with two hands, so you have more control.

http://www.hardcourtbikepolo.com/

this site has tutorials for making a mallet, wheel cover, and good ways to set up your bike.

And now for the real skinny
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4743337658_fb83d69f8e_o.jpg
johnprolly FLICKR

you make mallets out of pvc and ski poles.

here in seattle, polo is serious business. more people use non-fixed gears here than fixed gears. you can stand using the mallet as a 'leg' so fixed gear isn't necessarily any better if you have balance.

i ain't never played no bike polo, but if i recall, specifically don't use PVC plastic. PVC is known to shatter pretty quickly when used for polo purposes, and is a safety concern. ABS plastic is preferred.

Eighth Inch sells a polo mallet now. http://www.eighthinch.com/mallet_kit.html

make a mallet yourself or buy one from a fellow player. those eighth inch ones are too expensive and really are heavy, plus the diy aspect of polo is something that should be preserved.
rules vary from place to place. most places are stoked to see someone interested and are willing to answer whatever questions you have.
as far as fixed/free debate, its really what you are more comfortable with. there are benefits and drawbacks to both. also applies to front or rear brake. and the size of tires, and mountainbike vs road/track/fixie stlyle bikes. pretty much, if you keep coming back, you will figure out what works best for yourself. don't take anyones word as gospel, because nothing is set in stone.

I read almost this entire thread thinking about water polo. and I was all, WTF?

But now I get it.

Here is a great article about Bike Polo in Boston http://www.montaguebikes.com/folding-bikes-blog/2010/10/ride-softly-and-carry-a-big-stick/

Just do it. It is fun as hell and the rules take no time to learn. just go and play

I probably know some of those Ann Arbor kids, I used to live up there. good people, certainly they'd be welcoming of you.

Just do it. It is fun as hell and the rules take no time to learn. just go and play

ever do thursday night polo Downtown?

No, but I've hung out and played a few times.

Waterford builds a polo-specific frameset, the FleetVelo "Joust" (http://www.fleetvelo.com/).

Only $650 for a polo frame? I'll take six!

im full time full finger.

A lot of people are actually moving on from the full fingered bike gloves to lacrosse gloves. They provide much more protection than the regular bike gloves, but allow for much more hand mobility than hockey gloves.

As one of the few remaining fixed gear players, get a freewheel.

Jousts are a great bike, and amazing for polo. But unless you have been playing for a long time and are traveling to major tournaments, its probably not worth it to buy

PVC is not the right kind of plastic to be using for a mallet head. Its too brittle and will break apart dangerously. ABS is usually easier to find, but is really soft. Capping it helps elongate ABS's life. HDPE is the polo standard, and I am sure if you come out and play some one in Ann Arbor will be able to help you get some.

If you want to buy a capped mallet head, dont get the Eight Inch one, its very poorly made. A player in St Louis(who is moving back to Chicago this weekend), makes and sells very high quality HDPE heads with heat fused caps. They are the standard for capped mallet heads, and I have never head one complaint about them. http://stcagopoloworks.bigcartel.com/

Lastly Ann Arbor will be a great place to start playing. Its not an old very established club, so there wont be the intemidation of playing in Seattle or Philly. But it has some pretty good players. Plus you arent terribly far from Cleveland who has a really good club, and Grand Rapids who has some really rad dudes and good polo. The only issue is in college towns there is a high turn over of players, and its very seasonal, meaning good games are sometimes hard to get around finals and in the summer.

I just now saw this thread. Contact me by PM or email about A2 polo. We have been playing since 07' and anyone is welcome. I have a golf bag with mallets for anyone to use. We play every Sunday no matter the weather @4pm. When it is nice we play outside on the paved area of Palmer Field. When it isn't and during the winter with play in the thunderdrome (pm or email for directions). We often play during the week one night as well, but no formal day at the moment.

And, as for the bikes to polo there are kind of two schools of thought. A beater bike that is cheap and you don't give a **** about. Or a dedicated polo bike that can take a beating. I was of the first school of thought and built a polo bike completely out of parts bin parts. It served me well for a few years, but then this summer we traveled to some tournaments and I knew I needed something quicker and more robust. So I built a new bike that can take the abuse that I put it through. Most of us that play in a2 have a dedicated polo bike that is just for polo or sometimes doubles as the winter beater. If something does break it is good as a number of our players (including me) are bike mechanics so we can often fix the usual problems (tires, tubes, wheels, and spokes).

When we started almost everyone was fixed. Now most of us are single speed with only a few fixed hold outs. Single speed with low gears and a good brake(s) with a lever on your non-shooting hand are what make the best polo bikes.

Seems like there's a couple instances where fixed is preferable, like around the goal and tied up on the boards and stuff. But on the whole yeah I think SS is the way to go.

And now for the real skinny


Here is a nice example of a DIY polo mallet which seems to be made from an old golf club. :D

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f95/Tempo92/bike-polo-520x347.jpg

Anywho, Ann Arbor isn't too far from me and i actually have a friend who is a professor at UofM. Im up at CMU and would love to drive down to AA one time and try out a game of polo!

I'm glad this thread popped up! I had no idea there was an interest in polo at all in this state. But i guess if any city would have it, Ann Arbor would be it! It was voted 14th most bike friendly cities in the states!

.Chris

Ski poles work much better than golf clubs, but in some places poles are hard to find, i doubt Michigan is one of them. I know there are polo clubs in Ann Arbor, Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Detroit. Which covers four of the top ten most populous cities. And these are just clubs that have sent teams to the few tournaments I went to this year. There very well could be more.

My girlfriend and I have been wanting to get into bike polo as well. I have my bike finished and our mallets, and she is finishing her SS polo bike. I have yet to play as I have been busy, but this is what I have done

http://i54.tinypic.com/2ufzt5d.jpg
Got that along with brakes and derailleurs for $25

Turned it into this
http://i51.tinypic.com/2a6tmj6.jpg
Is my first build, and you know what I wanted it to be ridiculous. I'm kinda proud of it a bit and cant wait to beat it up on the polo courts. I'm running a 39 in the front and will be getting a 20t freewheel in the back. It is all really about get up and go. I have heard from several local players that SS is the way to go for polo as well so thankfully I didn't buy my cog/lockring as I was going to do fixed.

http://i51.tinypic.com/33ysxs4.jpg
Got two gold clubs (GF and I) for a .50c each. Took a pipe cutter to the heads, and followed this guide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvXMtEI0KBw

However since I used a golf club I got a metric 10 machine screw that was I believe three or three and a half inches long. After I cut the excess bolt off and used blue loctite on it.

All in all the bike cost me about $35 as it stands and the mallets like two bucks since I had ABS (Use ABS PVC shatters!) and at that price I couldn't afford not to give this sport a go, plus it gives my girlfriend and I a new bike related activity which we both love.

A lot of clubs would not let you on the court with those bars. We absolutely would not let you on the court without caps in the ends. Someone would let you borrow their bike because we want you to play, but those bars are really, really dangerous in their current state. Nobody wants to get core sampled by the new guy with flop n' chops.

Think of what happens when you come in hot to a wall and crash over the bars. Because you will do that.
Specifically, think about what will happen to your abdomen as that jagged steel pipe tears a hole in it.

Do yourself and your fellow players a favor and go find some risers/flat bars and put oury's on 'em.

---

Other than that I love the look you gave it. I wouldn't even bother getting a new rear wheel though... especially not until you figure out which gearing you like. 39x20 is on the taller end for polo gearing. I run 36x22, plenty of people run even lower gearing than that. You've got a cassette back there, I'd just move around on that and play on a different rear cog each week until you find out what you really like. Then, you can buy your freewheel.

I'd also lose the cages and go with platforms, unless you really like laying on the ground a lot.

Id move your brake to the back too. Maybe after youre used to riding around one handed in heavy traffic, the front brake can be an advantage. But for just starting out it will be a giant hindered. It looks like a quite nice polo frame though.

Very cool thread. Would love find somewhere to play in chicago.

Curious why a freewheel and rear brake would be better? Seems like it would just be preference, but which is why I am asking.

Makes sense about having the lever on your opposite hand that you hold the mallet with though.

Thanks.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f95/Tempo92/bike-polo-520x347.jpg

:love:

You cant tell by the pic, but I do have them plugged. I also have the cages on there because as of now it is my only bike so I ride it a bit when I feel like it.

Curious why a freewheel and rear brake would be better? Seems like it would just be preference, but which is why I am asking.
If you're asking why that setup is preferable to fixed with no brake, the biggest reason is because when riding fixed you can only brake effectively at two points per revolution - when either of your feet is "back" in the 9 o'clock area. This means that on a bike with 50 GI, you can only brake effectively in intervals of two feet or so. Bike polo is a lot about precise maneuvering and stopping on a dime to juke or play effective defense, so you want to be able to stop whenever necessary... not just in intervals of two feet. A brake lever gives you 100% of your available stopping power whenever you need it.

Assuming you're using a brake, fixed vs freewheel is more of a preference thing. Most good players tend to prefer freewheel because you can coast and give yourself a more solid foot-platform, which is helpful when reaching to play defense or wind up for shots.
Really trying to extend yourself with the mallet is much more difficult if the pedals are constantly moving under you.

For example, imagine trying to perform the following maneuver on a fixed gear:

http://tcbikepolo.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/bike-polo-flyer2.png

...it'd be awkward to say the least.


You cant tell by the pic, but I do have them plugged. I also have the cages on there because as of now it is my only bike so I ride it a bit when I feel like it.
The cages aren't as big of a deal, you'll just regret having them personally.

Bullhorns, however, are majorly frowned upon, and banned entirely in most tournaments.

http://chicagohardcourt.com/ There is the info for the Club in Chicago. They have a wide variety of skill levels, and some of my favorite people in all of polo(Lucky, Ben, Tucker). Definatly a great club.

I play fixed gear with a rear brake, and am going to encourage you to go with freewheel rear as a beginer and possibly switch to front brake or full brakes if you want later on.

Free vs Fixed, no contest free works better for 90% of polo. Its much easier to build a bike with the right(low) gear ratio using a freewheel. And in game most situations are better with a freewheel. When manovering the ball through heavy traffic, keeping your feet out of the way is a plus, and bottem bracket shots, passes and dribbles will not be hit by a moving foot. You can reset your feet for the most power for the joust, or if your in a slow moving defensive possition, you can use your pedals as a platform to get more power off of. With my fixed gear I can usually do something like the picture DSH posted, but its only at certain times in the pedal stroke, and I have to acount for my sudden loss of speed from pushing back on the fixed gear.

Front vs Rear brake. When learning to play your biggest hinderence will be fear of other players and fear of riding one handed. No matter how good at riding one handed you are now, it wont be good enough when you need to control a mallet. With a front brake, both of these things will be effected negatively. Your fear of the other people around you will cause you to jam to hard on your brake and flip you, even if youre used to a single speed front brake. And with your lack of skill riding one handed, locking up your front wheel will make you more likely to not be able to bike handle out of situations.

And switch out your bars before playing. You most likely wont be let on the court with them, and if you are they are a danger to yourself and every one else playing. Also you may not know this, but tape a penny on the top of your mallet shaft, for the same reason. Its much less likely than a handlebar, but better safe then sorry.

The freewheel with rear brake is preferred by many people is in the above manuver is you tapped your front brake you could easily end up flying over the bars. Here the few still riding fixed have a front brake, single mostly rears, and myself and one other with dual brakes controlled by a single lever.

And, for anyone that wants to play polo and isn't sure if they play in their area see:http://www.leagueofbikepolo.com/

where do you guys play this? old tennis courts?

Little rock plays on roller hockey courts in MacArthur Park on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sunday usually.

Everywhere that can plays on roller hockey courts. But many places, especially in the South dont have roller hockey courts, and lots of places have issues with hockey players in the city. Tennis courts and parking garages are the two next best options.

We play on a big paved area next to tennis courts. In certain weather and at certain times (fall) we end up playing on the tennis courts because of the lights. Our normal court doesn't have lights so early spring/late summer/fall games can often get dark pretty quick. Bad weather and winter we play in the basement of a local parking structure. Tennis courts tend to be the most used polo courts because most cities do have them and they are often a good size for polo with fences/nets around most of them.

I see, makes a lot of sense.

Thanks for the replies. Going to try to check it out.