There's a few groups out in the midwest playing polo right now, and they are righteous hard-chargers (I'm lookin over at you, chicago!) If you're into traveling, you should hit up one of them to get the full treatment and an answer for your every question.

You can check flickr for reference photos to see what folks are using. Here's a few shots courtesy of our great guests from Boston!
Or better yet, quite a few polo scenes have myspace pages.

Here's a previous BFSSFG thread where people discuss their polo-riding setups


A quick briefing: If you ride fixed/fw you wanna ride a low ratio. smallest chainring and the biggest cog you can find. a rear brake will help. you want to be able to sprint, maneuver and still be durable.

For mallets: go to a salvation army/goodwill and buy ski poles. Aluminum, not carbon. Golf clubs break quickly. Mallet heads need something stronger than white PVC. it breaks and frags everywhere. Some people use broom handles and wooden heads. depends on your taste.

Go to a sporting goods shop and buy a franklin street hockey ball. they vary in hardness. get the hardest one (I think it's the red cold-weather ball. do not get the orange soft ball).

...most of the above relates to hard-court bike polo. If you play polo on grass, the bikes, the ball, even the sticks are different.

Good luck getting it off the ground over there. Have fun!