eighthinch.com

Hello all,
We are bringing in a polo wheelset in a couple of months and wanted to know what other parts players out there are interested in? We sponsor the Milwaukee Bike Polo team ( https://www.mkebikepolo.com/index.html ) and they have tested our frames and forks extensively for us.

Any ideas on other components Polo worthy?

prawza

massive rear cog?

eighthinch.com

Define Massive- 22t? 28t?

devilshaircut

https://velocityusa.blogspot.com/2009...y-chukker.html

Maybe?

The thing about polo is that bike parts - wheels, in particular - have a tendency to get totally busted so buying new parts is almost pointless. Forks and cheap cranks also.

Other bike parts tend to be a little more resilient, however. Handlebars, I think, are a safe bet ... lol.

eighthinch.com

Our wheels are going to be 48 hole 42mm rims- high spoke count so balls won't fly through:

xunwedsailorx

do want.

devilshaircut

Speaking of spoke counts, my friends were joking that when people score through my Aerospoke it's worth double points. Hah.

So, are those available without decals?

eighthinch.com

Decals will be removeable totally. Rims/Wheels will be in Black, White, and Pewter 32, 48 hole

JoeEasy

triple wall rims
pre-made disc covers

oneangrytoast

yes, disc covers, but solid colors and/or of a material that can be designed upon. i.e. ready to paint, or something like that. make it generic, SSFGers seem to hate branding.

maybe some sort of snazzy way to attach your mallet to your bike while riding to polo?

how about an actual official mallet, instead of the DIY stuff, with replaceable heads, kinda like those two piece hockey sticks. the shaft would be durable, although might be slightly expensive, but the heads will be very affordable, since they prob break the most.

just off the top of my head, idk...

buy up a roller hockey ball factory and brand them *****s

zacked

Not sure what you have access to, but these are things I would kill for a reliable supplier of:

-affordable 559x50 slick tires
-solid-core ABS pipe for mallet heads
-steel chainrings
-110BCD lexan bashguards
-48H hubs, cheap spokes
-22T cogs and freewheels

eighthinch.com

This is great you guys- keep the ideas coming!

devilshaircut

I think it would be great to get bike polo equipment parts ... for ghetto spokes, mallets etc. Some people WILL tell you though that in doing so you are ruining the spirit of the game. Just a warning. IMO, though, if you are selling the PARTS ... and people are still doing the assembly/customization, there is no room for complaint.

My personal opinions: for mallet heads, I've used ABS, PVC, and high density polyethylene heads and I personally like the ABS as well. It seems fairly durable by comparison and is about the right weight for me without being too light. My friend Ben also made some plastic wheel covers with a pretty neat optical illusion spiral design on them ... might be cool to see the plastic parts mass produced, and people could still customize them (or not). Maybe some way to attach them without using zip ties.

Most importantly, for me, I would like to see you guys sell polo balls. My polo crew has about 3 different kinds of balls we play with, including the liquid filled kind (for less bounce), hollow street hockey ones (which basically suck), dense hockey ones (pretty good, but somewhat bouncy), and light up ones for playing at night. Would be great to see these sold at your site. I've had difficulty finding good ones for my personal use because our sports stores here have a rather thin selection (including the massive 3-story Dick's Sporting Goods in Buckhead ...).

Some other equipment we use (that works fine, but maybe it'll spark an idea ...) - traffic cones for goals, plywood dividers to keep the ball from rolling out of bounds (when we play in less than ideal conditions), trashcan for tapping out, hockey stick / ski pole / golf club shafts, etc.

One thing I've noticed is that one of our better players has a cap at the end of his mallet head. He says it makes him more accurate. If this is true, would be nice to see these sorts of caps sold if mallet heads are manufactured.

oneangrytoast

yea i agree with the whole "spirit of the game" but who knows, this might revolutionize the game. people used to make their own skateboards too. u think thats mass production has hurt the sport? doubtful.

i used to play roller hockey as a cheaper way to practice ice hockey since i was a huuuge rink rat growing up, played just about daily. i recall the water filled balls being VERY effective. minimal bounce and the water inside didnt make it roll (or fly) funny. if you are going to make balls, those would be a great place to start.

i give you guys props for going out on a limb here, since bike polo is such a niche sport.

orange leader

I play polo on a grass field, with a fixie mtn bike. I've bend a lot of chainrings, steel ones, and I also shear off the chainring bolts. Beef those babies up!!. The chainrings usually bend after one or 2 bolts are gone...but when you're in the middle of a game you don't always notice the missing bolts, until its too late.

zerosiah

Part of the fun is finding old parts and using them. However, larger cogs are great!

devilshaircut

I agree, I mean, there is an argument both ways. It's nice to have things you made yourself. Personally, I cobbled together my mallet, not to mention my polo bike. But I also see some value in mass produced parts for some people. It's just nice to have options.

About the larger cogs, count me in. I have a 19t one for polo and I'm thinking I'd like to go larger.

bg4533

I've tried quite a few different materials for mallet heads, but have settled on UHMWPE. I drill it out quite a bit, but have never seen it crack or chip. The life of the head will depend on the thickness of the material, but I think even the thinnest heads I have will last a few seasons. Ski poles will last anywhere from a few minutes to a few months. After a few months they all just snap. The ones that don't last that long die from being wrapped around hubs or caught in wheels. I'm sure that we could make a stronger pole, but I'd rather have the pole snap than my hub, frame or arm.

I'd really like to see a more professional wheel cover. I'm lucky if I can make it through a game without a front wheel cover, but I find corrugated plastic to be too bulky.

JoeEasy

Mallet heads
poles
wheel covers
thicker chainrings
larger freewhweels and fixed cogs
gloves with better protection over the fingers and knuckles
better balls (light up liquid filled)
heavy duty lock rings
smaller chainrings (i run a 22 up front on a 4 bolt crank)

wearyourtruth

this hasn't been mentioned yet, and i don't ride polo myself, but there is a group here that rides (grass) and many of them use mustache bars that are chopped down from a huge "W" to a little "U" (make sense?). can you make bars? might be nice if they could be sold like that instead of having most of the bar chopped off all the time

shredsled87

If you do end up making wheel covers make sure to make them in different diameters. 24", 26", 27", 650c, and 700c.

Raiden

Those sizes are a little irrelevant- rim inner diameters can vary quite a bit.

How about, instead of discs, make your guard a series of squares or pie-slice shapes that interconnect in a circular shape?

shredsled87

Very true. I was more or less just throwing out the idea of discs for different sized wheels.

eighthinch.com

Got in the 32hole versions of our rims HERE.

48 hole are in production along with the hubs- should be a month or so!

devilshaircut

$50, not bad.