No gear required! We generally have spare and plenty to share:
- Bike
- Helmet
- A mallet
Bike Polo has a big do-it-yourself theme, you only have to see a match to notice the variation in bikes and mallets. We will try and put up some more info here on what we generally use in Sydney but its best to come down and check it out for yourself.
What type of bike is suitable?
Any bike can be suitable for Bike Polo. From fixies, mountain bikes, conversions or even road bikes. Start off with what you have and over time as you develop your style, mod the bike to suit.
What’s this mallet I hear you mention?
A mallet is the stick used to move the ball around the court. Like traditional horse polo, this consists of a ‘shaft’ and ‘head’. There are many useful resources on the net to build your own mallet. Usually there are a few spare mallets around on game days so if you are new, come and try a few of them to see what suits. Some useful guides we’ve found are summarized in this post.
Bike Gallery
Here is a small number of bikes that some of our players use for bike polo. They each have their advantages and disadvantages but the most important thing is that it suits the style of player. What type of style are you? Well you’d have to come down and try them all to find out!
Francesco: Plug Charge frame, freewheel 39x23 ratio, dual brake lever, a VW "polo" badge on seat and a SKin Grows Back ball saver stem pad.
Brook: Repco frame, freewheel 35x22 ratio, generic bmx bars and sem, Thompson seatpost, Time Atac pedals.
Jesse: Frame to remain nameless, freewheel unkown ratio, bmx bars and stem, new to the courts so a work in progress!
Nikki: A perfect example of using an old road bike and converting it for a new life. 1980's Cyclops frame, Freewheel 39x17 ratio, leather seat, BO gear top tube protector, and some nice wide tyres.
Virginia: Everyone's had a ride of this bike... An ol' faithful, it's had a long lustrous second life as a polo bike. Freewheel 34x18 ratio, SPD pedals, dual brake lever, strong v-brakes, and lovely fiberglass wheel covers to protect those spokes, 26" wheels with Marathon Plus tyres.
more to come…
