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@punkture
After playing on the same polo bike for 2 years with varying different setups, Im getting 'on trend' and building myself a new polo bike.
This is my old polo bike, an Archie Wilkinson speedway frame:
/attachments/47462
and recently Ive got hold of this:
/attachments/47463
Heres the guff from the original seller:
This frame claims to have been "Designed and Engineered in the U.K. by Keith Rylance". That's painted on and under the lacquer. There are also stickers stating that it was made under license in Taiwan and "Guaranteed all tubes Thermal Inert Gas welded".
Irritatingly although the seatpost size was a claimed 27.2, that only works with a shim, while a 27.8 is too big so it must be a 27.4. Hopefully that is the right size, fingers crossed.
Apparently a nice point about the frame / forks is that the bike has the same effective headtube angle of a 14 polo bike. Ive ridden various 14 polo bikes and loved playing on them so the similarity is a good thing but they are way above my price range. I also like the toughness and stiffness of this frame. The gusseted head tube and triple triangle will help with the stiffness and strength and I have also always loved the triple triangle design aesthetically speaking. I however know nowt about bike geometry but ill measure this all up at some point and post it up.
The previous owner added a zero rake fork with V-brake bosses welded on and lengthened the originally ridiculously short dropouts so the wheel will sit closer to the seat tube to allow a rear brake to be run. This might be a little tricky as the wheel still needs to go further back than the current length of the dropouts to allow a brake to work but Im gonna bring it to Ryan of Oak Cycles and see what he can do. I'm also gonna get rid of the U Brake bosses on the rear and get V brake bosses welded on instead so I can replicate the double V brake setup (Shimano XT) on my last bike with a left hand brake lever (Shimano Deore) converted to operate both brakes at one time.
The 100cm Thomson Stem and oversize Bontrager downhill bars from my last bike are going on. Having used shorter and longer stems for polo, I've come to the conclusion that I prefer a longer stem as the handling is so much more sure and stable even in a tight situation. The top tube on my last polo bike was a bit too long for me and, having always played with shorter stems because of this, switching to a longer stem was a revelation but a bit uncomfortable because of the long top tube so I like the shorter top tube that this will give me to go with a longer stem.
Cranks will be basic square taper Sugino RD2 165 length cranks until I can get enough money to get hold of something like a nice and stiff Shimano Saint crankset (165 again) with an external BB.
I started polo on 700c wheels but as I'm fairly small, I used a pair of 650s for ages before changing to 26" which is definitely right for me, especially for the faster acceleration, larger tyres and lower centre of gravity, making it easier to turn in shorter circles:
Rear: Mavic EX721 Rim on a System Ex SS hub with Sapim Strong Spokes
Front: Sun Rhyno Lyte Rim on a System Ex hub with Sapim Strong Spokes
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