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Hi Guys,
Just to let some of the new guys know there is polo at Westway Sports Center on Thursdays!
Quote - "These sessions are for people of all abilities and experience, from those who would like to try bike polo for the first time to those who’ve played in polo tournaments before. Everybody is very welcome.To keep up-to-date with any changes, Like our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/westlondonbikepolo"
This is a good place to come and play as they have mallets, polo bikes, big goals and helmets to lend out. It goes from 7pm till 10pm and I went there myself last thursday and had so much fun! :)
Westways Sports Centre 1 Crowthorne Road, London W10 6RP
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As well as proper goals, a partially covered court (the motorway protects half the court from rain), loaner bikes and lights, westway also is the best court in London (in terms of size and surface).
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Hi,
some people last night were asking about where to buy mallets from... some of the ones yesterdays that you were asking about are from
http://www.magicbikepolo.com/ (project from London polo players :) )
http://milk-bike-polo.com/
(am i allowed to post this on the forum?)
alternatively, ski pole and pipe (google "making a bike polo mallet" and there's lots of advice, if you like making things) or put a shout out to see if anyone has a spare going that you can have.
Anyway, maybe there will be a stall at the LO this weekend (?)
(by the way you can volunteer for the London Open - i'll be volunteering friday so come and join me ;-) )John H and Max (aka Magic bike polo) will certainly be at the open and and I'm sure they'll have plenty of everything in stock (including all the equipment to build mallets).
They don't by any means have a monopoly on polo equipment in London, Milk, Alehandro (I think that's spelt wrong), Rik and many others do various things from poles and heads right up to polo frames.
The Rik and Perro poles are available on from the LHBPA via http://www.lhbpa.org/shop/
This is just my personal opinion, no scales or science involved and not sponsored by anyone. I prefer Rik over Perro and Magic poles and that's just because of my style of play. Also prefer using geothermal HDPE pipe compared to buying a capped head although I am now using a Milk head because it was given to me for free and I ran out of HDPE pipe.
In terms of durability, Rik is the best. Regular Perros and Magic Purple are slightly more bendy compared to Rik. While the Magic Black dents the easiest, it is the lightest of all poles and combined with their Black Magic head gives you the lightest mallet which allows you nimbler control of your mallet. Ski poles from charity shops is another option, cheap but depending on the brand and the aluminum grade, can bend or snap quite easily. That said, one of my favourite pole was a Rossignol ski pole which lasted me about 8 months.
As for mallet heads, there are plenty on the market, Magic Black is lighter than the Green ones which last longer; Milk Black is also lighter than the White which again last longer. A cap head would give you a better shot but will cost a fair bit more than a DIY one with some gas pipe cut into 120mm-ish and a drill. You could pick the gas pipe offcuts from beside road works for free.
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Also I think it should be a rite of passage in polo that everyone should make at least one mallet. :)
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Agreed.
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This weekend is the London Open:
Three polo courts in Highbury Fields, Islington.
More than 50 teams playing from all over the world
Registration to play closes tonight (thursday). To register a team go to: http://www.lhbpa.org/lo2013_registration/
If you 'd like to help out you can volunteer here:
http://www.lfgss.com/thread111527.htmlOn Friday 7pm there will be a Polocat
http://www.lfgss.com/thread112315.html:-)
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io78, your positivity and enthusiasm is refreshing and encouraging. Glad you enjoyed the Open so much.
:-) thanks Kev! i'm glad i did it even though we lost miserably! but such a great atmosphere and learnt alot from court building to...chasing the Milky Way (what a ridiculous first game we had!) ... Also we built a mallet yesterday, so here's another thing learnt! :-) woop woop! :-)
Who is in for today? (i am flying tomorrow morning so please no beers, no pub for me, but i want to come down...)
TUESDAY 27 Aug Newington Gardens SE1
- io (from around 6:30pm)
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- io (from around 6:30pm)
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I'm getting a pair of Motorcycle glove, made for flexibility and protection at high speed. Water proof and about half the price of Ice hockey gloves!
All Black Short Length Leather Motorbike Gloves With Protection - L: Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Outdoors
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These are all from the US, I have bought from them once and forwarded the links to quite a few and have yet to hear about anyone getting taxed so the price you see is what you pay. Expect 5/6 days for it to arrive. Been using mine for a year plus now. Holding on very well.
10/11": £15.93
12" £19.98
13" £21.70
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thanks for the reply.
I began playing only weeks ago and had a blister on the thumb, holding the mallet. I see from your posts that some padding on the fingers and knuckles is good to have. I will try the Hockey one.http://www.sportsdirect.com/slazenger-pro-hockey-glove-864015
I will upgrade accessories along with the game :)
BLUE
Khornight2
coventry_eagle
hugomcc
io
LoKing
dubkev
JackieM
Future
PhilJD
rockrider-
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About
Beginners Polo
Posted by
@Wicksie
John H and Max (aka Magic bike polo) will certainly be at the open and and I'm sure they'll have plenty of everything in stock (including all the equipment to build mallets).
They don't by any means have a monopoly on polo equipment in London, Milk, Alehandro (I think that's spelt wrong), Rik and many others do various things from poles and heads right up to polo frames.