New polo bike: Custom Keith Rylance MBK

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:
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and recently Ive got hold of this:
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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".

• 18" c-t-t aluminium frame
  
• triple triangle design with gusseted head tube
  
• for 26" wheels
  
• 1" head tube
  
• U brake bosses (NOT V BRAKE) on the seat stays
  
• Track ends / horizontal drop outs
  
• Riveted brake and gear cable routing and drilling for rear mech.
  
  

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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That is a seriously ugly frame, but in a good way.

What was it originally designed for (MTB?) and what was the previous owner using it for that they put a zero rake fork on it?

Looks like an early nineties mountain bike frame, they might have had U-brakes.

late 80s even. It's truly minging.

Brazing vbrake mounts onto alu won't be very easy.. one of thos plates would be a better idea.

thats a frame only its mother could love

Brazing vbrake mounts onto alu won't be very easy.. one of thos plates would be a better idea.

this - by welding anything onto aluminium you risk ruining the heat treatment. i think there are tricks to compensate for this but by the time you've paid up for it then it probably makes more sense to get a different bike!

sick frame by the way, good luck with it.

what was the previous owner using it for that they put a zero rake fork on it?

bike polo

Brazing vbrake mounts onto alu won't be very easy.. one of thos plates would be a better idea.

this - by welding anything onto aluminium you risk ruining the heat treatment. i think there are tricks to compensate for this but by the time you've paid up for it then it probably makes more sense to get a different bike!

sick frame by the way, good luck with it.

cheers guys, interesting to know. Maybe ill just run a U brake on the rear with a V at the front. Ill look into the plates too

Is having a thread about your polo bike in the non-polo bit of the forum the new trend for 2012?

That is a seriously ugly frame, but in a good way.

yep this^ hopefully it will achieve what I want out of a polo bike without having to spend inordinate sums of money, and despite lacking the grace of a 14 bike, I still really like its weird looks.

did beagle lend you some wheelbase

Is having a thread about your polo bike in the non-polo bit of the forum the new trend for 2012?

woooo! im on trend at last!

did beagle lend you some wheelbase

#skbrn

Bmx U-brakes aren't too bad, does anyone use some kind of gyro cabling to run two brakes with one lever?

U brakes are good on 20" wheels, they are shit on anything else.

i'd just go front brake only

my personal experience of U-brakes is that they are utter shit

why not just saw of the braze ons and get a booster?

• U brake bosses (NOT V BRAKE) on the seat stays
  
  
  

What's the difference and is there no way to get around it? And surely even if u-brakes are shit, if you've got a decent v-brake on the front, it won't mater that much.

Is the drop out big enough that you could drill holes in it and use disk brakes?

I think it's uglyness is kinda attractive. At the very least I don't think anyone's got anything like it!

Is the drop out big enough that you could drill holes in it and use disk brakes?

yep probably but I know zip about disk breaks and dont have the money to convert everything to disks at the moment. I totally understand that disk breaks are better than Vs but thats an upgrade for when I have a job...so hopefully september

That's gonna be a wicked-looking polo bike. Fugly, but in the right way. :)

I had a keith rylance MTB frame back in about 1988, wasn't triple triangle and wasn't quite as ugly as that one but i liked it at the time, similar geometry, low top tube but quite long.

So, havent really updated this as Ive been busy and barely played polo at all in the last few months, however as I managed to break my old bike, this needed to built up quickly.

Current specs:

Wheelset: 48hole Rhyno Lyte rims on Phil Wood Hubs
Crankset: Crappy square taper sugino RD2 cranks wih Goldtec chainring
Front brake: XT v-brake
Rear brake: Odyssey Evo II U Brake
Stem: Thomson 100mm
Bars: Bontrager Big Earl oversize
Seatpost: Paul

Heres a pic.

So far I plan to eventually cut the brake bosses off on the rear and use clamp on V brake bosses so I can slam the wheel further back in the dropouts and use a V brake on the rear instead of a U brake which is especially ineffective in the wet and only marginally better in the dry.

Another issue at the moment is that the Phil Axles are a little small so I need to get some washers so they stay still in the dropouts.

Cosmetically it is a bit challenged but it rides great at the moment, although there is a world of difference between the way this rides and my old polo bike so it will take a bit of getting used to.

One change that ive made from riding this previously is that the seatpost I used was too low and I didnt feel I could put in enough power. The new Paul seatpost is much higher and will hopefully solve that

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