Tell me about your bikes

Hello people,

For those on the forum I haven't met; my name is Kit, I study anthropology at Goldsmiths and have been playing polo for about 6 months now. I am part of the league-dominating team The Pickled Onion (currently at the bottom of 2nd division, I believe).

As part of my course I have to do a piece of research, and I thought I'd focus on something I knew and loved; Cycling! More specifically, how people identify with their bikes. I am looking at notions of technology and specialisation.

I shall be doing this (completely unobtrusive) research over the next few weeks, and thought it would be worth starting a thread, and see what people thought.

So, could you share with me the details and specs of your bikes which make it your bike - what distinguishes it from the rest, and what you have done to make it more in tune with your riding. Also, if you have any suggestions, queries or problems with this research.

Thanks all!

Kit Jury Morgan

Hello.... Nobody...?
Is this not cool in polo rules..?
Feel like I made a kinda mistake here, just wanted to make my work relevant to what I enjoy

Hi kit sounds like an interesting project, totally cool in polo "rules"

But i'm not entirely sure what makes it "my" bike, maybe people would be more responsive in person courtside?

The thing which distinguishes most of my bikes is my terrible mechanic skills and my willingness to bodge.

One of my favourite bikes of all time is my beater, a 52cm square Carlton frame which I bought testing the thing about smaller bikes being good for polo. Turns out bikes 8cm too small really don't work for polo. So I got a 15cm stem, some bullhorns and ignore the massive toe overlap. Wheels are 27 inch which means that the only brake I have for it is only slightly less than useless. Oh and my bullhorns and the stem are different sizes, so they have a shim, although they still sometimes shift. Essentially I can be safe in the knowledge that if someone steals it they will die.

The only other thing I can think of that I had on my bike that I don't think many others had was two brakes operated by two levers on the same side, whilst fixed. This was for my polo bike, as I commute as much as play poll on my polo bike being able to modulate being front or rear brake heavy depending on road or polo just by moving my hand was pretty useful.

As you can tell, although my beater is essentially fixed brakeless, I do think more brakes is good. My polo bikes have all been fixed when not in polo gear (I flip the wheel) and for the last couple of years I've also had two brakes. This extra redundancy isn't about being able to stop any quicker, it means I can put off repairing my brakes for a bit longer!

Oh and soon my polo bike will have a fourth brake for the road! (fixed, 2 vbrakes and a front disk) the idea is that I want to have a brake for my left hand as I worry about not having my hand on a brake when signally right.

Oh but if you are looking for things that make bikes individual, you could probably get a whole dissertation out of stickers.

Hi kit sounds like an interesting project, totally cool in polo "rules"

But i'm not entirely sure what makes it "my" bike, maybe people would be more responsive in person courtside?

Hey MAX, thanks for the reply.. Was starting to worry that I'd broken an unspoken rule by asking the question.. I'm planning on asking around courtside, but thought putting up a thread might get the question out to further audiences.
Personally, I'd say what makes polo bikes distinctive is (as Knornight mentioned) the adaptions that people make; never seen so much DIY and ingenuity in other forms of biking.

The thing which distinguishes most of my bikes is my terrible mechanic skills and my willingness to bodge.

One of my favourite bikes of all time is my beater, a 52cm square Carlton frame which I bought testing the thing about smaller bikes being good for polo. Turns out bikes 8cm too small really don't work for polo. So I got a 15cm stem, some bullhorns and ignore the massive toe overlap. Wheels are 27 inch which means that the only brake I have for it is only slightly less than useless. Oh and my bullhorns and the stem are different sizes, so they have a shim, although they still sometimes shift. Essentially I can be safe in the knowledge that if someone steals it they will die.

The only other thing I can think of that I had on my bike that I don't think many others had was two brakes operated by two levers on the same side, whilst fixed. This was for my polo bike, as I commute as much as play poll on my polo bike being able to modulate being front or rear brake heavy depending on road or polo just by moving my hand was pretty useful.

As you can tell, although my beater is essentially fixed brakeless, I do think more brakes is good. My polo bikes have all been fixed when not in polo gear (I flip the wheel) and for the last couple of years I've also had two brakes. This extra redundancy isn't about being able to stop any quicker, it means I can put off repairing my brakes for a bit longer!

Oh and soon my polo bike will have a fourth brake for the road! (fixed, 2 vbrakes and a front disk) the idea is that I want to have a brake for my left hand as I worry about not having my hand on a brake when signally right.

Oh but if you are looking for things that make bikes individual, you could probably get a whole dissertation out of stickers.

Thanks, that's great! As said, it's the adaption and bodging which makes polo bikes distinctive from my pov, although 3 brakes and fixed is pretty impressive regardless...
Stickers idea is awesome, too.. It's a visual project, so that fits marvellously! Thinking of doing sketches courtside and incorporating graphic novel style (I'm a sucker for comics).. Cheers for the help!

De nada. There's a lot of sticker love in polo...

I was just out in the garage a noticed a non polo bodge on my polo bike, my soon to be retired cranks set is a bash guard that doesn't really fit on my cranks and because of that it and the larger chain ring are held on with two chain ring bolts and 2 cable ties! :)

(it was 6 cable ties... Probably best if I retire the set sooner rather than later!)

The thing which distinguishes most of my bikes is my terrible mechanic skills and my willingness to bodge.

This could apply to most people in polo, put another way – the desire to do whatever possible to 'fix' a bike as quickly as possible so you're able to continue playing for the rest of the game/tournament/day of throw ins.

We've all done it, snapped brake cables, flat tyres, bent wheels... all fixed courtside with whatever is available and whoever can help. Problems fixed with tape, cable ties, more tape, more cable ties...

Since I'm relying on the polo community for my BSc it seems only fair to help out others in a similar situation, I'm not sure how useful I'll be with a single post but feel free to contact me if you want to discuss anything further.

Why my bike is my bike:
I've spent far too much time and money on it than most people (outside of polo) would think of as reasonable. Some parts (goldtec hubs and thomson seatpost) are totally overspecced but I like them so I own them. The frame (charge scissor) has had front and rear v brake mounts brazed to it, I watched Ryan braze the rear ones which was awesome, flames and metal etc is always fun. I also stripped the frame and spent a silly amount of time rubbing it down with wet and dry. My double brake lever is pretty unique and I haven't seen anyone else using quite the design.

In short, I've spent many hours saving for parts, building the bike, modifying it, fixing it and playing on it. When you invest that much time in to an object you can't help but feel an emotional connection to it. This is probably helped by the fact that there are so many different bike set ups being played on, none of them feel the same so I could never get my bike mixed up with another persons even if they looked identical.

I hope that's of some use, I study product design so if you think I may be useful for your project let me know.

This could apply to most people in polo, put another way – the desire to do whatever possible to 'fix' a bike as quickly as possible so you're able to continue playing for the rest of the game/tournament/day of throw ins.

We've all done it, snapped brake cables, flat tyres, bent wheels... all fixed courtside with whatever is available and whoever can help. Problems fixed with tape, cable ties, more tape, more cable ties...

Thats a very good point.. Would you say people in polo have a better understanding of how a bike works (or how t adapt a bike to work) than regular cyclists? There seem to be a lot of bike-shop employees, although I'm not sure if that's unusual..
Also how often do people change their bikes? It seems to be quite regularly for some, is this possibly because the bike makes such a difference to the game, so trying new is always good? Or simply just because they get beaten?

Since I'm relying on the polo community for my BSc it seems only fair to help out others in a similar situation, I'm not sure how useful I'll be with a single post but feel free to contact me if you want to discuss anything further.

Why my bike is my bike:
I've spent far too much time and money on it than most people (outside of polo) would think of as reasonable. Some parts (goldtec hubs and thomson seatpost) are totally overspecced but I like them so I own them. The frame (charge scissor) has had front and rear v brake mounts brazed to it, I watched Ryan braze the rear ones which was awesome, flames and metal etc is always fun. I also stripped the frame and spent a silly amount of time rubbing it down with wet and dry. My double brake lever is pretty unique and I haven't seen anyone else using quite the design.

In short, I've spent many hours saving for parts, building the bike, modifying it, fixing it and playing on it. When you invest that much time in to an object you can't help but feel an emotional connection to it. This is probably helped by the fact that there are so many different bike set ups being played on, none of them feel the same so I could never get my bike mixed up with another persons even if they looked identical.

I hope that's of some use, I study product design so if you think I may be useful for your project let me know.

That's an awesome sounding spec for a polo bike! Good to know I'm not alone in terms of the academic(ish) interest in the game, that's a great explanation of how your bike is customised to you; I'd agree that the more you invest in it the more it comes to reflect you, but would you say it is the same in polo as (for example) mountain biking - because there is the knowledge that it will get trashed..
Would be awesome to discuss more though, also your bike sounds epic (I think I may have already mentioned)!

Kit! This means you'll be around to practice!

I think talking to people with a really good knowledge of bike geometry would be interesting for your project ie Ryan and Glowbike (Colin from edinburgh) both really know their shit and have pretty interesting bikes.

'Also how often do people change their bikes? It seems to be quite regularly for some'
lol, que joni
ill do a write up of my shockingly bad, but very much mine, plug in a wee bit

I run the brakes on my bikes reversed.

Front brake left hand.
Back brake right hand.

Only then does it feel like my bike.

Since I'm relying on the polo community for my BSc it seems only fair to help out others in a similar situation, I'm not sure how useful I'll be with a single post but feel free to contact me if you want to discuss anything further.

Why my bike is my bike:
I've spent far too much time and money on it than most people (outside of polo) would think of as reasonable. Some parts (goldtec hubs and thomson seatpost) are totally overspecced but I like them so I own them. The frame (charge scissor) has had front and rear v brake mounts brazed to it, I watched Ryan braze the rear ones which was awesome, flames and metal etc is always fun. I also stripped the frame and spent a silly amount of time rubbing it down with wet and dry. My double brake lever is pretty unique and I haven't seen anyone else using quite the design.

In short, I've spent many hours saving for parts, building the bike, modifying it, fixing it and playing on it. When you invest that much time in to an object you can't help but feel an emotional connection to it. This is probably helped by the fact that there are so many different bike set ups being played on, none of them feel the same so I could never get my bike mixed up with another persons even if they looked identical.

I hope that's of some use, I study product design so if you think I may be useful for your project let me know.

And to think you'd risk it all, on a game of dice.

I think at the stage polo is currently at the infinite redesign of some people's bikes is a bit extreme. Having the perfect bike currently has a lot less effect than how good a player is.

As long as you've not got drop bars, you've got a spinny gear and you can turn then it's entirely possible to shine.

But if you've got more money to spend on bikes than time to spend on getting better...

'Also how often do people change their bikes? It seems to be quite regularly for some'
lol, que joni
ill do a write up of my shockingly bad, but very much mine, plug in a wee bit

Insults less damaging when inflicted by the illiterate. :P

kitjim - the level of owership and customisation could possibly be higher in polo than other scenes right now because it's so new, it's relatively easy for someone to do something radically new and different in the world of polo bikes compared to BMX or MTB because they've had so much more time to develop. Although I'm sure if you asked a bunch of bmxers or mtb riders they'd have similar responses to polo players.

You could look at TT riders (or something equally specialised) and compare their emotional responses to the bikes they ride to that of polo players. I have no proof to back this up but I think TT riders could see their bikes as more of a tool/means to an ends than polo players/bmxers/mtbers. When a rider is really throwing the bike around and pushing it to extremes in potentially dangerous situations they need to trust it, it needs to be part of their movements rather than just a vehicle or item of equipment.

Erin - I still have flashbacks to that night

But yes, I have had a few bikes in my time. I don't think that many more than most people tbh.

Not sure what 'details and spec's' you want Kit?

To make my polo bike more in-tune with my riding, I had 9cm's cut off the length, which I guess is pretty extreme.
Women as a general rule have shorter torsos, and after a while of searching (pipe down Crumb) I found almost the perfect bike in my NS Traffic.
Being a DJ bike it was pretty long, which didn't suit my short torso, so I had Ryan at Oak Cycles cut it down.
I also made my dual lever myself but I stole the idea from Rik (whom I believe stole it from someone in the states).
Let me know if you need any more info Kit. Happy to help.

I like that you're following the Anthropological tradition of doubling up your surname.

Pitt-Rivers/Radcliffe-Brown/Jury-Morgan

What makes my bike my own is the fact that it puts up with me..!

Countless dents from past polo games.
The various stickers from tournaments/other teams that have given it "tatty sheik" status.
Bodged front v-brake fix to enable the spring tensioner to engage.
Big dent in the seat tube from a crash with El Club at the Euros last year.
Rear of the bike needs cold-setting back by 8mm after above crash.
Replacement fork after a crash in Konstanz broke the original (it now rides a little temperamentally).
Off centre cranks/BB from polo wear and tear.
Naff new squeaky v-brake after the old one broke at the Invitational.
Rounded out seatpost collar and almost rounded out rear hub.
Torn and bent-rail saddle.
Rubbish new front wheel with crap cone tension (el cheapo replacement after Goldenwheel destroyed the previous one).
Rear rim needs bending back every so often as the rim walls are trying to fail (they're very thin from brake wear now).
Rear twisted spoke replacements as the only spokes I had lying around were too long.

It's been a blast and deserves to be treated better.

[QUOTE=moog;2664921]kitjim - the level of owership and customisation could possibly be higher in polo than other scenes right now because it's so new, it's relatively easy for someone to do something radically new and different in the world of polo bikes compared to BMX or MTB because they've had so much more time to develop.

Joni, surprised you've not mentioned your sticker fetish?

I really do have a strange rep round here don't I.