Polo Equipment

mechanical_vandal

My wee taster of polo tonight has convinced me to get a mallet on the go so watching some ski poles on the bay but i was wondering how much better are ski poles than golf clubs for making the shafts?
Once i get some poles/shafts il need head material. Does someone have some of that yellow tubing to spare/sell or is it a case of finding my own?
And finally balls. Rusty was saying the right ones were hard to come by but the ones that were there tonight seemed good and there's a seller on ebay with a hundred and odd of them for £1.50 each and £1 postage. I these are the right ones then perhaps all interested parties should get a couple or even maybe get a kitty togother and buy a big pile from that guy coz if we have to play at the transport museum rather than the courts we found tonight i think we r gonna get thru them.

rusty

Ski poles are a million times better than golf clubs. islipaway has pipe. He shall deliver you pipe. Those balls are good.

Getafix

I've got some pipe too and I've got 4 virgin mallets, I'll try and get out tomorrow.

I think golf clubs are no good due to the steel being difficult to drill.

mechanical_vandal

Ok, im hopefully going to make it out tomorrow night too, dunno if il be playing though as im meant to be avoiding contact sports at the moment as glandular fever has supposedly left my spleen ready to burst! If im able to make it il take some photos and collect pipe if someone is nice enough to bring some.

rusty

[quote]

mechanical_vandal:

OIf im able to make it il take some photos and collect pipe.
rent boy!

mechanical_vandal

Having spoken to my better half iv realised i have a prior engagement tomorrow night so will not be able to make it along.

islipaway

As for the whole ski poles/golf clubs thing - gedi has a good idea on how to make golf clubs work, but ski poles are tried and tested decent. Just make sure if you get ski poles they are not steel. I have enough pipe to go around, but there's enough mallets built already for a full game if you don't fancy the DIY aspect.

gedi

Yeah don't worry, just show up to play, we got enough mallets !

rusty

I picked up a panache folder at the weekend which is going to become my polo steed. It's got 20" wheels and I think a 48T chainset so my 20T cog will work nicely on the back to give a 49" gear which I think is very polo(able). More info and pics to follow.

Getafix

Wahey, good to see the shopper going to good use, do you have a saddle and post for it? If not do you know what diameter of post you need?

rusty

[quote]

Getafix:

Wahey, good to see the shopper going to good use, do you have a saddle and post for it? If not do you know what diameter of post you need?
Got saddle. No post as yet. I'll find out over the weekend.

islipaway

Right thinking about more polo equipment we might make use of:

1. Some sort of long portable netting to cordon off areas we don't want the ball to go.
2. Portable goal posts for where there are no cones lying about (Thinking we could just get those football training cones, small enough to pop in a bag. Need to be weighed down though)
3. Balls - the ones we have at the moment seem okay but bounce a lot if we don't try others there's no way to know if we are missing something.

Thoughts?

gedi

http://archie-wilkinson.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=195

maybe for those that want to get a polo bike. ?

lee

Sweet :o)

gedi

looks like it's pretty good for the price, seems tempting especially when the frame alone is a 100 quid.

Getafix

Yeah, I've looked at those frames before. Speedway use 26" wheels so I'm not sure what the clearances would be like with 700c.

mechanical_vandal

I fancy one of the 24" versions. Brakes would be an issue though.

Getafix

Looks like there's a hole for a front, if not just drill it.

gedi

I'd like to see them in person and have a go on one..

islipaway

On that site the handlebars might be good, £18 isn't too bad. Cranks seem alright too just the arms are a bit long.

Getafix

There's speedway racing through in Edinburgh here are the dates. You could probably go and check out the frames although speedway folk tend to just convert old frames.

Getafix

[quote]

islipaway:

On that site the handlebars might be good, £18 isn't too bad. Cranks seem alright too just the arms are a bit long.
I've seen speedway bars sell for £6 on ebay.

gedi

http://www.hollymillcycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b149s109p3091&rs=gb

islipaway

Oh nice, have been looking for pretty much exactly that. Now where can I get an 11or 12 tooth cog to make it rideable? :/

gedi

hmm..I don't know if 11 even exists.

But 12t does.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Milwaukee-Bicycle-Co.-Track/Fixed-Gear-Cog--12t-x-1/8"_W0QQitemZ120401054576QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090403?IMSfp=TL090403156002r33073

seems like you'd need a special lock-ring with it also...try 13 maybe instead.

with a 12t you'll be at 52.8 g.i. and 13t will be 48.7 g.i.

islipaway

Think I will just wait till I have a bit of money and get a Pologuard imported, 35t gives a bit more flexibility and it's set-up with no chainline issues.

islipaway

Right, re end cap discussion tonight: The thing Derek made seems to be what's in use elsewhere, not sure how good wood would be, can you make things like this or would it take forever?

Polo End Caps

What we need to remember is that the end caps will add length to the mallets, maybe up to an inch so perhaps take half an inch off the yellow pipe when making them so they don't end up too long/cumbersome.

Getafix

I can get things like that made. I know a guy who runs a machine shop. I think I've asked him too many favours in the past so I'd rather do it as a cash job so the more we order the cheaper they will be. It would be cheaper if we don't ask for the securing holes as they add quite a few operations, although we could get prices for both.

I can model it up in SolidWorks, if you can think of any design improvements let me know.

Dickie

[quote]

Getafix:

I can get things like that made. I know a guy who runs a machine shop. I think I've asked him too many favours in the past so I'd rather do it as a cash job so the more we order the cheaper they will be. It would be cheaper if we don't ask for the securing holes as they add quite a few operations, although we could get prices for both.

I can model it up in SolidWorks, if you can think of any design improvements let me know.

I think this is a good idea and maybe we could do it as a group purchase between half a dozen of us to get the quantity to cover us ? (thinking of the European Tour!!)

Don't think you saw the solid plastic end that I made, which was good and we could give as a template. It would be quite time consuming for me to make as many as we may need/go through, but I would be happy to drill the pilot holes/supply screws if that is any help and saves a bit on cost.

What do you think?

Also I will hold fire on cutting the pipe to length until we know what's happening

majooka

How hard is it to make a mallet? Thinkin me nd chhawkins are gonna get a set of ski poles and make a couple.
From what I gathered, someone's got a ton of yellow pipe. How do you go about putting it on the pole?

rusty

[quote]

majooka:

How hard is it to make a mallet? Thinkin me nd chhawkins are gonna get a set of ski poles and make a couple.
From what I gathered, someone's got a ton of yellow pipe. How do you go about putting it on the pole?
http://legitbikepolo.com/how-to-make-it/

Also, I've got some pipe which was originally intended to go through to Edinburgh but then they got mallets sorted out.

majooka

cheers rusty, some pretty good vids on there. i'll get in touch once we've got hold of some ski poles.

islipaway

I gave Dickie like 10-15 meters of pipe Last night so we are sorted for a long time, he also has the facility to cut it perfectly straight on his mad saw thing, which is quite hard to do by hand, if you turn up on Tuesday I am sure he could take along a couple of head lengths for you.

I'm all for getting the endcaps machined by Friend of Getafix, we just need to work out how much rod we need and what's the best material, I am sure I found a source of HDPE rod somewhere...

Dickie

[quote]

majooka:

How hard is it to make a mallet? Thinkin me nd chhawkins are gonna get a set of ski poles and make a couple.
From what I gathered, someone's got a ton of yellow pipe. How do you go about putting it on the pole?

Hi Majooka

I'll have some pipe on Tuesday night.

majooka

cheers, looks like my parents might have a couple of "broken" ski poles in their garage. "The ends have come off"... oh dear :P
i'll get myself along on tuesday again and pick some pipe up.

Cuppa T

Im after a section of pipe also!
i think i know where i can get a couple of poles maybe in a week.

majooka

damn, maw chucked the poles out. is ebay a good enough shout to get hold of some?

rusty

[quote]

majooka:

damn, maw chucked the poles out. is ebay a good enough shout to get hold of some?
Not really. They go for way more than their worth. Charity shop diving works well I think.

islipaway

You pay a bit of a premium on them if you get them posted, Nevisport on Sauchihall street has a pair for £15, or at least it did - that's where I got some of mine, also gumtree.

majooka

Cheers for the tip, picked up a pair for £14 today. Didnt have a price on em and looked a bit worn so i got em for that. They'll do nicely :)

islipaway

Sweet.

As for mallet end caps I am still thinking a cup like shape on the end rather than a plug would be better. A cup gives you a larger surface area to hit with, it protects more of the standard yellow pipe beneath and it might help with dribbling the ball if you can get it in the gap between the cups on each end. It's probably easier to machine too.

Hopefully you can make out from this rather crude 3d image what I am proposing. The design on the left has a bit to grip inside the pipe as well as on the outside but I am not sure if that's really necessary.

rusty

The one at the back could be knocked off during a hit.

islipaway

They would be screwed on.

rabsda

I think the right hand cap in the 3d render above would be fine if it was screwed on, the extra weight and stiffness of the other design might still be better though

Getafix

I like the concept, I prefer the one on the left. It would be possible to have one end with a couple of threaded holes and a couple of counterbored holes on the other cap with a couple of socket head cap screws holding them both together (screws going through the length of the mallet).

islipaway

[quote]

Getafix:

I like the concept, I prefer the one on the left. It would be possible to have one end with a couple of threaded holes and a couple of counterbored holes on the other cap with a couple of socket head cap screws holding them both together (screws going through the length of the mallet).

Or how about a bolt straight through the centre of one end cap, through the ski pole in the middle and out the end of the other cap? Sunk in a bit so not to interfere with ball contact. If this was tight enough to keep the ends secure it would allow for more rotation of the end caps to even out wear, but it might be more prone to coming off than four screws around the edge of the cap.

Getafix

No, one screw would be strong enough it's just going thru the centre you'll hit the ski pole.

rusty

I don't see what's wrong with these:

Drill two holes in the pipe at each end (at the sides), ram them in, use self tapping screws to screw into the cap. Done.

islipaway

[quote]

Getafix:

No, one screw would be strong enough it's just going thru the centre you'll hit the ski pole.

Yeah I know you hit the ski pole, that's the point it cuts out a screw going through the yellow pipe and the ski pole, cleaner. The bolt that holds the end caps on also holds the pole into the pipe.

rabsda

would these be adaptable:

White ABS 1.5in End Caps
1.5in White ABS End Caps (10 pack)

gedi

I've seen some people use that type of end caps but I don't know how well they hold up and the ones posted are also 1.5" inches in size.

Check this website and forum for good tips.

http://www.bikepolo.ca

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