London Calling

One of my my favorite sites to haunt is the London FG/SS polo sub-forum. While not the goliath that bikepolo.ca has been, it's one of the european polo hubs on the net. Not only does London have one of (if not the) largest polo scenes in the world, but their style of play seems quite different from us norteamericanos. We play big courts, freewheels, and slapshots, while they primarily ride fixed, play smaller courts, and (from videos I've seen) put emphasis on passing/short game as opposed to breakaways. This is, coincidentally, more similar to the Bloomington style of play.

What is it they say... the proof is in the pudding? Well, here's a plethora of London polo bikes posted on the FGSS forum. There are a ton more bikes/photos on the site, this is just a small sampling of the ones I like for some reason or another. Check out lfgss.com if you're ever bored (or if leagueofbikepolo.com is slow that day).


The polo bikes of London.






















Also, here's a few other gems found in the polobike thread.


28 tooth! atwentymotherfuckingeighttoothcog! Thought I was special with 23t. Especially awesome considering there are chainrings smaller than that!!



Polo-specific disc brake + protector. I can't think of anyone over here that uses disc brakes...maybe some of the mtb riders from Arizona, but apparently a few of the euros do.



^"Happy dinosaur track ends"?


And a nice bike + cat photo. I love how the owner put as much thought into their cat's stairway and bed as they did their own polo bike.




This shot is apparently from Stockholm. Those svedes definitely have some class. Cool color, chromed out, MKE pologuard- hell, even the disk wheel is cut clean.


However, the Germans have us all beat. Check out this rig from Karlsruhe.






Sweet bikes from across the pond. Hopefully we'll get to play some of these teams soon... Berlin '10 Worlds anyone??

W.