Milwaukee Bike Co. - POLO BRUISER!

At long last the polo-specific version of the Bruiser is out! It's available at for sale here at Ben's Cycle. Three sizes: Small, Medium, and Large (46cm/50cm/56cm).

I was able to check out the Beaver Boys' Waterford-made prototypes at Bench Minor in Chicago...


The Bruiser has pretty much set the standard for fixed freestyle riding, but many of it's attributes didn't lend itself as well to polo as it could- too heavy, u-brakes instead of v-brakes, too long a top tube- these have all been taken care of with the new version. Starting to sound a lot like a 700c version of the Joust, eh? Or that polo version of FBM Sword that has never come to fruition...

You can even buy a built up complete!


I like it. Hopefully they raffle one off at the Open.

-W.

Coming soon - Fixcraft XT mallet shaft

Aw hell yeah! Fixcraft has been working on a thicker walled version of their already awesome polo shaft and now it's going into production! I know the difference is slight (1.2mm thick aluminum, up from 1.0mm) but they've been testing 'em and apparently they really are "Xtra Tuff". Fixcraft has only put out useful, polo specific products thus far, so you know i'm gonna order one the moment they're out. Word on the street is they'll be ready by October.


Seen here at the Fixcraft Tumblr.

Wizard Tactix vs. Beaver Boys - Worlds2011/Mr.Do

Beaver Tactix from Mr.Do on Vimeo.

Holy shit im so glad dustin got this on film! Here we see ComoPete use his secret midwestern powers to defeat the defending world champs and thereby completing his transformation into PortlandPete.

This was the first match of the double elimination, and from the video it looks like as the first match of the day it wasn't well attended, but online everyone was watching the streaming (ie - lo-fi version) and that's when my phone started blowing up. Watching the live feed, listening to Machine commentate, and keeping an eye on Podium was the best polo experience i've ever had short of actually playing in a tourney. That was nine hours in front of a computer well spent. Can't wait til polo is on ESPNocho!

-W.

Photos from the Columbus Equinox Tourney

So there's a few of the best, but here's the link to the rest.

-W.

Podium from the Columbus Equinox Tourney

1st - Columbus - David Peter Colin


2nd - Bloomington/Pittsburgh - Travis Gregg Zachary


3rd - Lexington - Kyle Jessie Andy

Thanks again Columbus for another great weekend! I do love those courts- can't wait to come back.

More photos photos tomorrow.

-W.

Worlds 2011 final match by Mr. Do

Thank you Mr.Do! And congrats to East Vancouver and the French super-team on besting the rest of the world!

...and another season of polo boils down to one final match.

I already can't wait for next year.

-W.

Star City Open - Photos Part II

Evan brought his fancy camera to the tourney and took this set of photos. I'm amazed at the quality and excited to post 'em... and i'm actually in a couple shots for once! Thanks dude!

Check out the full album here.

-W.

Star City Open - Photos Part 1

Still trying to figure out exactly how to use this new photo uploader and whatnot, so let this little slideshow suffice for the moment. You can always check out the full album here.



Helluva weekend. Thanks again to Kevin, Tom, Tyler, and Caleb.

-W.

Fun times in Lafayette!

The star city open was one of the most laid back and enjoyable weekends i've had in a while. Big up to the guys in Lafayette for putting on another great tourney in this great state!

...oh, and that little guy. He kept Tree City from- how should i say- losing their heads this weekend? We won some, we lost some, we came home with second place... and a wooden duck.

-W.

Congrats to East Vancouver - World Champs!

Final match at sunset - Crazy Canucks (East Van) vs. Call Me Daddy (France)

Check out this and more photos by Keith from Chicago.

1st - Crazy Canucks ( Rory/Chris/Alex CAN)
2nd - Call Me Daddy (Polo/William/Greg EUR)
3rd - The Guardians (Seabass/Julian/Dustin USA)
4th - Iron Ponies (Quentin/Johan/Clement EUR)
5th - L'Equipe (Manuel/Mario/Lukas EUR)
5th - The Beaver Boys ( Kremin/Brian/Joe USA)
7th - Portland United (Arlyn/Eric/Jason USA)
7th - DTGP (Kev/Ngaihon/Hugo FR/CA)
9th - Synthese ( Moritz/Anna/David EUR)
9th - L'Explosif ( Jason/Andre/Messman USA)
9th - The Oddballs (Leon/Drew/Mike USA)
9th - Alpha 1 ( Ian/Alexis/Capriotti NA)
13th - Machine Politics ( Joe/Ben/Matt Lane USA)
13th - The Boston Celtics ( Pierre/Jonny/Javier USA)
13th - Bourbonic Plague (Nick/Chris/Guthrie USA)
13th - Doin It With Our Socks On ( Ace/Nate/Birdie USA)
17th - The Wardens (Zach/Matt/Jake USA)
17th - The Knights ( Forrest/Cody/Dave USA)
17th - You Betcha ( Maja/Charlie/Cherri NA)
17th - Wizard Tactix ( Drew/Ringer/Pete USA)
17th - Los Cuatreros ( Miguel/Rob/Pelon USA)
17th - Moose Commando Squad ( Medic Mike/Marmousou/Oliver EUR)
17th - Top Centaur ( Ken/Henry/Luke CAN)
17th - The Outsiders ( Martin/Joker/Evan NA)
25th - Royal Flush ( Rik/Eddy/Justin EUR)
25th - Trevor's Last Chance (Tervor/Aaron/Paul NA)
25th - Never Nudes (Cole/Brook/Tom CAN)
25th - Monkey Punch (Flo/Adam/Max EUR)
25th - The Full Kenichis ( Tim/Tom/Zach USA)
25th - Team Priapism ( Jason/Eric/Joey USA)
25th - My Face (Eric/Chris/Erica USA)
25th - Mitten Polo ( Adam/Piet/Jon USA)

-W.

WORLDS IN SEATTLE-- RIGHT NOW!

Streaming Live by Ustream
http://hardcourtpodium.com/follow/worlds

HOLY SHIT WHY AREN'T YOU WATCHING THIS!

Beavers just went down to Top Centaur 1-5 thanks to Henry Norris' full court shots!

This is pretty much gonna be all i do this weekend...

-W.

B-line Opening - Thursday @ 5:30pm!

It's finally happening! The B-line greenway trail will officially open this Thursday with a small ceremony at 6pm. Be there and help us hand out polo flyers! Plus you'll be able to check out the space where the new location of the community bike project will be. I was privileged enough to get a tour from Michael Lindeau himself the other day, and after that i must say i am very, very excited about all the possibilities!

Notice the hideous paint job?? That's how you know the project is in for good!

And this behemoth of a building is gonna be the Upland Brewing's new commercial brewery. While there are no immediate plans for a taproom at that location everyone i've talked to has expressed hope for the idea.




Many good times ahead... hope to see you Thursday!

-W.

Champaign Bike Polo in the Daily Illini

Online version of the newspaper here.

Via miss molly. Thanks girl!

-W.

Another broken bike...

Yuuuuup-- time to get that joust!

-W.

Equinox Tourney in Columbus - Sept 24

...and the flyer makes it legit!

I hear Peter is back from Europe too! Can't wait to see all the good people in Columbus and have a helluva time again... plus I gotta redeem that free tattoo i won last time around ;)

-W.