weird. if they're strong, i'd pay half that price.
---------------------------
carve. smash. eat shit.
Milwaukee Bicycle Co. - Bike Polo Shafts
So apparently Milwaukee bicycles makes a mallet shaft. Has anyone used one of these? Is it worth the dough?
weird. if they're strong, i'd pay half that price.
Word to that. I dont understand why they taper. I mean we use ski poles because they make the most sense, but they were designed for something completely different. The taper in the ski pole is the weak point. Its only a matter of time before someone makes complete mallets machined out of who knows what.
actually i've heard the taper on ski poles makes them stronger, but i'm not an engineer. it's been debated on this forum, though.
---------------------------
carve. smash. eat shit.
Sorry dirtywrench, but I have to tell you I disagree with pretty much everything you've said on all counts in that whole paragraph.
{}------- lexington -------{}
I'd pay half of what drizz would pay if they came as a pair.
You just make them really long and then cut them down. Voila, varied length.
_______
Marco!
I am the Duck.
Seems like a lot. I'm betting you can find a new PAIR of 7075 ski poles for not much more than that and no one really buys those. I know you can buy a PAIR for $4.99 at Value Village although material and availability is a crap-shoot.
:Edmonton/East Van Bike Polo:
Edit: Didn't take me long
http://www.getboards.com/snow/accessories/poles/scratch08_poles.html#2892
These are actually cheaper.
if people keep buying polo-specific shafts the prices will go down. there is no way to make them cost $5 a pop first go-round. consider it an investment or something.
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victoria bike polo
As far as I can tell it is a ski pole without a grip and a basket. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I should also be fair however. The poles I posted were on sale so it does not reflect the 'regular' price of a 7075 ski pole but it does show what else is out there to purchase.
:Edmonton/East Van Bike Polo:
http://www.getboards.com/snow/accessories/poles/scratch08_poles.html#2892
yeah i bought a pair of those. super light. built one up to play in RVA and it broke the second day using it. ymmv.
What about people who live where it ski hills simply don't exist what do they think?
http://www.mkebikepolo.com/wordpress/
.
Good move.
(Though I wouldn't buy them at the moment) I have managed to collect enough over the past year or so, but I had no other choice and it took alot of time. It's good to know that at least there is somewhere you can go, when all else fails.
No reason why you can't just go straight to a ski pole manufacturer and ask about getting poles before they are dressed with handles etc. I guess this is just what Milwaukee has done.
Of course, anyone can just look up a metal supplier in your own city and order Aluminium tubing by length (no taper) It also takes the guesswork/luck out of scoring a better grade of aluminium.
--
bikepolo.com.au
urbanbicyclist.org
I think that it is great that MKE stepped up to release a shaft. Why not? Bling at a reasonable price, and its not bent, dented, or scuffed up.
Right, you can go score some for cheap at a thrift store, but they might be in crappy shape of are made from questionable materials, possibly both. $14.99 for that weight/quality is not bad. That is the same material that the old Primo Cranks were made out of, I think this is a good move.
When you break it down you get:
Good Material
Rigid and Straight
Range in length.
Consistency from mallet to mallet.
Nice Paint Job
Its a basic idea, fair price, and I'm sure you will many follow the lead of MKE Bike CO.
My only question is: who is next to paint a ski pole?
mallet shafts are the new skate deck.
MKE 05-06
CHI 07-Pres.
Its a basic idea, fair price, and I'm sure you will many follow the lead of MKE Bike CO.
Isn't the lead already out there? What of those German shafts?
BOP: Eating Little Split Pea's shit for years.
I don't look at as many shafts as you do, broseph.
Post a link.
MKE 05-06
CHI 07-Pres.
Can't find it. Jesus, does anyone else remember this?
P.S. No one looks at as many shafts as I do.
BOP: Eating Little Split Pea's shit for years.
and
http://www.cycles-for-heroes.com/blog/mallet-shafts-deluxe
Where do we buy these?
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bikepolo.com.au
urbanbicyclist.org
I think that it is great that MKE stepped up to release a shaft. Why not? Bling at a reasonable price, and its not bent, dented, or scuffed up.
Right, you can go score some for cheap at a thrift store, but they might be in crappy shape of are made from questionable materials, possibly both. $14.99 for that weight/quality is not bad. That is the same material that the old Primo Cranks were made out of, I think this is a good move.
When you break it down you get:
Good Material
Rigid and Straight
Range in length.
Consistency from mallet to mallet.
Nice Paint Job
Its a basic idea, fair price, and I'm sure you will many follow the lead of MKE Bike CO.
My only question is: who is next to paint a ski pole?
mallet shafts are the new skate deck.
MKE 05-06
CHI 07-Pres.
bingo bango bongo! it's a painted ski pole and MKE or any other fabricator should be making advances in proper shaft design ie. better materials and head engagement, not just painting something and making the quick bees off it.
when it comes down to it, i am certain those of us in the southern region will end up buying a few of these shafts. we have all had some individual luck finding a very random ski pole at a thrift store or in bulk trash collection piles, but frankly we are often short of them. it's fun to wrangle ski poles whenever we travel, but that can be hard to do/hard to come by and may yield varied results. i am from Texas and i will probably buy one or two of these soon.
the end.
Defintely know the feeling. The Gulf Coast is a ski pole desert. Also found out that going to other cities that have acess to ski poles and cleaning out all the beater poles from ski shops is really unpopular with the local polo people (sorry Albuquerque). If the price comes down, definitely worth the investment.
No doubt it's cool that they found them and added them to their store as polo shafts. I give them credit for that. The price isn't bad but when you add some shipping on to it it's going to get pricey. Some people won't mind the price so yeah they're going to sell a few. I truly hope they do sell some.
get together with some people, 15.99 x 7 = 111.93 = free shipping over $100.
more kenball played by more people in more places more often
Yes, but you can get more than double the amount of ski poles for that price (at the right time of year) shipped (I've done that) ...
So the question still is, are they better? and if so what makes them better? PROOF!
x capitalismos.
And you bootstrap-pullin' up canucks, why hasn't anyone pulled a Horatio Alger here and made their stake wandering around in our snow-blasted wasteland collecting loose skipoles and maple syrup cans and bundling them up and selling them to the poor, tanned, emaciated Merkans down south who wouldn't know the feeling of snot freezing if their snot froze? I smell a BIZNESS PROPOSITION.
otherwise, xwhatever what kev said down below. Just shows that MKE Bikes loves polo and sees us spending money on it.
Your passion is one to admire. but I'm just saying its cheaper and it took me five seconds to google ski poles.
In the spirt of opportunity cost I hear you, just sayin' for SOME PEOPLE with more available time than cash maybe it is better to sacrifice time.
Not trying to say the product is in bad spirit or whatever but at the end of the day, I will still go for the cheeper equivalent. Refer to the final question of the product, I am saying I want PROOF that this is not just an equivalent, but a valuable investment.
If you want proof, get to know Matt-Hewitt and Kremin and realize that if they say they have beat the shit out of these know that they are burly polo players and they beat the ever loving shit out of them and they are quality.
Genius Idea!
As a polo player in Denver, I'm gonna wait until the slopes close and then when the ski poles are suddenly abundant, I'll be sure to collect hundreds, nay, thousands of ski poles and sell them to pay my tuition!
Yes, but you can get more than double the amount of ski poles for that price (at the right time of year) shipped (I've done that) ...
So the question still is, are they better? and if so what makes them better? PROOF!
I'm not sure what you're wanting proven. If you want proof that a 7075 shaft will last longer as a polo mallet than say, a 6061 or 6063 then forget it... too many factors and variables for what will break a mallet under too many different circumstances.
It's a fact that 7075 is branded as a lighter, stronger aluminum alloy. Even at that there's different tensile strengths for different tempers of 7075. If there wasn't any sort of testing and analysis behind this fact, then there wouldn't be a need for classification of the different types of alloys out there.
What can be said from all this is that there's at east a pretty good chance that a 7075 shaft will be more durable than most beyond a reasonable doubt. Does that hold true for every instance? Of course not.
What MKE is doing is offering up a reliable source for a reliably durable piece of equipment. They're not making any guarantees that you'll have the best mallet shaft ever. Take it or leave it.
{}------- lexington -------{}
Pieter, please quit ruining America with your socialist ideas.
Get together? I believe that function has been disabled on Facebook.
Pieter, can you direct me to where on the website you saw that it says shipments over $100 are free. i just tried to do a test checkout and am getting charged $40 to ship 7 shafts to nanaimo.
according to the ben's cycle peeps, shipping is free for order over $100 to the US, and 1/2 price for international (ie-canada) orders.
taxes and duties, jawn, taxes and duties. it's not worth it.
ship them to a seattle polo house. import them under a blanket using a blanket SPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR POLO SMUGGLING or you'll be called a "retard" by the reactionaries.
barring that I have an account at a place in Blaine WA that you can ship to and pick them up for a mere $4 US. I can't even believe it's legal but it is. god bless the grey market.
I want to see the Milwaukee guys beat the shit out of these and see how they hold up. I could see paying the price if it is decently strong. I would build it up as a "nice" mallet for tournament play and what not.
OGT-COMOPOLO
I doubt MKE will make a mint with these, but it's yet another display their commitment to polo, and i think that's cool.
This.
Yes the commitment is great! The relationship between the company and the club is amazing. Do the MKE polo players control design of these products? Good job MKE!
>I doubt MKE will make a mint with these, but it's yet another display their commitment to polo, and i think that's cool.
for some reason the x2 button's never worked for me (old old internet explorer at work?) so...
X2
I think this is a great idea. People that complain about the price are most likely the ones rolling around on junker polo bikes with steel wheels, praying their wheels won't taco. My point being, you get what you pay for. Are there used ski poles out there that compare? Probably, if you live near a ski resort. I would like to see them field proven. Any of the MKE guys using these?
MKE ski poles. Are you taking your polo mallet seriously enough?
with steel wheels, praying their wheels won't taco
Lol, I know that prayer but I don't think I did it well enough. There is nothing wrong with using what you have until you can get better. Some people are just patient and it's not like they're wasting all their time looking for cheap ski poles. They know that sooner or later they will just show up. There are no ski resorts in Oklahoma and maybe that's why they're so cheap when you find the poles here. We've managed to find enough for everyone here without going much out of our way or spending much money. But we're patient people. Oh and one nice think about those old steel rims is that they could be bent right back into shape and you could keep on rolling, no prayers or tools required.
Timmm - I want to see the Milwaukee guys beat the shit out of these and see how they hold up.
I have put my shafts through very tough game play, including the Truducken in RVA along with countless pick-up games. I have to say they have held up well, with and without powdercoat paint. IMHO this is a great solution at very fair price for people that don't have access to used poles like a lot of us do, or if your sick and tired of building a mallet with unknown materials and watching it break days later.
Tim A. - Any of the MKE guys using these?
Yes, have been for a few months now and has held up without major dents or bends and has yet to break.
Do they make em in green? or purple? I think it's great to see a Bike industry supplier making shafts, it shows that our sport is growing. Not long before groups of kids just start popping up right under our noses playing polo cause they got the stuff from the internet.
Skid & Destroy
Axles of Evil
Not long before groups of kids just start popping up right under our noses playing polo cause they got the stuff from the internet.
x negative one jillion
Well, no I agree it's likely but still, it sucks. These kids need to be raised in gentle loving polo arms... or else you get the dreaded Melbourne Effect.
>Not long before groups of kids just start popping up right under our noses playing polo cause they got the stuff from the internet.
http://www.leagueofbikepolo.com/forum/general/2009/12/24/fixed-gear-only...
Word to that... and I am excited for my first polo pilgrimage to the middle of the craton.
The Melbourne Effect Joke is that people will see polo and start playing an "exclusive" game on the other side of town with their cool friends on your regular polo night.
Come to think of it I'm just a cranky old man living in a cave in the middle of a tropical island where they don't play polo.
people will see polo and start playing an "exclusive" game on the other side of town with their cool friends on your regular polo night.
Sounds like what hard court did to grass polo.
yes we didn't buy everything from the internet... we were using broom sticks and PVC till we discovered that didn't work very well.
If we get scared about new people joining our sport then what's the point? Progression is good, unless your an up-tight conservative.
edit: anyway. I hate how threads get off-topic so fast. Stick to the point.
wow...my thoughts too, Joel. Grass on Wed...HC on Sunday/Monday. Thats how PBP and AZHC got together.
I have experimented with alot of shaft material over the years. Hickory, Golf, ski, conduit, and am more than willing to try anything better. Sweet to see polo specific gear.
Coming from a Ski shop background these shafts are a good deal and I'm glad to see MKE making them available. I've been playing with mallets made from my old Scott slalom race poles that are also Series 4 7075 T-6 AL and they are stronger and lighter than your average pole. I look all the time and have yet to find a used pair of S4 7075 T-6 poles at a 2nd hand store and you can touch a pair new for less than $50 on sale.
I say good on ya MKE for making these available, not only so I dont have to go hunting next time I need a good mallet shaft but to make them easy for newbs to get involved with good quality equipment. Because at the end of the day, Bike Polo is a sport, it's not just your sport and getting new people involved is what we're all trying to do anyway.
Oh and the taper is not the weak point of the mallet.
I look all the time and have yet to find a used pair of S4 7075 T-6 poles at a 2nd hand store and you can touch a pair new for less than $50 on sale.
Exactly!
People that say "awww just go to your local thrift store blah blah." yeah, i've done that. A billion times. People that play a lot, don't like to go to the thrift store a lot. period.
how is a re branded ski pole not polo specific? What does 95% of polo players use for mallets? Why change what works? no matter the company or there product or the price people would still complain. Were a bunch of grass root resourceful people, and thats fucking awesome. but why hate on something thats made to make your life easier? but those of you who aren't haters or resourceful buy dis shit its quality I have slightly bent and dented mine but have yet to break it. I've had it since November.
http://www.mkebikepolo.com/wordpress/
Should we all stop using ski poles because their intended use is for skiing? The material chosen these shafts are made from IS polo specific.
Thats a good point, why would I want to waste perfectly good HDPE Gas Pipe and Hockey Tape on a mallet shaft that isn't "Polo Specific?"
wait.. on second thought, you're retarded.
Thanks MKE. As the equipment improves so will the game. Thanks again for making these available...
no shit they're just rebranded ski poles, but they're high quality and all exactly alike... let's all buy the "Kayce from Philly Polo Specific Shaft"... oh wait, there's no such thing cuz that guy is a nobody who's contributed DICK to bike polo.
MKE Bike Company puts out a mallet shaft (after experimenting with other materials that didn't work nearly as well as high quality ski pole; i know because i tested some of those materials) to make the lives of polo players easier and people are gonna whine about it.
all my shafts have been from thrift stores and the majority of those shafts have been garbage. by chance i got hold of a couple 7075s and they've lasted me 6+ months, several tournaments and 100s of pickup games. i never knew how nice it is to have a reliable shaft till i had one, now i know that i can just order one up from MKE and not spends months buying shitty ones in the hope that one day i'll get lucky and get a good one at the thrift store. i think this is a fair price for a quality shaft.
These shafts are worth every cent! I've ordered six,I'm still using the first one. I don't have time to go to every thrift store in town looking for ski poles. I'm left handed and every right hander I play cracks the shit out of my mallets it hasn't bent yet 100's of pick games later straight as an arrow. These things are bad ass. Good job!
Point: Availability.
Getting a degree in semantics would be more fun then reading over your analogy again.
see ya on the court!
Quick everybody, stop using street hockey balls!
:P
also we took into account making this sport easier to get into for the idiots of the world. But I was tired of spending time building a perfect mallet and having the damn shaft break the first time i played with it. so i think its worth it. In the end this was going to happen sooner then later and its all in baby steps. Be glad that MBC and Fixie inc. are doing this and not Nike i guarantee you would be paying a lot more then 16 dollars a pole.
http://www.mkebikepolo.com/wordpress/
very true.
also we took into account making this sport easier to get into for the idiots of the world. But I was tired of spending time building a perfect mallet and having the damn shaft break the first time i played with it. so i think its worth it. In the end this was going to happen sooner then later and its all in baby steps. Be glad that MBC and Fixie inc. are doing this and not Nike i guarantee you would be paying a lot more then 16 dollars a pole.
http://www.mkebikepolo.com/wordpress/
I just ordered two. We'll givem the test.
Yikes, getting any to Australia seems a bit prohibitive, ($33 postage just for one, $90+ for 7) Was going to get a couple as late Christmas presents.
I might have missed it in other threads, is there any way of telling what grade of aluminium your current mallets are if you cant see the code (either gone or never there).
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bikepolo.com.au
urbanbicyclist.org
If there never were any markings it's safe to say it's below 7000 series and likely to be below 6000 series.
:Edmonton/East Van Bike Polo:
Break it in half and throw it in a fire. If it turns the flame blue then it was 6000 or higher. If it just melts into a puddle then it was the cheap stuff.
Thanks.
:) So before I break a mallet in half, you reckon I could hold one of the ends/pieces I cut off to a flame and get the same result? Blue = good, else = weaker...
I'll try it out.
--
bikepolo.com.au
urbanbicyclist.org
Better living through chemistry.
_______
Marco!
I am the Duck.
Indeed... I'll try this out with a few of the cut off's from various poles.
Any other colours to look out for?
To clarify the cost thing, ($33 postage + 16 just for one, $90+ $111 for 7)
Matt, are there any more creative ways of getting the postage down? ordering more? wrapping together? waiting longer?
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bikepolo.com.au
urbanbicyclist.org
Wait longer. Wait for Pangaea Ultima. Better living through geology.
Check out australia giving it to antartica hard.
_______
Marco!
I am the Duck.
Yeah. Fuck you Antartica!!! HAHAHAHAHHAHHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!
BOP: Eating Little Split Pea's shit for years.
Hey! hey! hey! I refuse to believe Hawaii will sink under the pacific we fought to long to rise up from the ocean to go back under...I wanna see us put on that map!
A reliable source for a $16 solid lightwieght mallet shaft for is a deal. I'll be signing up for one shortly.
From someone who lives where ski poles are nearly impossible to find, and knowing the quality of 7075 aluminum, I have to say $15 is a great value.
Thank you, MKE for keeping with the tapered ski pole, and not some half-assed attempt at selling the polo world a straight tube of aluminum.
{}------- lexington -------{}
Damn right.
Here in in Aus, ski poles are attainable but not readily.
It got to a point where we were getting pretty low on mallets so i made a few out of straight aluminium tubes from the hardware store.
Besides being shitty ass, thin alloy then bends and dents really easily, i also realised that the taper is a REALLY good thing for making mallets.
The taper allows you to slide the mallet head up the taper creating a really tight fit before attaching it with a screw/bolt. With the straight tube, even with a perfect hole drilled in the head, play will develop around the pole/hole and there is nothing you can do about it.
I imagine I'll be buying a couple before the tourney season heats up again. It's never fun playing in a tournament with a curvy-swervy mallet shaft. I have a good pair of Scotts that I've had for ages. They're all dinged up and slightly curved, but for how old they are and how much abuse they've taken, I'm very happy with them. If these MKE poles deliver half of that I would be happy.
OGT-COMOPOLO
Over this past year I have tried to buy completed mallets off of people on this forum for $15 + shipping to South Korea. Several people agreed to sell me mallets, but nobody ever sent anything.
I'm a few days away from leaving, and have not played a single game here, since I couldn't get the damn equipment. Having a company sell these poles, even if they are just regular ski poles painted orange, would have been a great option for me. I say this since I assume a company would have followed through and actually sent me what they said they would. I can imagine that there are plenty of other would-be clubs out there who this would also be a good option for.
Sasha
I'm sorry Sasha!
Though I never told you I would, I still wish I had done it.
_______
Marco!
I am the Duck.
This is a good idea for sure. It was easy to initially think it was capitalism at work until I remember that I live near ski resorts and have easy access to thrift store poles that I am happy with.
Thank you MKE, I like where your head is at. The orange is a bit questionable though. You can't make orange look mean.
_______
Marco!
I am the Duck.
it's harley davidson orange (it's a milwaukee thing)... MKE Bicycle Co.'s first bike was a single speed named "the orange one" in this same color.
that's why
It's "eddie" orange.
AKA Eddie Merckx orange.
And it's a Harley Davidson orange.
that's why.
I like the historical significance for MKE bikes and the reference to Eddie Merckx.
I retract my prior opinion.
_______
Marco!
I am the Duck.
Eddy used these shafts during the '71 Tour. He challenged Ocaña to a match on the rest day. Took the match 5-0 and won the first yellow jersey of hardcourt polo. That's history.
:Edmonton/East Van Bike Polo:
*Eddy
can i get these raw?
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/12/it-had-to-happen-bike-polo-mallet...
Wired.com weighs in.
i want to know why this gets so much hate. finding ski poles in south florida is god damn impossible. i would be happy to pay 15 bucks for a pole. My gripe is that i got shit for presenting the link to Cycles For Heroes First production made bike polo mallet when those guys actually had a polo mallet completely manufactured, not a re-branded ski pole. the thing is 7075 aluminum and tapered on the inside for added strangh in the areas that is needs it and a specially milled mallet head (like what lucky does) all in one, but yet it gets way more hate.... ughhh. Americans fickleness is beyond me.
"ok Mr. Schwinn fucking Armstrong!"
Change is bad dude. Change is bad.
The hate is coming from people who can go to a thrift store and buy stuff. Everyone in the south seems to really like this, it's an availability situation.
I live in portland and probably won't buy one of them because I have a bunch of ski poles I like, but I see this is a really decent deal for the people who aren't in the same geological situation. Beats scrounging for crap poles or spending way too much on current edition ski poles meant to be used in snow that cost 60 a pair.
_______
Marco!
I am the Duck.
> Cycles For Heroes First production made bike polo mallet
Are these available? Is there any more on these than just the one photo with the bolt, insert and heat (with cut off marks?)
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bikepolo.com.au
urbanbicyclist.org
FYI I was told the first batch of CFH mallets were available to ship mid DEC '09. Also the shipping to US is 39 Euros on top of the price of the mallet system.
i really don't think there's that much hate. maybe you skipped most of the thread. there is dissent from a few people, but most people here are supportive, even if they can find ski poles for free at their local ski hill.
In one way its great to provide a product to people who cant find what they need. In another way, its making loot on a new market. I mean all they did was contact a ski polo manufacture and buy 1000 blanks for less than half the price they are selling them for. First it was trick fixies, now its bike polo, whats next?
First it was waterford making a bike specifically for bike polo, now it's a company making it much easier for some people to play polo and probably making a profit off of it.
Does this effect your desire to play? It's capitalism at work but such is life.
_______
Marco!
I am the Duck.
In one way its great to provide a product to people who cant find what they need. In another way, its making loot on a new market. I mean all they did was contact a ski polo manufacture and buy 1000 blanks for less than half the price they are selling them for. First it was trick fixies, now its bike polo, whats next?
It's called business. Some call it entrepreneurial spirit. At its most basic it is called survival.
If it bothers you so much, you don't have to buy into it or pay it any mind. But you might not want to consider the fact that somewhere, somehow, someone is buying and selling off everything you hold dear and sacred. Not much can change that. You should stop worrying about it so much and continue to play polo on your own terms because this isn't directly affecting you. If it is, then maybe you should move on to the next cool thing.
{}------- lexington -------{}
So, the benefit to having stuff you like manufactured commercially is that pretty shortly the price goes down, more people get into the activity you enjoy, and the profile of what you are doing goes up, thus giving you more players. Also, while MKE Bikes is just buying and repainting stuff that someone else made, they are not using distributors to sell them, so you're actually getting them at a lower price than you might if say Quality Bicycle Products distributed them to shops.
Personally, I would love it if MKE would sell those to QBP, so that shops around the US would start to STOCK PRODUCTS FOR US, and the shipping that you, the consumer, have to pay, would be lower (although the price would be higher).
Thanks for telling me how to feel Lexington. If it bothered me that much I probably wouldn't have posted it in the first place. After the brutal mallet hack I took to the ankle(I still have a ridge on my bone) from one of your players I'm starting to wonder if Lexington is a buncha haters? I hope I'm wrong.
Nah, we're lovers, not haters. Every single one of us.
*edit: Actually now that I think about it, seeing as how the fact that your leg was hurt in a game against a Lexington team at a tournament has nothing to do with the topic of discussion here, and the fact that you're using that to generalize the nearly 40 players we have here (based on an incident with one), kinda makes it seem like you're bothered by relatively minor things.
I'm sorry, and hope your leg gets better. Happy New Year!
{}------- lexington -------{}
aren't these $15.99? that's $1 less then a case of canadian pabst
I was just starting to think this was a good idea until I found out that I could get a case of pabst for the same price.
For real, ski poles are easy to come by here, I've got 15 some odd nice mallets built right now. The reason so many is becuase quality varies and most break or at least bend real fast. The more I play the less willing I am to compromise. I would gladly purchase one MKE but prefer not to pay shipping. What I'm saying is that I hope your poles make it out to many tournaments this year so people have a chance to purchase them in person. open the distribution channels out west and I'm sure they'll sell.
Kite
EVBP
played with one of these tonight legit for sure
pick one if your considering it, totally worth the price of admission
Soon and I mean like next week I will be testing titanium, managed to find it for $70 for an eight foot piece, me and wheelie mark are gonna be rockin the Ti stick! woot!
Skid & Destroy
Axles of Evil
timtim,
You think you would be kind enough to post dimensions & weight of your material when it's in your hands? BTW, what business did you purchase from? I am anxiously waiting to experiment with a ti shaft.
Certainly Mr Hewitt, the company is onlinemetals.com and the diameter I am ordering is .625"OD x.569"ID with a .025" wall thickness and a 42" piece should weigh 163.05 grams.
Skid & Destroy
Axles of Evil
brohewitt, i will split one of these with you. i just need 39-40 inches of that yellow cake
hey mr. roberts, I got your message to jason the other week, but so far he has been unsuccessful, you'll have to come out here and rough me up yourself! by the way if you do get some Ti-stick lemme know how you like it, and I will do the same when I get mine.
Skid & Destroy
Axles of Evil
haha mr tim,
yeah i thought i may have passed that message to the wrong person. really though, who is the right person for that job? unclear at the moment.
i'm still burning for my next shot(s) at you
puff and pass
How is your ti-stick holding up?
so far so good, I have two different diameters, a half inch and a three quarter inch, the half inch still bends but does not break, and the three quarter inch I use to brutalize people when they feel like mallet hacking me a bunch, I only have to do that once and they stop cause they don't like having broken mallets. I have to say I was a little disappointed that the supplier didn't have and wasn't able to get the .65 diameter that I originally wanted, but the half inch is really good, telegraphs well and slices through the air with ease. I never thought about wind resistance on mallets before using this stuff, but I definitely feel a difference.
Deal. I'll attend to this asap.
I'll do my best to help you field test them buddy.
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Hurrah for Anarchy! This is the happiest day of my life!
"So Bike polo is the other woman?"
Thai-sticks? Whoa!
{}------- lexington -------{}
Package was waiting for me on my doorstep when I came home last night.
The poles look great! Nice weight, good length, great color.
Will be building them up this weekend.
This is great for those having trouble getting poles elsewhere.
We built up two of these. Our R&D Dept reports this:
1. Very stiff, no flex.
2. A bit on the heavy side.
3. No bend, dent or paint chip after several diff people and several games
4. Don't powder coat these. Leave'm raw with an MKE sticker on it.
5. Pricey
But overall a very durable, and long lasting mallet shaft.
JB
Spy photos taken at the NOD Skunkwerks:
Mike T. - Phoenix Bike Polo
what hardware is that attaching the head to the shaft?
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carve. smash. eat shit.
nice. thanks!
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carve. smash. eat shit.
Sveden, they are 1/4x20 T-Nuts with-out the spur. Nice flush finish.
One wood screw seems to be working for me for the past year. Light and mounts flush.
Also, no drilling required.
X2
Once the mallet is complete I take the screw ends to a wheel grinder for a smooth flat finish.
Form experience with a very durable 7000 series shaft, the T-nut method is a bit much. The bolt is super durable, but there are several long term cons.
1. The large hole for the bolt weakens the shaft. Especially after a couple of months/head changes. Eventually the hole mushrooms out and you need to drill another one. Eventually it breaks near the intersection. The hole for a simple screw is much less damaging and you can go through several size crews as the hole gets bigger.
2. Weight. Why use a bull dozer when a shovel will do?
3. The work to install is 3 times as much as a normal screw.
Do the screw, you're shaft will like it
BRINGING THE RUCKUS
In your opinion, what size bolt is too big?
Honestly the bolt that breaks the shaft is the one that is too big. If you start with a small crew, you can keep the shaft alive and slowly increase the size of the screw as needed. The more holes you have to drill, the shorter the shaft will be at that length.
I think anything larger than 1/4" is too big. The trick is finding the hardest possible bolt... many common hardware store bolts break easily.
TRIED AND TRUE!
Cant wait to whak some balls with you Ben!
1. The large hole for the bolt weakens the shaft. Especially after a couple of months/head changes. Eventually the hole mushrooms out and you need to drill another one. Eventually it breaks near the intersection.
Wow. I wish I had mallets long enough to replace the heads multiple times!
However, I don't understand how making one hole once is inferior to drilling multiple holes over time and removing more and more material each time. How would the hole mushroom? The bolt doesn't move, if installed properly. Drilling bolt holes for a head when there is already a hole in the shaft is hard, but I just do it right the first time.
Wow. I wish I had mallets long enough to replace the heads multiple times!
I had a set of Scott Reflex poles that lasted over a year. Actually they are both still in use by others, Tough mothers. I just grew out of them, mainly because they got shorter from bolt hole breakage. One was T-nut, the other was multiple holes.
However, I don't understand how making one hole once is inferior to drilling multiple holes over time and removing more and more material each time. How would the hole mushroom?
From experience of having lasting poles, one big hole seemed almost as damaging as multiple holes. All of the impacts on the big bolt eventually flares out the hole making the head woogiddy (that's right, woogiddy) and you have to move up to a larger bolt and t-nut assembly. Multiple holes just flat out weaken the pole.
I just do it right the first time.
Exactly
This is my suggestion for anyone who has a pole that they think is going to last:
Choose a dedicated screw placement on the shaft. (I put mine at the top of the head, not the middle.)
Drill a clean hole with a bit that is slightly smaller than your screw. It should be snug, but you should not have to force it through with a lot of effort. If it locks up your drill, the hole is too small for the screw. Also, Just augering through with a self taping screw weakens the hole.
Try and use the same size screw as long as possible.
I've been waiting well over three weeks to scream TEE's NUTZ!
NOD: Thanks for your investment of time and $$$. I know PBP and AZHC enjoyed the opportunity to try them out.
Mike T. - Phoenix Bike Polo
What ya do is...
Heat t-nut with a torch/gas stove so teeth dig into plastic all the way. Throw your mounting bolt through shaft and into first 2 threads, just enough to ensure t-nut is straight in and outer flat portion of t-nut is flush as possible to the outside of pipe(with out squishing to much). Wait for plastic and t-nut to cool down, then you can properly torque bolt down.
Sometimes the hardware used with this system tends to bend a bit, which movies the head up the shaft a small amount, thus exposing some shaft at the bottom. Large the mounting bolt the better!
Heat t-nut with a torch/gas stove so teeth dig into plastic all the way.
T nuts rule! Been using them for awhile and wouldn't use anything else.
We found out on accident that if you use an angle grinder to grind off the excess bolt, the metal gets so hot it melts into the plastic. You need to let it cool halfway through, then hit it again.
Crandal and Drew have been using these, I really like them and am going to mount one this week, I figure since more tourneys are requiring them for player safety and it's just a good idea I'll give it a shot, plus they are relatively inexpensive at hardware stores.
Skid & Destroy
Axles of Evil
I figure since more tourneys are requiring them for player safety and it's just a good idea
Where'd you see this?
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Hurrah for Anarchy! This is the happiest day of my life!
"So Bike polo is the other woman?"
Finished mine. Not bitchin about the price but they are heavy. Indeed
Did you buy the kit? just shaft? just head? What part of your mallet do you think is heavy?
If you want the mallet to be lighter, get some red, cut it to 4" and drill 1" or slightly smaller holes, four should do it. PRESTO!
3.5" (~9cm) deck screw is what I am using now for attaching heads. I use a longer length than what the head really needs because the 3.5" screws are thicker than the 2.5" kind. I cut the remainder flush and file it down. I haven't seen one break or bend yet. Those things are hard as hell to even cut through.
I took a freshly built-up MKE pole to the STL Lock-in, and I think 75% of the players there must've asked me about it and wanted to check it out for themselves. I was surprised at the amount of attention and reaction it got.
I just built out two, one with an new old stock St Cago skinny PVC head, and another with a new double-capped HDPE head. I was surprised how thick-walled they are at the tapered end, but they're still light. Sure, it's just a ski pole, but it's top quality material, and there's something nice about knowing that it's never been used on moguls or tree-skiing etc.
ABS. I never made PVC heads.
/nitpick
Oh, ya, uh, right. Well either way it's going to break soon but i'll enjoy it while it lasts.
Please do. In related news, I have enough requests for those smaller diameter heads built up to make some with the next batch. March/April.
i though you were gonna send the beavers some?
I sent Chcicago and Milwaukee some protoype "tournament" edition mallet heads. Thinner-walled pipe, not smaller diameter pipe.
Balllllerrrrrrrr.
Also, are these going to be of the thin walled variety with the black caps? Or more like the older whitecapped ones?
I'm excited now, I'll take 5, hope my current head lasts til then.
(Kev) Out of curiosity how much does the non capped PVC one weigh?
If you look closely, Joe just said that Lucky was going to send the beavers some Head.............(snicker)
At Kremin:
Being in Hawaii where ski poles are impossible to find these MKE and MO mallets both intrigued me. Mo's being from cyclesforheroes is way to expensive one to purchase and two to ship seeing as their in europe. MKE while the price isnt completely outrageous $15.99 plus the $15 they want to ship is more then two ski poles shipped via ebay for $20...and they are brand new aluminum ski poles not the strongest Im sure but better then the other options so far. And any site that says free shipping always excludes the islands so the buying 7 option just makes it even more expensive.
Thats my opinion from a none skiing broke ass point of view...
yeah, the shipping on these things is just plain ridiculous. Even if I were to buy 10 of them the shipping would still be $6 each! $ I could see $6 if I was buying one, but $30 to buy ONE and have it shipped to Ohio is just too much.
be nice if they had markings for those of us that are very anal about specifics in regards to drillings and cut off markings
Here are some kids sticks but they seem pretty much the same thing and for $12 a pair I wonder if anyone will want to give them a try:
Here are some kids sticks but they seem pretty much the same thing and for $12 a pair I wonder if anyone will want to give them a try:
http://www.rei.com/product/789854
Doesn't specify material so I doubt it's 7075. They also only come in a 90cm length (35.5ish inches) which is too short for most I think.
Otera- My tape measure works fine and is very accurate to 3/32".
Chris is right. Those Leki poles don't specify type of material, and 7075 store bought poles tend to have higher prices.
i run 6065 poles and they hold up sufficiently...but then again most have played longer and harder then I...insert dirty remark here
Those orange shafts have been awesome. I'm retiring two tonight after months (?) of play, assuming I complete two new ones tonight before pickup. The screws I use to fix head to shaft have worn the shaft down to the point where they no longer hold. A new screw hole or setting up a different method for head-shaft join would probably solve the problem. It's impresses me that these wear down at the head-shaft join rather than bending or breaking.
Anyway, thanks MKE for making these happen and to the LBSs that are carrying them!
A question for everyone. Would you buy a shaft at double the price, but half the weight?
i find the orange ones pretty light already. not the lightest out there, but light enough. but i'd probably want to at least try something lighter. hard to believe that it'd be as durable if it's half the weight. material?
If the shipping rate to New Zealand was half the price...then probably.
same durability?
I would at least pay for one to try it out. Hard tobfind good, light shafts.
My advice is to keep price down. Weight is not significant problem for most players.
Low price means more people buy your mallet. This is a new thing let it grow before messing with the formula.
If you wanted to add value you might create a build kit of some sort. A bracket and a couple screws and an instruction manual. Make it easy and brainless for new people to go from shaft + pipe to their own mallet to throw on the fence. The Ikea polo mallet, if you will.
Nick added a MKE shaft to our graveyard last night. But he snapped it in frustration over the boards. Took about 6-7 whacks.
Don't forget these too. Same great 7075 t6 series aluminum as the orange ones, at a lower price. they come in black. your favorite color.
Standard poles: http://tinyurl.com/2enl3oz
Pole / hdpe head / tee nut combo: http://tinyurl.com/2cgbw2u
Team set ups at discounts too: http://tinyurl.com/25dlqv7
We have some other stuff, and a great top tube pad that holds several mallets launching in two weeks.
word.
I'm sure your product is great but its bad business to crosspost in this specific thread. Why not edit your comment to a blank slate and then you can pretend it never happened.
my experience is that weight matters most at the end, so making a light head/subjection system is what the arm feels the most in terms of agility and suffering.
Perro del Mal(let) FTW!!
The strongest, most affordable, best looking mallet shaft you'll ever see in your life, son!
www.perrodelmallet.wordpress.com
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Comment:
I love my orange MKE Bike Co polo shaft! So rugged.
I tried contacting you, but couldn't reach you.... maybe you should try the mighty, mighty, Perro del Mal(let) just to compare.
Go, go, Perro del Mal(let)!
What are the finer details of ski poles made of the same aluminum, other than the paint job?
such as tapered measurements, balance point, wall thickness etc..?
What are the finer details of ski poles made of the same aluminum, other than the paint job?
That was kind of my point, tho' I'm prepared to be convinced otherwise.
FIXCRAFT FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our mallet shaft prices have been competitively updated!
Whaa???? Never heard a peep about these until this moment, but I will order one the moment I get my paycheck.