i find this this way less confidential than whatever youve masterminded to fuse those caps on so brilliantly
arms race continued
some guy had one of these at spring break, what do you think the advantages are? i messed with it and i see maybe a bit more energy focused into a shot, a bit lighter, one side for scoops, what else though?
edit: this is the conical shaped head right...?
That guy might have been Gregg from Chicago who had a strikingly similar design he DYI'd himself. . .no affiliation with eighth inch though.
This version has a lot more plastic and logo embellishment then ol'Gregg's.
I'm still going to steal HDPE and drill it out myself. I've got nothing against that company and it's cool what they do, but the day eighth inch is mass producing mallets like they mass produce "everything fixed gear" is the day I rage when I think about polo commercialism.
I suggest we think about who we give our money to and what companies we want representing our sport. We aren't really a "trendy fad" group of cyclists/players and eighth inch is most definitely a "trendy fad" kind of company. Sorry but fuck all that.
I'm still going to steal HDPE and drill it out myself. I've got nothing against that company and it's cool what they do, but the day eighth inch is mass producing mallets like they mass produce "everything fixed gear" is the day I rage when I think about polo commercialism.
I suggest we think about who we give our money to and what companies we want representing our sport. We aren't really a "trendy fad" group of cyclists/players and eighth inch is most definitely a "trendy fad" kind of company. Sorry but fuck all that.
Eighth inch is a pretty small division of a pretty small company called wheel and sprocket. http://wheelandsprocket.com/articles/our-mission-and-history-pg54.htm
and frankly, if there's a company that makes good products for cheap, I don't really care if some people think it's trendy to use it, I'm still going to use it because it's good and cheap.
amen
I've got nothing against that company and it's cool what they do...
I mostly like that company. I'm just saying, their site says stuff like "everything fixed gear". They're trying really hard to appeal to a crowd that doesn't really represent the crowd that plays bike polo semi-seriously. I think it's cool they sell a quality track bike for cheap and I never said I didn't, you fucker! I'm just saying that just because they do THAT well doesn't mean that they should be the ones making money off of and thereby representing/sponsoring our sport - because bike polo and pretty fixie bikes aren't the same damn thing. They're trying to push into a market that they don't quite understand.
For being a philosophy major you can't really follow my damn points very well! :D
i love the emoticon at the end. it really takes away all the hate that you typed in the previous paragraph. did you learn that from journalism school, or high school.
making money from polo =! representing/sponsoring polo
totally different things.
not to nitpick on you, pete, but the "does not equal" symbol is != in programming languages.
not to nitpick on you, pete, but the "does not equal" symbol is != in programming languages.
not to nitpick you but i'm going to nitpick you
Hey all- to clarify a bit- we are a small company based in Milwaukee Wisconsin- and I would say we are pretty involved with the HCBP scene. We have been sponsoring a lot of events, have riders working with us in product development, and in general are really excited to be doing what we do!
For the new mallets- we have some real samples being tested right now on the courts. (it wasn't there in the spring break tourny though) They are injection molded HDPE, with removeable/replaceable caps (that will be offered separately also), and so far we are stoked with how they are turning out! We are hoping to have a matching 7075-T6 straight shaft to pair with it. Hope that helps get some discussion going- let us know if we can field any questions.
My mallets get pretty rough and thin on the ends so I don't think replaceable caps will help that much. Maybe if the replaceable end was longer it could help.
Who are the riders, maybe we've heard of them?
Well done for braving this forum directly, more often than not new product gets discussed and ripped apart here with no comment from the products R&D team. That you're even aware the LOBP exists gives 1/8 inch some credibility in my books!
how soon and how much?
John-
Great question. Hopefully available in about 6 weeks and we haven't quite nailed pricing down yet-
A couple of pics:
widen up those goals!
thanks for the info, looking forward to hearing back about price and availability. also i could definitely see ordering a few poles if the price and durability are right.
More out of curiosity than anything...how do the injection molded HDPE specs compare to the extruded tube specs for gas pipe...mainly dealing with durability? How does the impact strength compare?
Thats what we're testing out right now. We don't expect it to be too different but we'll have to see.
What considerations led you to put dimples in the sides?
Dimples are cute
you mean ball cupping areas. gently applying pressure to the ball the cuped end of your mallet is the new bj. no downward pressure
also, to 1/8 in madison would like some prototypes if available and would be more than happy to give detailed feed back. we, have some pretty rough courts and players, and i have more potential for destruction of polo equipment than anyone else i have heard of.
BAM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgLdimf8AT0 .....don't see why they didn't make the end caps have 4 screw holes....when one edge wears down they say turn it around which is awesome....but make 4 screw holes and you could do that 4 times not just 2....I guess they would sell half as many that way though right?
Pre-Order is open- shipping 5/31. Team deal is active also- buy 3 or more and save!
http://eighthinch.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/polo-mallet-pre-orders-are-no...
In bright "team" blue too...I think a grey mallett head with single blue end cap (for quick visual reference before a shot) would be a hot combo.
Boston tried them out and although they look great they are heavy! Gus legit (The first ever online complete bike polo mallet sales person) and I were drilling them out as soon as we felt them. We love the caps though! - We can see you selling lots of those as they can fit into all the other bits of pipe we use with ease. Still great job and nice design but half the weight and you're on to a winner.
yeah nice caps, but why are they listed as 8.99 on the site and it's 9.99 when you go to checkout? and then another $9 to get them shipped to boston? brutal.
Can you buy just the caps? Seems like they'd be a nice and easy way to cap homemade mallets...
Oh these are real? I though they were some sort of special item in The Sims or something.
Did you happen to weigh it before and after you drilled it out? I'm curious what "heavy" means.
although several of our players bring scales to the court- we did not weigh them, its all up to how strong the individuals arms are to say if they are too heavy or not- we have a monster who plays and he didn't mind the weight. Lucky, I have 2 of your tourney double capped heads and they weigh much less than the 1/8 heads pre drilled, although i did drill them out as well. Perhaps the 1/8 inch crew could tell us the original weight w and w'out caps.
Happy to offer the weights:
2 Caps without screws: 40 grams
Head without caps: 120 grams
Head with 2 caps: 160 grams
Also the cap price is supposed to be $8.99 for 2 caps with screws- just fixed the site. For shipping- if you can get an order over $50 it is free shipping in the USA. We also have a deal for 3 heads (with caps & hardware) for $50 shipped. Just put 3 heads in the cart and it will calculate it for you.
Hope that helps!
I just got one of these last night and mounted in a Scott S4 pole. 19mm is a bit loose, but quick wrap of hickey tape snugged it up nicely. cut down to 130mm, capped on ne end. Test driving tonight.
First off, mounting the head to a Scott pole required a wrap of hockey tape to snug up the fit. It seems 19mm is a little loose.
Forts couple games were great! The scoop out of the center works really well for ball control and grabbing it off the wall. The capped end hap a good pop to it when you get a solid hit. The down side it that the material is wearing a bit faster than I'd hoped and the non capped end cracked in two places by then end of game six. I guess if you're gonna buy one, either cap both enda or don't cut it down. I used their molded in cut lines to trim it to 130mm. This seems to leave the non-capped end a bit fragile. All in all it's a good first draft with room for improvement. I'd gladly trade a new head for my suggestions for design improvement.
A picture of the head after one day of use can be seen at
Just got a set of the EighthInch heads in, they look pretty sweet. Ordered some .75" (19.3mm) 6061-T6 tube with .035" wall thickness. We'll see how this works.
Got the shafts in now- if you buy a kit you get a t-shirt. http://www.eighthinch.com/polo.html
D.I.Y. !
Maxwell- we actually tested 7075 and 6061 and found that 7075 did not hold up as well at all with our teams.
We are trying with the price- honestly. We offer a team 3 pack for $50 with free shipping- and also offer the mallet kits for a lower than retail price. Anytime you get to $50 on our site it is free shipping- which I think is fair?
"Confidential".
Wanna buy some polo stuff?
http://www.fixcraft.net/stcago