Fleet Velo The Joust

Potentially the first hardcourt polo specific frameset is now available under the Fleet Velo brand. The Joust and the Fleet Velo brand itself actually come out of the Waterford factory, with a legacy and family name that touches on nearly every piece of the modern bicycle industry in some way. The Joust was first shown at the 2009 North American Handmade Bicycle Show, with Tucker Schwinn’s (great-great-grandson of Ignaz) personal bike in the Waterford booth… and potentially involved in a rogue polo match in an adjacent vacant convention hall just after this picture was taken. The Joust is a 26″ wheeled bike with steep geometry and a high bottom bracket, with a fork and front end designed for the tight maneuvering and inevitable crashes of polo. Extra-long track ends allow a wider range between two different single gears on a double-sided hub, making The Joust a capable street bike for the off the court. The frame and fork is available in five sizes for $650 – by some measures a steep investment in a bike meant for relatively harsh polo play, but a deal as compared to high end mountain and cyclocross framesets that ultimately meet the same fate. It was inevitable that purpose-made frames would appear at some point as the game grows and changes, The Joust is just first in line. The clock is ticking until we see commercially available complete hardcourt mallets.