I used to have the only Hija de la Coneja in Australia.. then along came Danny Cox.  It’s great to see another one of Alejandro’s bikes in the country.  Hopefully there will be a lot more in the future.   Danny is just lucky he lives in Melbourne because I would probably start stealing parts off his if we were in the same city.

Owner: Danny Cox

City: Melbourne

Frame/Fork: Hija De La Coneja (Large)

Bars/Stem: Charge Straw with Specialized Ergo grips/Thomson Elite 90mm with 5 degree rise.

Seat/Post: 80s Turbo saddle/Thomson

Pedals: Shimano spd platforms

Cranks/BB/Chain ring: Shimano SLX, Shimano External BB, 36 tooth Blackspire Mono Veloce

Sprocket: White Industries 22T trials freewheel

Brakes: Paul Motolites. Paul Duplex Lever. SRAM cables

Wheels: 26″ 48 hole chukkers to Brick Lane Bikes Freestyle Hubs

Why did you choose this bike?
I was really interested in getting a bike designed specifically for polo after seeing some of the first Marino customs and 14 bike co frames. This was within my budget and i liked that it was designed by a fellow polo player and was keen to support his endeavour.

How long have you played on this bike for? Have you played on anything else?
I’ve played on this bike for about 6 months now. Before this i had a Charge Stove, which was about 6 times heavier and could plow through any other bike on the court. It was a great bike to learn to play polo on, but i’m glad i’m no longer using it.

What are the best things about your bike?
It’s my dream build. It has my old team name (BeRightOn) inscribed in the top tube! I was saving up for so long to build it to this spec and now i have it, it makes me smile every time i ride it. It’s better than any other bike i’ve ever owned and consequently i’ve sold every other bike in my stable because they were no fun to ride in comparison.

Most importantly, it feels amazing to play polo on or sprint through the city hopping up and down curbs.! The geometry is just right for me. It’s not too twitchy like some other customs i’ve tried, yet it’s still super responsive and agile. There’s no toe overlap, but it’s remains really compact. It’s definitely changed the way i play polo now, for the better.

What are the worst things about your bike? What would you change?

I feel that the build quality of the bike could be a little better. The welds are a bit ugly, i had some trouble fitting a headset and the fork and rear dropout spacing were slightly off. In saying that it hasn’t really been a big deal and for the price it’s definitely not an issue i’m going to complain about. I don’t think i would change anything about the actual bike except the gothic colour scheme. In the future i may get some disc tabs brazed on the front fork, and if i continue to travel with it i’d love to get some couplers.

By Virginia Castellan

Photographs by Richard Brown and Virginia Castellan

If you want to know more about the Hija de la Coneja frame and fork, read our interview with the designer, Alejandro Carrillo here.

If you missed checking out Scottie’s bits, you can get a look at them here