Benee will always be one of my favourite Australasian polo players.  Unfortunately Benee was also the first recorded occurrence of the Australian Curse.  Benee has lived and played in almost every city in Australia except mine. I am hoping he will soon realise the error of his ways and move to Sydney.  Here’s a little more about Benee.

City: sMelburn, Australia

Years played: 4 years

Super power: Monkey magic

Favourite heckle: Do that thing you do

Bike: Milwaukee Bruiser, freewheel with dual brake and 39:22 ratio

Mallet: Fixcraft shaft with uncapped closed sides head

Protection: Gloves, knee pads

What do you love most about bike polo?
Not having a girlfriend

By Virginia Castellan

If you missed our last player profile on Daniel Strout you can access it here.

This is the first instalment of Lookin at Your Bits, a segment on the bikes of Australasian Bike Polo. This is not necessarily about the most advanced custom bikes with titanium tubes, gold welding and diamond encrusted stems. These are bikes that we think are interesting, awesome and show the character of the rider.

This week we will be lookin at Benee’s bike. For those that don’t know Benee, he is arguably the most infamous rider in Australian polo. Crazy fast, epic bike skills and an all round nice guy. Benee is a bike courier now residing in Melbourne, but he is originally from Perth, he spent a couple of years in Brisbane too, so he calls many places home. He is the reason I started riding fixed, playing polo, doing wheelies and why I became a courier – me wanting to do his the bike check inspired this segment.

Name: Benee

City: Melb/Bris/Per – heck, I come from planet Earth.
Frame/Fork: Milwaukee Bruiser – Bruiser fork
Bars/Stem/Grips: Atomlab GI – 90′s mongoose bmx stem – BBB ergo grips
Brakes: (lever,cables,callipers): ATV/quad bike dual lever – front Odyssey EVO2 – rear Tektro 990 – U brakes
Seat/Post: San Marco Concor, Thomson laidback
Pedals: Time Alium
Cranks/Bottom Bracket: Race Face Decadence
Chainring: 39t no name
Freewheel/Rear cog: 22t roselli
Front Wheel (Rim,Hub,Tyre): Mach 1 – 510 rim – 700/32c Bontrager Aramid
Rear Wheel (Rim,Hub,Tyre): Chukker wheel -700/32c Durano Plus

Why did you choose this bike?

I’d broken 3 bikes in 3 months and was sick of using a beater bike for polo. Then some amazing people bought me this for my birthday. I almost cried.

How long have you played on this bike for? Have you played on anything else?

Over 2 years. I tried some beaters and a GT transeo, but before that was my Universe track bike.

What are the best things about your bike?

It’s my dream bike, solid and tight and sexy as hell. Track geometry but strong as a mtb, i can jump stair sets and i can ride it for work. I even rode it from Sydney to Melbourne once, fixed and no brakes.

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

It’s a tad on the small side, but it works for me for polo. I’d like to upgrade the brakes, maybe get some disc mounts on, U brakes just don’t cut it for me.

Benee's polo bike in it's Clark Kent disguise (Street set-up)

By Ollie Wykeham