Smart eBike Promo

Recently Spring Break were approached by Smart to see if their new eBike (hybrid electric bicycle) could be used in a game of hardcourt bike polo.

Before the Worlds in Geneva, Ryan and Jono were shipped off to Stuttgart to meet the creative team behind the eBike project and for a test shoot to see if Smart would approve the concept.

The test shoot was a little tricky as we had to give them a glimpse of bike polo within a car park setting, Ryan and I rode around like lunatics trying to get used to the power-assist function (very fun, if not a little scary at first), we were pretty knackered from all the travelling, but the creative team seemed impressed.

The project was given the go ahead and we agreed to take part if Smart provided funds that could be used for the London Open 2012 tournament as payment, they thought this was a great idea.

The first day of the shoot was held at Ryan’s workshop (Oak Cycles) and involved lots of talking to camera about the history of the sport and preparation of the eBikes: disk wheels, clipless pedals and saddle/bar positioning. It was a long day, but it was neat that Smart had taken an interest in the origins of hardcourt bike polo and where we felt it was heading. Ryan was incredibly patient with take-after-take of shooting and the general re-modelling of his workshop to include all the crew’s equipment.

The second day meant it was finally time to play some games. Newington was chosen because of the proximity of the courts to the workshop and the scenic surroundings, really we could have done with a slightly larger court to truly make use of the additional speed of the eBikes, but the netting at Mitch made it impossible to shoot there.

Nik, James and Brendan generously volunteered to give up the time to be our opponents: we were shooting from 9am until 5pm on both days which was pretty tiring. Ryan mastered power-assited wheelies towards the end of the day which was pretty impressive, the rest of us settled with finding amusing ways of tricking the bikes into boosting through corners (normally the speed boost only kicks in on the straights).

In the end Smart pulled together two videos: a Smart eBike promo and a behind the scenes video. We were pleased that they presented bike polo in such a positive light and they were a lovely team of people to work with. Thanks to everyone that came down and helped out.

The weekend was entirely exhausting and whilst we won’t be trading in our Oak Cycles steeds anytime soon, the eBikes definitely put a smile on our faces.