Parthian/Sassanid heavy cavalry use bamboo lances?

[Condottiero Magno]

The couched lance technique was an evolutionary dead-end and reflected the lack of sophistication of Frankish cavalry compared with Easterners, who had been using it, along with various two-handed methods, before and after the adoption of stirrups. John II and Manuel I adopted Frankish methods and gear, because most of their campaigns were against them, while traditional methods were employed against Seljuks. In the 1167 Battle of Sirmium, Byzantine cavalry effectively used their fearsome iron maces in melee against Hungarian knights in Western gear, no different than facing armored Muslim cavalry in the 10th Century.