Ice picks?

lean back more, I find going straight at the ledge & just leaning back a bit more than you would doing a manual helps, then just pump. I don't know how to explain the pump thing, for me it sorta just happens without thinking. I didn't figure them out in long grinds until just the other month, like March or something, but have them okay on flat ledges now. Never did one down a handrail yet though aside from ice chinking tiny rails so I won't be much help there.

Learn them nice n good on metal edges first. Icepicks on concrete suck...

blaaaaaaaaa wrote:

Learn them nice n good on metal edges first. Icepicks on concrete suck...

That particular ledge is butter after years of wax being worn into it. Not to mention plastic sleeves on my pegs since that park requires them. Ive also done them on this small marble ledge which slides like water, even better than angle iron, and small ground rails. I do them the same way on all, its just I only have a pic on this concrete ledge.

blaaaaaaaaa wrote:

Learn them nice n good on metal edges first. Icepicks on concrete suck...

HardBMX_Tim wrote:

That particular ledge is butter after years of wax being worn into it. Not to mention plastic sleeves on my pegs since that park requires them. Ive also done them on this small marble ledge which slides like water, even better than angle iron, and small ground rails. I do them the same way on all, its just I only have a pic on this concrete ledge.

Bend your knees more

blaaaaaaaaa wrote:

Bend your knees more

When I learned hop manuals on pads and stuff, I learned to kinda lock my knee straight up when I landed to kinda kick my back end forward a little bit to help get the manual started. I think im doing the same thing when I land in the icepick, im just not going far enough to where I need to bend my knees yet since I hop on so late.

Just pull and lean back because you'll drop your front end and go OTB like I did and eat crossbar then ledge !


Better to hit your ass then face

i just learned these to and i have the same problem thanks for posting about this and thanks for the tips guys haha

ugh. I cant do em for shit lol
when my buddy tried teaching me he said its kinda like balancing for a manual but you pull back a lil more... I got nervous and didn't because I didn't wanna loop out and stopped trying lol

edit: and probably going faster would help

The way i learn icepick grinds doing distance. You have do a feeble and lean back and lift your front wheel. it helps you find the balance point. next you just got to hop and lean back at the same time. Don't be afraid to loop out and let go of your bike. The number one thing is when doing them on a flat ledge you have to have your body center over your bike similar to how to you are when you do a long double peg grind. Now when you are grinding you have to push your legs into the leg, very similar to a manual. It just take practice. eventually it will come to you.

Yea for long distance on ledges its more complicated then a manual. You have more resistance so your whole motion will try to flip you forward so you kind of have to counter it by leaning back more and kind of pump your legs pushing the back end of your bike towards the front underneath you. For normal rails just lock your legs halfway and just pull your bars up or down for maintaining balance. Small down rails is hard to explain you really just need to do it and experience the feeling for yourself. Basically keep your bike leveled and just pray. After a couple of tries you would know what to do and react to it better. Try manualing down a not so steep bank and you will see that keeping your bike leveled is basically the center balance point.

Treat em like manuals but emphasize pump more. Flat shit is more of a chore to balance than down stuff. Really when grinding down a ledge or rail, it kinda just takes you, just don't forget to pull at the end. Keep things lined up too, so that if you do come down wrongly, you can come into double or feeble your way out.

Think of it as a high manual and really keep your weight back. I learned them with metal on a beyond shitty ledge.