ICEPICKS
I probably can't count the number of times that I have seen friends die on this trick. It's just one of those tricks that can be pretty tough to learn... Once they learned it the trick was really solid for them. But it took them a while to get the idea of how to do the trick without falling down the face of the ramp a (sometimes) hurting themselves.
Bunnyhops are an obvious prerequisite- But it helps to be comfortable with some of the more basic grinds (50/50, feebles) before you begin trying single peg tricks...
Rider Submitted How-To #1
PREREQUISITES: Manuals are helpful. feeble grinds are helpful. bunnyhop control is a must.
VARIATIONS: barspin, no footed, fakie out, opposite
DESCRIPTION:
Icepick stalls are very impressive and take a lot of strength and balance. They are another technical street trick that separates the experts from everyone else. Icepick grinds are relatively easy on small objects and insane on things like handrails.
To do the icepick stall on street; approach an object that you can feeble grind or bunnyhop comfortably.
Go slow and at a pretty good angle (20-30 degrees) when you are 6 inches to 1 foot away from the ledge pull the front end of the bike WAY up so that you are almost vertical and at the same time hop sideways to set your rear peg onto the ledge.
You might find that starting the bunnyhop farther from the ledge makes it easier to get on to it.
Your rear peg will hit hard on the ledge so be prepared.
Do your best to balance the bike. Since your bike is 10" shorter when balancing on a single peg you balance point will be very different from a manual. It will take a while to find.
Use your strength to hold the bike balanced. Lean out away from the ledge a little while pushing the bike into the ledge.
The most common thing that will happen is you will loose balance and come down on your front peg which will put you into a 50-50 stall.
Getting out is the hard part... Once balanced, to get out lean away from the ledge, forward to push the front end down and hop back off the ledge.
An icepick stall on street is a really hard trick and it is ever harder on ramps. It is a big combination of balance and strength. icepick stalls are also pretty hard on your bike. 14mm axles are a must for this trick because you will be slamming all your weight down on one peg. Chain tensioners are a good idea too so your back wheel dosen't get pushed forward.
Small icepick grinds are pretty easy. Simply approach the object like you were going to do a feeble grind but pretty much parallel with it.
Don't come in at too much of an angle.
Decide where you want to set your peg on the object and do your bunnyhop to put you there.
As you bunnyhop, scoot the rear end of the bike over so that the peg hooks up.
Keep your weight way back to balance yourself. if your weight isn't back far enough as soon as the peg starts to grind it will launch you forward and the front wheel will hit the ground/coping hard.
Keep your weight back until you are out of the grind.
When you come out of the grind your rear tire should hit first.
If you're really good you can manual away. Icepick grinds are fun on small things that are too short or too narrow to feeble. Things like planters and low short handrails work good. If you're thinking of icepicking a 20 stair handrail, good luck, you're on your own.
Submitted By: TR
Rider Submitted How-To #2
PREREQUISITES: You want to be able to do a manual so you know how to balance with the front end up. Also it's a very good idea to know how to ice pick a rail or ledge.
VARIATIONS: you can do icepick stall, barspins,x-ups,one handed x-up, and you can do icepick stall to fakie
DESCRIPTION: When you try to learn icepick stalls you want to try it on a ledge that isn't too high, maybe like a foot and a half high. You want to make sure that the ledge is fairly rough so that when you land on your rear peg you don't slide out and end up on your back.
Once you have icepick stalls down you can do them on bigger ledges and throw in variations like barspins, x-ups etc.
Submitted By: Eric Russi
Rider Submitted How-To #3
PREREQUISITES: Double Peg Grinds, Manuals
VARIATIONS: Jump over icepicks, opposite side, barspin into/out of, one-footed, no-footed, one-handed, reverse (backwards), underside icepicks.
DESCRIPTION: Find a rail or ledge that you know you can at least double-peg grind. Find the spot on the rail where you wanna catch. The higher you land on the rail, the better the grind looks. But you also have to bunnyhop higher if you want to grind longer. Once you've picked your landing spot, ride at the rail at a moderate pace. You don't want to go too fast, but make sure you go faster than you would for a double-peg grind. Use your best judgment to determine where you want to lock on to the rail. Depending on the rail, you can either land straight on the rail or kick the back of your bike out a little and then kick it back to land. When you make contact with the rail, lean back and keep your front end balanced. If your front end drops too soon, you'll fly over the bars and if you lean too far back, you'll loop out and hit your ass on the rail. Make sure that you know your bike's balance point before you try. Keep a couple of fingers on your brake lever, just in ca! se something happens. When you come off the rail, try to land on both wheels and ride away.
Submitted By: CyUrU
Rider Submitted How-To #4
If you can do a bunnyhop-manual these are a cinch. If you can't it's going to be hell!
All you have to do is ride fast and bunnyhop make sure your front tire is about a foot higher than the back.
Land with the back peg on the ledge. Lean way back to keep the front end up.
It looks like a manual on the peg.
When you first start try to do them on the last couple feet of the ledge, and work your way up from there.
These take time, just keep practicing.
Submitted By: -Chris Reinke-
If you have any specific questions about icepicks please click here.