Building a Grind Rail?

im not really sure you are supposed to wax a metal rail

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UNIquelyCanadian said:

To learn to grind do I want a flat grind rail or and downward slope
(how much slope)? Do Snafu pedals work with the pins removed (or can I
leave them in)? I pedal grab with my hind foot, can I grind the same
way?

Thank you in advance for your kind help, for kindly being helpful and
for your helpful kindness!🙂

- Downward slope

- Yes snafu pedals works but you better put the pins off ( except if
you want to bail )

- I think you should grind with the same foot

Have fun !

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Waxing a metal rail works wonderfully. If you really want a perfect
sliding surface, I would follow this method of waxing.

1. rub your rail with candle wax or the sort (a block of paraphin wax
is perfect)
2. melt it all down with a blow torch
3. repeat one and two
4. test
5. repeat as necesary.

This way the wax gets into all the tiny cracks in the metal and makes
it crazy smooth as well as putting a lubricant on it. Something about
the melting process at that high heat seems to help it stay on better.

edit: I would try and build something adjustable because I find its
alot easier to learn on something flat and then make it slope down.
With a metal rail you don't need the slope and it just makes it more
difficult to learn, but its a good idea to learn how to ride down a
slope because most areas apart from metal rails that you are going to
be able to slide on will be sloped.

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Heres a thread i had a while back when i made my rail. It includes
pictures also.

http://tinyurl.com/8c3cg

KH.

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UNIquelyCanadian said:

To learn to grind do I want a flat grind rail or and downward slope (how
much slope)? Does a candle work to wax the rail? Do Snafu pedals work
with the pins removed (or can I leave them in)? I pedal grab with my
hind foot, can I grind the same way?

A sloped rail sitting on flat ground won't be much different from a
flat rail on flat ground... you can grind just as long on a flat rail.
A good sloped rail makes an angle of 40-45 degrees with the ground; you
can only hit this rail from a pyramid or fun box.

Candle wax, surfboard wax, even earwax would work on the rail... it
doesn't need to be fancy, it just needs to be slick. The only
difference you'll see in your choice of wax is how long it will last.

You can grind with pins in but you won't grind as well and you'll
likely mangle your pedal. Snafu's aren't built for grinding or pedal
grabbing; I'd recommend putting a grind plate on them first, otherwise
you could break your pedal. I have a pair of Odyssey Jim Cielinskis
and they work great for grinding: they're wide, thick and reinforced.

As far as which foot to grind with, go with what works for you. I
grind with my left foot back, although most grind with their forward
foot. I'm finding out that hitting a handrail with your back foot is a
lot more difficult than with your forward foot, but as long as I've got
short rails and ledges to grind, I'm good to go.

Good luck!

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maestro8 said:

A sloped rail sitting on flat ground won't be much different from a flat
rail on flat ground... you can grind just as long on a flat rail.

Ok are you referring to the first part of your sentance (where you talk
about a sloped rail on flatland), or are you saying 'you can grind just
as long on a flat rail'. Because that makes no sense.

Mike

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Update:

I've spend 3 grind sessions so far. (About one hour total) With the
slanted grind rail I can now grind 4' about 75% of the time.

The temperature has been hanging around -18c so the waxing was hard. I
would rub some on then use a micro-torch to melt it onto to rail a 1/2
inch at a time! Consequentially, I don't have very much of the
rail/tabletop waxed. I've used about a cubic inch of wax to cover a
space, in patches, of about 500sq inches.

It turned out that I just set one end of the rail on the fun box, held
in place with nails, and the other end, about 10' away, on the ground.
That way I have a potential of grinding about 4 feet before the tire
hits the ground. I tried setting the rail so it was level (from the box
to the steps) but I couldn't get it to slide. I would land, stop, and
either go into a stall or just plain fall, do I need more wax? I got up
as much speed as I could with a 6' run-up.

I'm using my snafu pedals with a homemade grind plate attached. I waxed
the plate, to make up for the lack of wax on the rail, is that a good
idea?

When I jump to grind I end up landing in a crank grab, then slide into
a pedal grab, am I killing my cranks (note the photo)?

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Filename: grind.jpg |
|Download: http://www.unicyclist.com/attachment/11718 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

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UNIquelyCanadian said:

I tried setting the rail so it was level (from the box to the steps) but
I couldn't get it to slide.

The most important thing to do when grinding on a flat rail is to avoid
jumping higher than you need to land on the rail. In other words, only
jump as high as you need to land your grind. If you jump any higher,
you come down hard on the rail and end up creating a lot of friction on
the rail, slowing yourself down.

Try a smaller rolling hop onto the rail and you should notice you'll
grind a lot further. Of course, carry as much speed / forward momentum
into your grind as possible... as if you're trying to rolling hop a
wide gap.

UNIquelyCanadian said:

When I jump to grind I end up landing in a crank grab, then slide into a
pedal grab, am I killing my cranks (note the photo)?

It looks like you've got Profiles on your uni... don't worry about
scratching off the paint... you can't avoid that. Just check them
periodically to make sure they're not rusting... other than that you'll
be fine. I've been grinding and grabbing with my cranks for over 6
months with little damage other than the missing paint.

Chromed cranks are less prone to damage than the painted ones, but I
didn't learn that until after I got my crankset 🙁

Have fun!

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Thats alot of good advice, jason!

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The advice was good! Thanks for taking the time to help...

Update:

The local (small) skate park is open now so I have access to "real"
grind rails, so far I've tried grinding another 15 minutes with 90%
success rate (eg. riding out of a grind) on the edge of a fun box and
15" high 1' wide rail.

They have a wide rail running down the side of a pyramid about 12' long
with a drop/slope of 5' (35 degree angle?) by the time I reach the
bottom I have too much speed to ride out of it. What I have been doing
is just hopping off the rail before I get going too fast.

How do you slow yourself on a grind? Or, how do you land when your
moving faster then you can ride out?

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UNIquelyCanadian said:

How do you slow yourself on a grind?

Drag your heel on the ledge / rail. The more of your heel you can get
on the rail and the more you weight it, the more it brakes.

Quoted message said:

Or, how do you land when your moving faster then you can ride out?

Land in a glide! :p

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Here's a video of one of my grinds, general critique welcome:

'Link' (http://tinyurl.com/kc3hk) (3mb)

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UNIquelyCanadian

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UNIquelyCanadian said:

general critique welcome

General Critique reporting for duty, Sir!

That's a decent static grind... now try working on rolling into the
grind.

My only comment on your grind is that you want to avoid twisting your
wheel to exit the grind... if you're going fast that's a good way to
faceplant. All you need is a small sidehop. Try and land with your
wheel parallel to the rail. On a rail like that you can even just drop
off the end of the rail and roll it out without any hop.

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Looks pretty good...I have not critique as i can not grind yet but it
still looks like your progressing nicely

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koebwil said:

I'm too hardcore to type. I just punch the keyboard and delete the
letters I don't want

w00t...i got reply # 60666 in MR
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trials_uni said:

I have not critique as i can not grind yet

So you posted just to say you've got nothing to say? 😕

I'm sure Cameron appreciates your support, but RSU doesn't stand to
gain much from posts that say "looks good". Please post the chatter in
JC, thank you!

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UNIquelyCanadian said:

Here's a video of one of my grinds, general critique welcome:

'Link' (http://tinyurl.com/kc3hk) (3mb)

I'm no expert on grinding but I've had some experience on some small
things. Rolling hops are a lot better and easier because when doing a
static jump onto a rail it's hard I think to adjust to the slope and
change suddenly. Try to grind on the pedal rather than the crank and
when you do be sure to pull on on the unicycle so that the wheel
doesn't touch the ground.

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harper said:

This is why Canada wants you so badly.

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man i dont know why everyone asks so many questions about grinding, its
real easy, just use whatever foot/position comfortable, if you stick
yto the rail, put on a plastic pedal, just keep doing it till you get
good

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That looked good, just try and stay straigher while grinding. Maybe your
putting to much weight on the seat? And kinda lean more towards the
ledge, in your case lean to the right a little more. It will help you
come off straight.

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candle wax works fine for waxing a rail. or even curbs/cement boxes you
want to grind. the best deal on wax is to go to a 99cent store and buy
a big bar of wax for like a dollar. it works almost as well as skate
wax. except for element wax, element skate wax is awesome.

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