Ice Runners

When kicking on ice (track, lake, river, sea etc.) with no snow or only little loose snow you should replace the standard steel runners of the Kickspark with Ice Runners. Standard runners will work fine but ice runners are way superior in those conditions. They glide better, steer better and run silent. This applies for both recreational kicker and hardcore racer.

Ice runners are a combination of hard aluminium profile and stainless steel blades. Blades come in two thicknesses:

* 0,8mm for racing or training - this gives you improved control and slightly better glide on hard ice. Aluminium profile for these is slightly thicker, stiffer to turn and more stable in high speeds.

* 1,2mm for touring - this works better on soft ice or icy roads. Profile is higher and more flexible, making turns easier and giving more clearance when there is snow or water on ice.

Kicking with Ice Runners is a source of inspiration to us at Kickbike company! Racing on ice is our origin and sea ice touring season is what we look forward to every year. This is truly a product we love. Laborous to make (still hand made in Finland) but wonderful to ride. If you live in a place with ice tracks or frozen lakes, don't skip a chance to try this out.

Assembly
Replace the standard steel runners with ice runners. Appropriate bolts come with the ice runners. You need a 5mm hex (allen) key and a 10mm wrench (spanner). There is one hole in the tip of the ice runner for juko (the front cross bar) and three holes for ketara (the connection point of frame and runner). These enable two positions for the frame. Frame in front position (long runner tail) for tall riders (about 190cm/3'3" up). Rear position (short runner tail) for others. Before tightening the bolts set the Kickspark on a flat surface to ensure the runners are in plane. 

Riding

Rule 1) Keep your weight on your feet, just a gentle grip on handlebars. Good balance makes steering easy.

Rule 2) switch feet every 4-10 kicks

Rule 3) when turning, stand far back on inside runner and keep your weight there. Push lightly down the nose of outside runner to get grip for steering. 

Take care of your ice runners
Runner blades are rounded, not sharpened. This makes the glide better and maintenance easier: Just sand them smooth if they get scratched. The blade steel is as hard as we could find without being brittle. It will however get scratched if you ride into sand or pebbles on ice. Start with fine sand paper grit (100-150) and finish with very fine grit (200-300) and ultrafine grit (400+). You need just few strokes with each paper.
Should you twist your runners by falling or trying to take too sharp turn just bend them carefully back. If they look straight they are good.