Rediscovering Inline Skating by Matt OConnor

First there was the quad then there was inline and the rest is history. Roller-skating, contrary to popular belief, doesn't refer to just the quad or the roller skates. Roller-skating refer to both inline skates and quad skates.

The quad skates or the roller skates rolled of the manufacturer's door back in the 1700s when it was used at a London performance. Roller skates were first invented form of pastime. But because of it obvious difficulty in maneuvering it was almost cast away for good.

In the late 80s none other than the Rollerblade Company introduced a form of roller skates to the public. Rollerblade introduced to the United States the very first commercially produced inline skates. A high boot single line skates that has a heel stop. They called it inline skates.

Inline skates are more aggressive looking than its cousin the quad. The emergence of inline skates popularized by Rollerblade was very much accepted that Rollerblading was used to qualify any kind of inline skating, which is actually a misuse of company trademark.

INLINE SKATES TODAY

Inline skates are composed of the boot, the outer shell, the inner shell or the inner shoe, the wheel bearings, frame and other safety accessories. When looking for the best kind of inline skates you should first take into consideration the kind of activity you would use your new inlines. There are four basic types of inline skating; aggressive inline, speed skating, competitive skating and free skating.

Aggressive inline is the kind of inline skating that is most common. Aggressive inline skaters often do tricks like jumps, grinds, slides and flips. Aggressive inline also known as trick riding is the kind of inline skating that we usually see in the X-games. Aggressive inline skaters perform tricks like the soul grind, acid grind, the 540 spin, the Viking flip and the flatspin. Aggressive inline skaters mostly have a high and hard boot,

usually made of carbon fiber, an outer shell that is hard but light, comfortable inner shell, 54-56 mm polyurethane wheels with an opaque nylon hub and steel bearings with an ABEC grade of 5-7. Two of the most well known aggressive inline skaters are the very famous Yasutoko brothers, Eiji, and Takeshi.

Both started aggressive inline skating at a very young age and two of the cornerstones of the aggressive inline skating event of the X-games.

Another kind of inline skating is speed skating, as the name suggests it is all about speed. Speed skaters mostly have lower boots for their inlines. One of the differences of the two disciplines.

Aggressive inline skaters need higher boots to have better support and for protection, but speed skaters have lower boots to have more ankle flexion. This would allow them faster transfer of power. Speed inlines also have larger wheels.

The wheels vary form sizes of 80-110 mm, the reason for this is because larger wheels are generally faster than smaller ones. Speed can compromise control but speed is what is important in speed skating.

Competitive skating is more of the art form of inline. Competitive skating involves dance, synchronized movement, and grace. Most of the people that engage in competitive skating prefer a soft boot like the ones found on a quad. Soft boots are softer that hard boots but they weigh almost the same.

Free skating is simply getting from point A to point B in the fastest possible time in the shortest possible route. The demands of free skating are simple... have inlines will travel.

Author Resource: Desperate to learn all about inline skating? Matthew, the author of this article runs a site dedicated to a skater's best friend Inline Skates.

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