Rediscovering Inline Skating

First there was the quad then there was inline andlike the soul grind, acid grind, the 540 spin, the
the rest is history. Roller-skating, contrary toViking flip and the flatspin. Aggressive inline
popular belief, doesn't refer to just the quad orskaters mostly have a high and hard boot,usually
the roller skates. Roller-skating refer to both inlinemade of carbon fiber, an outer shell that is hard
skates and quad skates.but light, comfortable inner shell, 54-56 mm
The quad skates or the roller skates rolled of thepolyurethane wheels with an opaque nylon hub
manufacturer's door back in the 1700s when itand steel bearings with an ABEC grade of 5-7.
was used at a London performance. Roller skatesTwo of the most well known aggressive inline
were first invented form of pastime. But becauseskaters are the very famous Yasutoko brothers,
of it obvious difficulty in maneuvering it wasEiji, and Takeshi.
almost cast away for good.Both started aggressive inline skating at a very
In the late 80s none other than the Rollerbladeyoung age and two of the cornerstones of the
Company introduced a form of roller skates toaggressive inline skating event of the X-games.
the public. Rollerblade introduced to the UnitedAnother kind of inline skating is speed skating, as
States the very first commercially produced inlinethe name suggests it is all about speed. Speed
skates. A high boot single line skates that has askaters mostly have lower boots for their inlines.
heel stop. They called it inline skates.One of the differences of the two disciplines.
Inline skates are more aggressive looking than itsAggressive inline skaters need higher boots to
cousin the quad. The emergence of inline skateshave better support and for protection, but speed
popularized by Rollerblade was very muchskaters have lower boots to have more ankle
accepted that Rollerblading was used to qualifyflexion. This would allow them faster transfer of
any kind of inline skating, which is actually apower. Speed inlines also have larger wheels.
misuse of company trademark.The wheels vary form sizes of 80-110 mm, the
INLINE SKATES TODAYreason for this is because larger wheels are
Inline skates are composed of the boot, the outergenerally faster than smaller ones. Speed can
shell, the inner shell or the inner shoe, the wheelcompromise control but speed is what is
bearings, frame and other safety accessories.important in speed skating.
When looking for the best kind of inline skatesCompetitive skating is more of the art form of
you should first take into consideration the kind ofinline. Competitive skating involves dance,
activity you would use your new inlines. There aresynchronized movement, and grace. Most of the
four basic types of inline skating; aggressive inline,people that engage in competitive skating prefer a
speed skating, competitive skating and freesoft boot like the ones found on a quad. Soft
skating.boots are softer that hard boots but they weigh
Aggressive inline is the kind of inline skating that isalmost the same.
most common. Aggressive inline skaters often doFree skating is simply getting from point A to
tricks like jumps, grinds, slides and flips.point B in the fastest possible time in the shortest
Aggressive inline also known as trick riding is thepossible route. The demands of free skating are
kind of inline skating that we usually see in thesimple... have inlines will travel.
X-games. Aggressive inline skaters perform tricks