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