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4 wheel roller skates
By Joseph | December 6, 2009
Why were the classic 4-wheel roller skates replaced by modern inline skates?
Why did the 4-wheel skates fall out of fashion?
Why did inline skates take over? Are they faster? More maneuverable? More durable? Safer?
Just wondering…
Faster, yes
Manueverable, mixed
Durable, about even
Safer, depends
The rules for roller skate racing had to be modified to allow inline skates (they were based on quad skates, that is the new name for the traditional roller skate).
The inlines were so much faster than quads that they took over racing. That happened with ice skating when the Dutch showed up with their clap skates. They were so obviously better that no on races seriously on non-moving ice blades.
Part of being faster is that the inline skates used for recreation through racing are longer and more stable at speeds. This makes them less manuverable.
For use with slalom and dance moves, people use shorter versions of the skates, sometimes with the front and rear wheels raised slightly so that only two wheels are on the ground at one time.. The moves tend to be different between the inlines and quads but both can do similar moves at low speeds. Part
There is even an inline company called Pic Skates (http://figureskating.about.com/od/equipment/gr/picskate.htm) that mimic the geometry of ice fiture skates so that people can do those moves.
Durability is more a factor of how individual skates are made. I have seen some very poorly made discount store skates. One person who was at a trail had a wheel that wouldn’t turn. It turned out that the plastic frame had broken (he was much heavier than average).
For skating outdoors, there is a safety factor due to the longer wheel base of inline skates and narrow wheels. The narrow wheels will hit fewer small objects and tend to spit them out to the side. The longer wheel base helps people when they hit an object or rough areas since it gives more ability to not fall forward (your weight should always be positioned so that you do not fall backwards).
At lower speeds in smaller areas, the stability and sharper turning radius of quads can be an advantage.
There is also the fad issue. Inline skating went through a fad period about 10 years ago. It wasn’t cool to be on quad skates.
The fad era peaked at about twice the number of people on inline skates than presently but the number of people skating on inlines as a sport is growing.
You see a lot more people on quads out on trails than you did a few years ago.
jevons first time on 4 wheel roller skates
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