Editing Inline skates (section)

==History==

===Development of wheeled skates===

The history of inline skates traces back to the origin of [[ice skate]]s in prehistoric times, with runners made from animal bones.<ref name="art-of-skating-brokaw-1926">{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iZtOAQAAMAAJ
|title=The Art of Skating: Its History and Development with Practical Directions and Instantaneous Action Photographs of Celebrated Skaters of Many Nationalities
|pages=1–2
|location=New York
|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons
|year=1926
<!-- |isbn=9780598474728: This is an Google Books copy of the 1895 book -->
|access-date=2024-11-24
|first1=Irving
|last1=Brokaw
}}</ref><ref name="system-of-figure-skating-1880">{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vaBGAQAAMAAJ
|title=A System of Figure-skating: Being the Theory and Practice of the Art as Developed in England with a Glance at Its Origin and History
|pages=4–7
|location=London
|publisher=Horace Cox
|year=1880
|access-date=2024-11-24
|first1=H.E.
|last1=Vandervell
|first2=T. Maxwell
|last2=Witham
}}</ref> Steel blades eventually replaced bone runners in the 13th century, with the Dutch sharpening blade edges for better purchase on ice for propulsion.<ref name="art-of-skating-brokaw-1910">
{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cxc7AQAAMAAJ
|title=The Art of Skating: Its History and Development, with Practical Directions
|page=12
|location=London
|publisher=Letchworth at the Arden Press & Fetter Lane
|year=1910
|access-date=2024-11-24
|first1=Irving
|last1=Brokaw
}}
</ref> Since then, enterprising inventors have attempted to make boots that could similarly glide on non-ice surfaces, with wheels.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://youraudiotour.com/tours/national-museum-of-roller-skating-audio-tour-museum-proper/stops/9802
|title=The First Roller Skates
|website=National Museum of Roller Skating Audio Tour
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241125040615/https://youraudiotour.com/tours/national-museum-of-roller-skating-audio-tour-museum-proper/stops/9802
|archive-date=2024-11-25
}}</ref>

In 1760, [[John Joseph Merlin]], a renowned clock-maker, musical-instrument maker and inventor from Belgium, experimented in London with "skaites" that "ran on wheels". These were the first recorded wheeled skates. Written records left no drawings or descriptions of wheel configurations, however.<ref name="Clinch-1895">{{cite book
|editor-last=Clinch
|editor-first=George
|last1=Rimbault
|first1=Edward Francis
|title=Soho and Its Associations: Historical, Literary & Artistic
|date=1895
|publisher=Dulau
|location=London
<!-- |isbn=9781473321595: This is an Amazon reprint of the 1895 book -->
|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sohoanditsassoc00clingoog/page/n43 28]–29
|url=https://archive.org/details/sohoanditsassoc00clingoog
|accessdate=2018-07-13
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=07W7AAAAIAAJ&q=wheels
|title=John Joseph Merlin: the ingenious mechanick
|location=London, England
|publisher=Exhibition catalog (Iveagh Bequest), Kenwood, Greater London Council
|year=1985
|isbn=9780716815822
|access-date=15 September 2014
|first1=Anne
|last1=French
|first2=Michael
|last2=Wright
|first3=Frances
|last3=Palmer
}}</ref><ref name="museum-of-roller-skating-history-of-roller-skating-1997">{{cite book
|title=The History of Roller Skating
|others=Illustrated with museum collections and archives
|last1=Turner
|first1=James
|last2=Zaidman
|first2=Michael
|date=1997
|location=Lincoln, Nebraska
|publisher=National Museum of Roller Skating
|isbn=0965819205
|url=https://www.rollerskatingmuseum.org/product-page/the-history-of-roller-skating <!-- encourage readers to get this book from the Museum itself at $15 (2024) instead of paying for x3 markup at Amazon and elsewhere -->
}}</ref>{{rp|7}}

[[File:Petibled-1819 wheeled skate-at National Museum of Roller Skating-by Bruce McArthur-landscape.jpg|thumb|right|300px|First patented wheeled skate - 1819]]

In 1819, Charles-Louis Petibled from France filed the first known patent on wheeled skates. Three wheels in a single line, mimicking a steel blade, were integrated into a wooden foot stand with leather straps. Two wheels sat under the ball of the foot, while one wheel was positioned under the heel. A copy of Petibled's wheeled skates is on display at the National Museum of Roller Skating, in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.<ref name="le-roller-en-ligne-on-charles-petibled">{{cite web
|url=https://www.rollerenligne.com/dossier/charles-louis-petibled-le-premier-brevet-de-lhistoire-du-patin-a-roulettes/
|title=Charles-Louis Petibled : le premier brevet de l'histoire du patin à roulettes
|website=Le Roller en Ligne
|date=30 March 2019
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240129130122/https://www.rollerenligne.com/dossier/charles-louis-petibled-le-premier-brevet-de-lhistoire-du-patin-a-roulettes/
|archive-date=2024-01-29
}}</ref><ref name="museum-of-roller-skating-history-of-roller-skating-1997"/>{{rp|8}}

[[File:The Engineer Vol-41 1876-02-04 pp85 Tyers Volito Fig 1 Fig 3 Config One.png|thumb|right|240px|5-wheel Volito skate - 1823]]

In 1823, Robert John Tyers from London was granted a patent for his skates with five wheels in a single line, again mimicking a steel blade.<ref>{{cite magazine
| author      = Thomas Gill
| title       = Tyers's Patent Volitos
| url         = https://books.google.com/books?id=mUkEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA295
| magazine    = The Technical repository
| volume      = 4
| pages       = 295–297
| location    = London
| publisher   = T. Cadell, Strand
| year        = 1823
| access-date = 2024-11-27
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HikAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA20
|title=The London Journal of Arts and Sciences
|volume=7
|year=1824
|pages=20–21
|publisher=Sherwood, Jones & Co., and W. Newton
|location=London
|access-date=2024-12-02
|first1=W.
|last1=Newton
}}</ref> The main body of the skate is called the stock (or foot stand), and is meant to be attached to the bottom of a shoe. A frame with two wheel-mounting sides is secured to the stock. This skate employs a large wheel in the middle, and progressively smaller ones towards the front and the rear, creating a rockered wheel setup that allows skaters to execute turns more easily.<ref name="Engineer-skates-no01">{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wlFHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA85
|title=The Engineer
|volume=41
|date=1876-02-04
|article=Historical Notes on Roller Skates No. 1
|pages=85–86
|location=London
|publisher=Morgan-Grampian
|access-date=2024-11-30
}}</ref>

This novelty skate was popularized in London as "Volito" (to fly about, in Latin). A hand-colored print from 1829 in the [[British Museum]] depicts a satirical scene where men wearing Volito skates escape chase by men on boots.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1931-1114-330
|title=The Volito, or Summer and Winter Skait
|website=The British Museum
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241125035904/https://media.britishmuseum.org/media/Repository/Documents/2017_12/1_15/21748ea0_c00a_4898_99b0_a83c010006e7/mid_PPA21248.jpg
|archive-date=2024-11-25
}}</ref> The [[National Museum of American History]] has a Volito skate in its collections.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_335014
|title="Volito" In-line Roller Skate
|website=National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241122011156/https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_335014
|archive-date=2024-11-22
}}</ref>

[[File:Garcin-1828 Cingar Skate-at National Museum of Roller Skating-by Doctor T Designs.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Garcin's skate - 1828]]

Robert Tyers was not the only inventor inspired by Petibled to make their own wheeled skates. Many inventors followed suit in the wake of the Petibled skate, including Spence, Lohner and Legrand. Yet another inventor was the famous ice skater Jean Garcin. He filed his own skate patent in 1828, named the Cingar skate, an anagram of his name. This skate, however, was technically similar to Petibled's patent. As a result, Petibled was able to render null and void Garcin's patent in 1832.<ref name="ols-history-skating-1760-to-today"/><ref name="le-roller-en-ligne-on-charles-petibled"/><ref name="le-roller-en-ligne-on-jean-garcin">{{cite web
|url=https://www.rollerenligne.com/dossier/jean-garcin-lun-des-pionniers-francais-de-patinage-a-roulettes/
|title=Jean Garcin, l'un des pionniers français de patinage à roulettes
|website=Le Roller en Ligne
|date=24 December 2017
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240129130139/https://www.rollerenligne.com/dossier/jean-garcin-lun-des-pionniers-francais-de-patinage-a-roulettes/
|archive-date=2024-01-29
}}</ref>

Up to this point in history, "roller skates" as a term was not yet used. Inventors simply referred to their contraptions as wheeled alternatives to ice skates. All known novelty skates had wheels aligned in a single line. Skates were simply assumed to have a single runner, whether a steel blade on an ice skate, or a row of wheels on a wheeled skate. This state of affairs continued through 1860.{{efn-ua|Henry Pennie patented in 1861 the first skate with two parallel rows of wheels, setting his skate apart from previous wheeled skates with a single row of wheels.<ref name=pennie-two-row-skate-1861/>}}<ref name="museum-of-roller-skating-history-of-inline">{{cite web
|url=http://rollerskatingmuseum.com/inline.html
|title=The History of Inline Skating
|website=National Museum of Roller Skating
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410214014/http://rollerskatingmuseum.com/inline.html
|archive-date=2019-04-10
}}</ref><ref name="museum-of-roller-skating-history-of-roller-skating-1997"/>{{rp|8–13}}

===Development of roller skates===

[[File:Google Ngram-inline skates,quad skates,roller skates,rollerblades-Case sensitive-1840-2022-chart.png|thumb|right|340px|Usage stats of various skating terms including "roller skates", before and after 1860]]

Around 1860, wheeled skates started to become more popular. Patents on a wide variety of wheeled skates were issued. The configuration of wheels started to depart from previous single-line arrangements. Many of these early patents were titled "roller-skate" or "parlor skate". Indeed, the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' dates the earliest printed use of the noun ''roller skate'' to 1860.<ref>{{cite web 
|title=roller skate, n. 
|url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/roller-skate_n 
|publisher=Oxford English Dictionary 
|access-date=25 November 2024
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241125215229/https://www.oed.com/dictionary/roller-skate_n?tl=true
|archive-date=2024-11-25
}}</ref> Then, starting in 1870, the popularity of roller skates skyrocketed. Within a decade the term "roller skates" entered the popular lexicon.<ref name="ols-history-skating-1760-to-today">{{cite web
|url=https://online-skating.com/featured-articles/the-history-of-skating-from-1760-till-today/
|title=The History of Skating from 1760 till Today
|website=OLS Online Skating
|date=12 November 2023
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241128072050/https://online-skating.com/featured-articles/the-history-of-skating-from-1760-till-today/
|archive-date=2024-11-28
}}</ref>

[[File:Reuben Shaler-US28509A-1860-Wheel Skate-Patent Drawing-FIG 1 n FIG 2.png|thumb|right|280px|Shaler skates w. rubber rings - 1860]]

In 1860, the US Patent Office granted Reuben Shaler the first US patent on roller skates, titled "Wheel-Skate", with an accompanying drawing labeled "Parlor Skate". The four rollers (wheels) formed a straight line, and were mounted by pins on two side pieces of a hanger that we would now recognize as a frame of a modern-day inline skate. His key innovation was a flexible rubber ring he mounted on each of the four metal roller cores. This allowed his roller skates to gain better purchase on carpeted floors.<ref>{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=28509
|pubdate=1860-05-29
|title=Wheel-Skate
|inventor1-last=Shaler
|inventor1-first=Reuben
}}</ref><ref name="Engineer-skates-no02">{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wlFHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA102
|title=The Engineer
|volume=41
|date=1876-02-11
|article=Historical Notes on Roller Skates No. 2
|pages=102–103
|location=London
|publisher=Morgan-Grampian
|access-date=2024-11-30
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.inlineplanet.com/History/shalerparlorskate.html
|title=Shaler Gives the Skate Traction By Ringing the Rollers with Rubber
|website=The Inline Planet
|author-first=Robert
|author-last=Burnson
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041231121608/https://www.inlineplanet.com/History/shalerparlorskate.html
|archive-date=2004-12-31
}}</ref>

[[File:Albert Anderson-US33689A-1861-Improvement in roller skates-two wheeled skates-Patent Drawing-FIG 2.png|thumb|right|260px|2-wheel Anderson skate - 1861]]

In 1861, Albert Anderson was granted a US patent on "Improvement in roller-skates". The accompanying drawings titled "Parlor Skate" showed a two-wheeled skate, with a small wheel under the heel, and a much larger wheel in front of the toes, reminiscent of [[Penny-farthing|penny-farthing bikes]]. The large front wheel overcomes oncoming obstacles, preventing a skater from falling forward. The stock (or foot stand) is inclined forward, with a raised heel section.
<ref>{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=33689
|pubdate=1861-11-12
|title=Improvement in roller-skates
|inventor1-last=Anderson
|inventor1-first=Albert
}}</ref><ref name="Engineer-skates-no02"/> This is not dissimilar to how some modern-day hockey, freestyle and speed skates pitch a player leaning forward by default, giving a skater greater stability and stronger strokes.{{r|naomi-grigg-2014|p=15,21,25}}<ref name="rerolling-inline-boot-frame-wheel-setups"/>

[[File:Henry Pennie-US31994-1861-Roller skate-8 wheels in 2 rows-Patent Drawing-FIG 1 n FIG 2.png|thumb|right|260px|4x2 Pennie skate - 1861]]

In 1861, Henry Pennie was granted a US patent titled "Roller-skate". Its drawing, titled "Parlor Skate" showed a stock supported by two rows of wheels, with 4 wheels on each row, totaling 8 wheels per skate. In the patent specification, Pennie explained that his key innovation was the two rows of wheels. This set his skates apart from all previous roller skates that attempted to emulate ice skates with a single, centered runner. Pennie reasoned that two rows of wheels provided increased support area for better balance, without materially incurring greater friction. Beginners would learn with two rows of wheels, for a more balanced footing. Skillful skaters would move the two rows of wheels increasingly closer to each other, using different widths of washers as spacers, until they graduated to a single row of wheels. Pennie's skate, too, had two side plates secured to the stock, forming what continues to be known as a "frame" today.<ref name=pennie-two-row-skate-1861>{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=31994
|pubdate=1861-04-09
|title=Roller-skate
|inventor1-last=Pennie
|inventor1-first=Henry
}}</ref><ref name="Engineer-skates-no02"/>

{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 260
 | image1 = James Plimpton-US37305A-1863-Improvement in skates-Birth of Quad Skates-Patent Drawing-FIG 1 n FIG 3.png
 | caption1 = 2x2 Plimpton skate - 1863
 | image2 = Plimpton Roller Skate prototype-between 1863 and 1866-at National Museum of Roller Skating-by Bruce McArthur.jpg
 | caption2 = Plimpton prototype 1863-1866
}}

In 1863, James Plimpton patented an "improvement in skates" consisting of a stock with four wheels arranged in a two-by-two configuration like a wagon. This was not the first roller skate with two rows of skates, but it was the first double-row skate that could be easily turned by a beginner. Plimpton's key innovation was a mechanism that allowed a skater to turn a skate by simply leaning towards the desired direction.<ref>{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=37305
|pubdate=1863-01-06
|title=Improvement in skates
|inventor1-last=Plimpton
|inventor1-first=James
}}</ref> The mechanism converted rocking and canting motions of the skate platform (stock) into movements of the two wheel axles. These axles in turn steered all four wheel into the right orientations for the turn.<ref name="Engineer-skates-no03">{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wlFHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA121
|title=The Engineer
|volume=41
|date=1876-02-18
|article=Historical Notes on Roller Skates No. 3
|pages=121–122
|location=London
|publisher=Morgan-Grampian
|access-date=2024-11-30
}}</ref>

Plimpton opened roller skating rinks and aggressively promoted this new sport of [[roller skating]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://youraudiotour.com/tours/national-museum-of-roller-skating-audio-tour-museum-proper/stops/9806
|title=The Father of the Modern Roller Skating
|website=National Museum of Roller Skating Audio Tour
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241128071950/https://youraudiotour.com/tours/national-museum-of-roller-skating-audio-tour-museum-proper/stops/9806
|archive-date=2024-11-28
}}</ref> His wheel-steering invention, together with his business acumen, spread his roller skates far and wide, resulting in a "rinkomania" in the 1860s and 1870s.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31831110
|title=The Victorian craze that sparked a mini-sexual revolution
|website=BBC News
|date=6 April 2015
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241128071725/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31831110
|archive-date=2024-11-28
}}</ref> The editors of the 1876 series of "Historical Notes on Roller Skates" (published in [[The Engineer (UK magazine)|The Engineer]]) marveled at the number of roller skate patents that resulted from the rinkomania. They compiled a table of roller skate patents issued in Europe and America from 1819 through 1876, showing an exponential growth starting with Plimpton's 1863 invention.<ref name="Engineer-skates-no11">{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wlFHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA287
|title=The Engineer
|volume=41
|date=1876-04-21
|article=Historical Notes on Roller Skates No. 11
|pages=287–288
|location=London
|publisher=Morgan-Grampian
|access-date=2024-11-30
}}</ref> Plimpton's skates forever changed the meaning of "roller skates". For the next century, the term "roller skates" no longer referred to all wheeled skates. It became synonymous with the two-by-two Plimpton-style skates, particularly to the masses.<ref name="museum-of-roller-skating-history-of-roller-skating-1997"/>{{rp|13–14}}<ref name="ols-history-skating-1760-to-today"/>

===Adoption of ball bearings===

Skates became more practical with the adoption of [[ball bearings]] in the wheel assembly.<ref name="Rinehart-2013">{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mt21u4pdGqMC
|title=Inline Skating in Contemporary Sport: An Examination of Its Growth and Development
|publisher=Rinehart
|year=2013
|isbn=9780473249892
|access-date=2024-11-30
|first1=Robert E.
|last1=Rinehart
}}</ref> This directly followed the development of precision ball bearings in the 1850s,<ref name="nasa-ball-bearings-1981">{{cite web
|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19810009866/downloads/19810009866.pdf
|title=History of Ball Bearings
|first1=Duncan
|last1=Dowson
|first2=Bernard J.
|last2=Hamrock
|year=1981
|website=NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241130044009/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19810009866/downloads/19810009866.pdf
|archive-date=2024-11-30
}}</ref> and the application of ball bearings in [[bicycles]] by Albert Louis Thirion in 1862 in England.<ref>{{cite magazine
| author      = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| title       = Calendar of Patent Records
| url         = https://www.nature.com/articles/123744a0.pdf
| magazine    = Nature
| volume      = 123
| publisher   = Nature Publishing Group
| year        = 1929
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20241201155900/https://www.nature.com/articles/123744a0.pdf
| archive-date= 2024-12-01
| access-date = 2024-11-30
}}</ref> Ball bearings reduced bearing friction to as little as 10% of former values, greatly improving top speeds of bicycle racers in Europe.<ref name="nasa-ball-bearings-1981"/>

[[File:The Engineer Vol-41 1876-02-04 pp86 Joseph Gidman Drawings Rearranged.png|thumb|right|360px|Gidman skate with bearings - 1852]]

In 1852, Joseph Gidman filed a provisional patent application titled "A skate", where he described a skate with a front wheel, a rear wheel, and two side wheels mounted mid-section. Instead of constructing a wheel with a solid nave, Gidman inserted rollers between a wheel and its axle, effectively applying [[Rolling-element bearing|roller bearings]] to skate wheels.<ref name="patents-abridged-1672-to-1866">{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ST1d7HUQHMIC&pg=PA168
|title=Patents for inventions: Abridgments of specifications relating to Toys, Games and Exercises - A.D. 1672-1866
|pages=Page 168 on Gidman' patent No. 1176
|location=London
|publisher=Commissioners of Patents
|year=1871
|access-date=2024-11-30
}}</ref><ref name="Engineer-skates-no01"/> But Gidman was ahead of his time. He spent 30 years trying to get roller skates with roller bearings mass produced, with little success.<ref name="Rinehart-2013"/>

[[File:Joseph Henry Hughes Patent-UK Patent 3531 from 1877-Bearings of bicycles and velocipedes or carriages-Drawings FIG 1 to FIG 5.png|thumb|right|260px|Ball bearings in bikes - Hughes 1877]]

In 1876, William Bown's [[Provisional application|provisional patent application]] was allowed, titled "Improvements in the construction of wheels or rollers for roller skates and for other purposes".<ref>{{Cite patent
|country=UK
|number=3266
|fdate=1876-08-19
|pubdate=1876-09-08
|title=Improvements in the construction of wheels or rollers for roller skates and for other purposes (No. 3266, filed 1876-08-19, [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/24361/page/4929 published 1876-09-08])
|inventor1-last=Bown
|inventor1-first=William
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MxkrOLJaPeEC&pg=PA49
}}</ref> Bown placed a felt ring, lubricated with oil, between a wheel and its axle to attempt to reduce friction. But this was not substantially more effective, and required constant oil refills.<ref name="Rinehart-2013"/>

In 1877, Joseph Henry Hughes' provisional patent application was allowed, titled "Improvements in the bearings of bicycles and velocipedes or carriages".<ref>{{Cite patent
|country=UK
|number=3531
|fdate=1877-09-19
|pubdate=1877-10-12
|title=Improvements in the bearings of bicycles and velocipedes or carriages (No. 3531, filed 1877-09-19, [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/24511/page/5609 published 1877-10-12])
|inventor1-first=John Henry
|inventor1-last=Hughes
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dr7105W-tYAC&pg=PA29-IA20
}}</ref> Hughes, a local of [[Birmingham]], described a ball bearing race for bicycle and carriage wheels which allowed for initial adjustment of the system to ensure optimal contact between components, and for subsequent adjustments to compensate for component wear from use. As a successful owner of [[Bown Manufacturing Company]], William Bown persuaded Hughes to sell rights to this patent to him, and to join him on further bearing innovations for the next decade. This led to the successful Aeolus brand of ball bearings, used in the first ball-race-pedals and wheel bearings for bicycles and carriage wheels. Similar ball bearings were subsequently adopted for use on roller skates.<ref name="Rinehart-2013"/>

[[File:Levant M Richardson-US308990A-1884-Roller Skate-Patent Drawing-FIG 1 n FIG 2-Rearranged.png|thumb|right|300px|Ball bearings in skates - Richardson 1884]]

In 1884, two US patents claiming the use of ball bearings in roller skates were issued one after the other. George Burton filed on August 17, 1883, and was granted a patent on November 11, 1884.<ref>{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=307840
|pubdate=1884-11-11
|gdate=1884-11-11
|fdate=1883-08-17
|title=Roller-Skate
|inventor1-first=George
|inventor1-last=Burton
}}</ref> Levant Marvin Richardson filed on August 6, 1884, and was granted a patent on December 9, 1884.<ref>{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=308990
|pubdate=1884-12-09
|gdate=1884-12-09
|fdate=1884-08-06
|title=Roller-Skate
|inventor1-first=Levant Marvin
|inventor1-last=Richardson
}}</ref> Richardson was more successful in marketing his invention, eventually starting and growing Richardson Ball-Bearing Skate Company to make these skates.

Skates equipped with ball bearings further fueled the Plimpton 2x2 skate craze. Skate manufacturers operated rinks to promote roller skating during the boom period from 1880s through 1910s. Skates made for rink use were referred to as parlor skates or club skates.<ref name="museum-of-roller-skating-history-of-roller-skating-1997"/>{{rp|19–20, 25}} By 1910, Richardson Roller Skate Company competed with mainstream brands including [[Micajah C. Henley|Henley Roller Skates]], [[Samuel Winslow (mayor)|Winslow's Skates]], Baltimore Skate MFG Co, and Chicago Roller Skate Company.<ref>{{cite news
|author=<!--not stated-->
|date=1910-01-29
|title=Page 22 & Page 23
|others=News about Richardson Roller Skate Company, as well as ad from the company, on the same pages with contemporary competitors.
|url=https://ia903203.us.archive.org/2/items/sim_billboard_1910-01-29_22_5/sim_billboard_1910-01-29_22_5.pdf
|work=The Billboard - America's Leading Amusement Weekly
|access-date=2024-11-30
}}</ref>

===Further development of inline skates===

{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 220
 | image1 = Peck n Snyder-American Parlor or Floor Skates-page 46-Encyclopedia n Price List-1873-Skate Only.png
 | caption1 = Peck & Snynder - 1873
 | image2 = Edwards n Koerner-London-1893-Brakes for roller skates-Patent Drawing-Original.png
 | caption2 = Skate brake - Edwards 1893
}}

Plimpton's two-by-two roller skates took the limelight starting in 1863 and held it for more than a century. But inventors and enterprises continued to bring new roller skates with a single line of wheels to the market, under Plimpton's shadow.<ref name="museum-of-roller-skating-history-of-inline"/> For instance, in 1873, Peck & Snyder advertised "parlor or floor skates" with 4 rubber wheels in a single line. These skates had not yet incorporated ball bearings.<ref>{{cite book
|url=https://archive.org/details/pecksnydersencyc00peck/page/n45/mode/1up
|title=Peck & Snyder's Encyclopædia and Price List
|location=New York
|publisher=Peck & Snyder
|year=1873
|access-date=2024-12-14
|quote=Drawing of a parlor or floor skate
|quote-page=46
}}</ref> They closely resembled skates advertised in 1861, which were based on Reuben Shaler's 1860 patent.<ref>{{cite news
|author=<!--not stated-->
|date=1861-04-30
|title=Shaler's Flexible Roller Patent Floor Skates
|url=https://archive.org/details/FrankLesliesIllustratedNewspaperapril301861/page/n14/mode/1up
|location=New York
|access-date=2024-12-15
}}</ref>

Early roller skaters were preoccupied with avoiding rolling backward. E. Edwards and H. Koerner patented heel brakes in 1893 that prevented a single-line roller skate from rolling backward. To brake, a rubber ball was jammed against a rear wheel covered with rubber tire. This skate did not claim its straps, ankle support, or two-wheel configuration, as those preexisted.<ref name="patents-abridged-1893-to-1896">{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ksw6AQAAMAAJ&pg=PR1
|title=Patents for inventions: Abridgments of specifications
|volume=23: Toys, Games and Exercises - A.D. 1893-1896
|pages=Page 6 on Edwards/Koerner patent No. 1584, and page 55 on Sherrif/Anderson patent No. 18733
|location=London
|publisher=Commissioners of Patents
|year=1899
|access-date=2024-12-07
}}</ref>{{rp|6}}

{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 220
 | image1 = Pneumatic Road Skate Ad-Figure and Fancy Skating-1895-Skate only.png
 | caption1 = Pneumatic road skate - 1895
 | image2 = Peck n Snyders Racing Roller Skate Ad-Spaldings Official Ice Hockey Guide-1904-Skate only.png
 | caption2 = Racing Roller Skates - 1904
}}

Many single-line roller skates during this period had two wheels. In 1895, the Pneumatic Road Skate Company in London took out a full-page advertisement in the book ''Figure and Fancy Skating'', showing a road skate with two wheels, each covered in hollow rubber tires modeled after bicycle tires. This skate closely resembled the skate shown in the Edwards/Koerner patent. Both provided similar ankle support that was popular at the time.<ref>{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPMWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT2
|title=Figure and Fancy Skating
|location=London
|publisher=Bliss, Sands, and Foster
|year=1895
|first1=George A.
|last1=Meagher
|access-date=2024-12-07
}}</ref> These single-line skates were purported to allow easy turning of skates, without needing the rocking and canting mechanism from Plimpton's roller skates. They were advertised as "road" skates with ball bearings, and were hyped as having great military utilities for moving troops. The company performed a public demonstration before its public offering.<ref>{{cite magazine
| author      = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| title       = Some Press opinions on the exhibition of he Pneumatic Road Skate at the recent Stanley Show
| url         = https://books.google.com/books?id=02FJAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA152
| magazine    = To-Day
| volume      = 9
| page        = 152
| editor1-first = Jerome K.
| editor1-last  = Jerome
| location    = London
| publisher   = Howard House
| year        = 1896
| access-date = 2024-11-24
}}</ref>

Across the Atlantic Ocean in America in 1904, [[Andrew Peck (businessman)|Peck & Snyder Sporting Goods]], which was acquired by [[Spalding (company)|A.G. Spalding & Brothers]], advertised Racing Roller Skates with two wheels, each mounted with tempered steel ball bearings and supported by a rubber tire.<ref>{{cite book
|url=https://archive.org/details/howtobecomeskate01toom/page/n147/mode/1up
|title=How to Become a Skater: containing full instructions for excelling at figure and speed skating
|quote=Ad for Peck & Snyder's Racing Roller Skate
|quote-page=147
|location=New York
|publisher=American Sports Publishing Company
|year=1904
|access-date=2024-12-01
}}</ref> These closely resembled the Pneumatic Road Skates design. However, the American versions replaced the ankle support with a strap, now known as the 45° strap in modern inline skates.<ref>{{cite book
|url=https://archive.org/details/officialrulesfor00newy/page/n119/mode/1up
|title=Spalding's Official Ice Hockey Guide
|quote=Ad for Peck & Snyder's Racing Roller Skate and Climax Skate
|quote-page=119
|location=New York
|publisher=American Sports Publishing Company
|year=1904
|first1=Arthur
|last1=Farrell
|access-date=2024-12-01
}}</ref>{{efn-ua|Some of these pneumatic skates from Peck & Snyder still exist. See auction pictures from 2018, archived as [https://web.archive.org/web/20241201033014/https://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/onesourceauctions/14/636414/H4367-L159470427.JPG side view] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20241201033039/https://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/onesourceauctions/14/636414/H4367-L159470430.JPG bottom view].}} Many companies produced similar road skates in this period, often called "automobile cycle skates", after the pneumatic tires. For instance, John Jay Young was granted patents for steel-tired wheels as early as 1872.<ref>{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=133738
|gdate=1872-12-10
|title=Constructing Steel-Tired Cast Wheels
|inventor1-first=John Jay
|inventor1-last=Young
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=133739
|gdate=1872-12-10
|title=Improvement in Steel Tires
|inventor1-first=John Jay
|inventor1-last=Young
}}</ref> However, by 1905 he was selling skates with pneumatic wheels instead.{{efn-ua|See pictures of John Jay Young Automobile Cycle Skates from [https://www.ebay.com/itm/355881868186 an eBay auction], archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20241205005943/https://www.ebay.com/itm/355881868186 here], with [https://web.archive.org/web/20241205005944/https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/tYcAAOSwi6FmicZW/s-l1600.webp front/top views] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20241214061437/https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/E6wAAOSwwZhmicaY/s-l1600.webp bottom view].}} The Cycle Skate and Sporting Goods Company also sold these skates in 1906.<ref>{{cite magazine
| author      = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| url         = https://books.google.com/books?id=-qVyf38tnkMC&pg=PA818
| title       = Ad from Cycle Skate and Sporting Goods Co.
| magazine    = The Literary Digest
| volume      = 32: covering Jan 1906 - June 1906
| page        = 818
| location    = New York
| publisher   = Funk & Wagnalls Company
| year        = 1906
| access-date = 2024-11-24
}}</ref>

{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 220
 | image1 = A Sherrif and R Anderson-1893-Skate with stock below centers of wheels-Patent Drawing.png
 | caption1 = Sherrif/Anderson skate - 1893
 | image2 = Augustus Nichols Lindsley-1899-Road Skate with adjustable telescopic stock-Patent Drawing-Rearranged.png
 | caption2 = Lindsley road skate - 1899
}}

Another popular two-wheeled skate set the foot stand below the centers of wheels. This required that the wheels be placed in front of and behind the foot stand. In 1893, the first patent describing this design configuration was granted to A. Sherrif and R. Anderson.<ref name="patents-abridged-1893-to-1896"/> In 1899, Augustus Nichols Lindsley was issued the first patent for a telescopic stock for this type of skate, to accommodate different foot sizes. The design employed T-shaped tubing for the telescopic connections.<ref>{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=622815
|gdate=1899-04-11
|title=Road Skate
|inventor1-first=Augustus Nichols
|inventor1-last=Lindsley
}}</ref> In 1903, Benjamin S Peard filed a patent application on a wheel hub with spokes and fillets to reduce weight while still providing rigidity and strength. The Peard wheel was particularly suited for this skate design.<ref>{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=801263
|gdate=1905-10-10
|fdate=1903-09-19
|title=Wheels for roller skates
|inventor1-first=Benjamin S
|inventor1-last=Peard
}}</ref>

By 1906, Cycle Skate and Sporting Goods Co. began selling road skates that combined features from Sherif/Anderson (low foot stand), Lindsley (adjustable stock), and Peard (wheels with hub and spokes).<ref>{{cite magazine
| author      = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| title       = Ad from Cycle Skate and Sporting Goods Co
| url         = https://books.google.com/books?id=hZk7AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA16
| magazine    = Hardware
| volume      = 33
| page        = 16: from May 10th, 1906
| year        = 1906
| access-date = 2024-12-14
}}</ref> In 1912, John Jay Young followed suit and began selling similar skates.<ref>{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tsopAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA5-PA78
|title=Increasing Demand for Roller Skates
|location=New York
|publisher=R. G. Dun & Co
|year=1912
|volume=19
|access-date=2024-12-14
|quote-page=78
}}</ref>{{efn-ua|See auction pictures of John Jay Young Automobile Road Skates from [https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/ca-1905-john-jay-young-automobile-cycle-skates.203653/ this listing] and [https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/automobile-skate-roller-skate.169662/ this listing] from an antique exchange, archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20221203102039/https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/ca-1905-john-jay-young-automobile-cycle-skates.203653/ here] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20241205013743/https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/automobile-skate-roller-skate.169662/ here]. Also see [https://www.ebay.com/itm/152618844297 this eBay listing] with [https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/hm0AAOSwGBtZY7Qh/s-l1600.webp this archived image].
}} These were marketed as "Automobile Road Skates" in 1913 and beyond.<ref>{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=12M3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA16-IA7
|title=Ad from John Jay Young on various roller skates
|location=New York
|publisher=Newspaper Enterprise Association
|year=1913
|access-date=2024-12-14
}}</ref>

===Precursors to modern inline skates===

[[File:Chomin Harry-US1527840A-1925-Skate-Patent Drawing-FIG 1 n FIG 2.png|thumb|right|300px|Axle as threaded bolt - Harry 1925]]

From the 1910s to the 1970s, many more variations of single-line wheeled skates were patented and manufactured. While still in the shadow of 2x2 roller skates, some of these started to gain popularity amongst [[Ice hockey|ice hockey players]], by the 1960s and 1970s, due to their better emulation of ice blades.

In 1925, the US patent office granted Chomin Harry of Canada a patent for a skate frame that gave each wheel axle dual purposes: 1) interlocking with the inner race of double ball bearings, as an axle, and 2) being threaded into one sidewall of the wheel frame, as a bolt. This enabled easy wheel replacement, and allowed an ice blade to be attached in place of the wheels.<ref>{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=1527840
|fdate=1924-05-08
|pubdate=1925-02-24
|gdate=1925-02-24
|title=Skate
|inventor1-first=Chomin
|inventor1-last=Harry
}}</ref>

[[File:Siffert Christian-US2113862A-1938-Roller Skate-Patent Drawing-FIGs 1 n 3-padded.png|thumb|right|280px|Single-piece frame - Siffert 1938]]

In 1938, Christian Siffert secured a patent on a roller skate frame resembling 21st century inline skates, complete with a heel brake. The frame accommodated 3 wheels. This odd selection of wheel numbers was intentional and led to the patented claim. It allowed the frame to be economically cut from a single sheet of metal, where portions of sidewalls were repurposed into parts of toe and heel plates, leaving voids seen on sidewalls. This was one of the very few pre-Rollerblade frames where two sidewalls of a frame were permanently connected. The resulting single-piece frame was lighter, stronger and cheaper than previous designs.<ref>{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=2113862
|fdate=1936-04-27
|pubdate=1938-04-12
|gdate=1938-04-12
|title=Roller skate
|inventor1-first=Siffert
|inventor1-last=Christian
}}</ref> This skate was produced and sold by Siffert himself initially in 1941, by Best Ever Built Skate Co. (BEB) thereafter, and later as "Jet Skate" by AFCO Products Inc. in 1948.<ref>{{cite magazine
| author      = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| title       = Ad by Siffert & Moore MFG. Co.
| url         = https://books.google.com/books?id=mtkDAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA170
| magazine    = Popular Mechanics
| volume      = 76
| number      = 1
| page        = 170
| location    = Chicago
| publisher   = Popular Mechanics Company
| date        = July 1941
| access-date = 2024-12-18
}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine
| author      = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| title       = Jet Skate Ad by AFCO Products Inc.
| url         = https://books.google.com/books?id=xtgDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA275
| magazine    = Popular Mechanics
| volume      = 89
| number      = 4
| page        = 275
| location    = Chicago
| publisher   = Popular Mechanics Company
| date        = April 1948
| access-date = 2024-12-18
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.inlineplanet.com/History/siffertjetskate.html
|title=The Illustrated History of Inline Skate Design At the U.S. Patent Office: Siffert's Jet Skate, 1938
|website=The Inline Planet
|author-first=Robert
|author-last=Burnson
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207211716/https://www.inlineplanet.com/History/siffertjetskate.html
|archive-date=2021-12-07
}}</ref>{{efn-ua|See pictures of Siffert's skates sold by Best Ever Built Skate Co at [https://www.rollerenligne.com/dossier/best-ever-built-skate-co-un-patin-a-roues-alignees-de-1936-1938/ Le Roller en Ligne].<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.rollerenligne.com/dossier/best-ever-built-skate-co-un-patin-a-roues-alignees-de-1936-1938/
|title=Best Ever Built Skate Co : un patin à roues alignées de 1936/1938
|website=Le Roller en Ligne
|date=25 December 2020
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241220050443/https://www.rollerenligne.com/dossier/best-ever-built-skate-co-un-patin-a-roues-alignees-de-1936-1938/
|archive-date=2024-12-20
}}</ref> The National Museum of Roller Skating has the Siffert skate in its collection. See this [https://web.archive.org/web/20070709161553/http://www.rollerskatingmuseum.com/images/full_size/inline_skates.jpg archived picture] from its earlier, now defunct, website. Also refer to a picture shown [https://radio-guy.com/product/1920s-beb-skate-co-3-wheel-in-line/ here], archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20241220051111/https://radio-guy.com/product/1920s-beb-skate-co-3-wheel-in-line/ here].
}}

{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | width1 = 300
 | caption1 = Adjustable frame - Ware 1966
 | image1 = Gordon K Ware-US3287023A-1966-Roller skate-Adjustable rockered frame-Patent Drawing-FIGs 1 2 3.png
 | width2 = 200
 | caption2 = Chicago Roller-Blade - 1965
 | image2 = Chicago Roller Blade-inline skate from ca 1965-patented by Gordon Ware-pic by Ojibwa-P1360137.jpg
}}

In 1966, Gordon K Ware, one of the Ware brothers who founded the successful Chicago Roller Skate Company, obtained a patent for a skate with multiple frame segments that overlapped. In this design, wheel axles served a second purpose - that of securing overlapping segments through specific axle holes. This allowed the frame to adjust to various shoes and sizes. In addition, the front wheel and the rear wheel could be placed higher than the middle two, to create various rockered wheel setups for better turning. Wheels were mounted on double ball bearings. This skate could be customized for different needs from different sports, including figure skating, speed skating, and ice hockey.<ref name=Gordon-Ware-patent-US3287023A>{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=3287023
|fdate=1964-07-16
|pubdate=1966-11-22
|gdate=1966-11-22
|title=Roller skate
|inventor1-first=Gordon K
|inventor1-last=Ware
}}</ref>{{efn-ua|The National Museum of Roller Skating has the Gordon Ware Chicago skate in its collection. See this [https://web.archive.org/web/20140227002043/http://www.rollerskatingmuseum.com/Chicago%20Rollerblade.jpg archived picture] from its earlier, now defunct, website. This [https://web.archive.org/web/20151219010153/http://www.rollerskatingmuseum.com/downloads/Aug%202015.pdf archived August 2015 newsletter] shows a better picture of the same Chicago skate. The same skate with a low-cut shoe was shown in a Washington State History Museum [https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/25/2213240/-Washington-State-History-Museum-Roller-Skates-photo-diary exhibit on Roller Skates] in 2023. See [https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52804888894_ac78a4cb26_h.jpg this picture], archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20241228023436/https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52804888894_ac78a4cb26_h.jpg here]. Also see archive pictures [https://web.archive.org/web/20241222003053/https://i.etsystatic.com/11866247/r/il/9b1adf/2118008727/il_1588xN.2118008727_idcm.jpg one], [https://web.archive.org/web/20241222003314/https://i.etsystatic.com/11866247/r/il/f6b0bd/2118008585/il_1588xN.2118008585_qx5j.jpg two], [https://web.archive.org/web/20241222003050/https://i.etsystatic.com/11866247/r/il/f5d08c/2118008519/il_1588xN.2118008519_52u3.jpg three] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20241222003053/https://i.etsystatic.com/11866247/r/il/3f3ac2/2118008735/il_1588xN.2118008735_o7tn.jpg four] from an antique listing.
}}

{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | footer = USSR skates from 1962
 | width1 = 300
 | image1 = USSR inline skate-from 1962-by alextreme-side view.jpg
 | width2 = 180
 | image2 = USSR inline skate-from 1962-by alextreme-wheels.jpg
}}

The inspiration for this Chicago skate came from off-season training skates used by Russian speed skating teams in the 1960s. Barbara Lockhart of the US Olympic speed skating team brought a pair back to the US.  [[Montgomery Ward]] commissioned 25,000 pairs of these, and advertised them in 1965 catalogs as excellent off-ice training tools for figure skating and ice hockey. The skate was sold under the name "Roller-Blade", coined by Joe Shevelson of the Chicago Roller Skate Co. Ladies' version came with high-cut leather shoes, and men's version medium-cut leather shoes. Montgomery Ward could not sell the inventory, so the skate was soon discontinued.<ref name=Shevelson-golden-days-of-skating/><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/single-post/chicago-roller-skate-co/
|title=Chicago Roller Skate Co., est. 1905
|website=Made In Chicago Museum
|date=28 November 2021
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203222423/https://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/single-post/chicago-roller-skate-co/
|archive-date=2024-12-03
}}</ref>{{efn-ua|name=chicago-roller-blade-ads|See ads for the Chicago Roller-Blade in the 1965 Fall & Winter Montgomery Ward catalog, [http://www.thecatalogblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/mw65-wheels1.jpg page 1082], archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20241222023137/http://www.thecatalogblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/mw65-wheels1.jpg here], and in the 1965 Spring & Summer Catalog, [https://christmas.musetechnical.com/ShowCatalogPage/1965-Montgomery-Ward-Spring-Summer-Catalog/0846 page 846], archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20241222024629/http://web.archive.org/screenshot/https://christmas.musetechnical.com/ShowCatalogPage/1965-Montgomery-Ward-Spring-Summer-Catalog/0846 here].
}}

Up to this time, almost all roller skates were of the "clamp-on" variety - they were strapped to a skater's own shoes or boots.<ref name=Shevelson-golden-days-of-skating>{{cite magazine
| author      = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| title       = Joseph Shevelson interviewed by Paul A. Dunn and Sharry Beck Paprocki on the Golden Days of Skating
| url         = https://www.networkistics.com/sample/asufoundation/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1990-July-Roller-Skater.pdf
| magazine    = Skaters
| volume      = 1
| number      = 1: Premier Issue
| date        = June–July 1990
| pages        = 12–18
| location    = Mt. Morris, IL
| publisher   = CFW Enterprises, Inc
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240619204436/https://www.networkistics.com/sample/asufoundation/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1990-July-Roller-Skater.pdf
| archive-date = 2024-06-19
| access-date = 2024-12-20
}}</ref> In his patent application, Ware instead described his skate as explicitly designed to be permanently riveted to any shoes a user desired to use. This borrowed from the ice hockey industry which, by 1908, routinely riveted ice blades to hockey boots, resulting in improved stability and performance for skaters.<ref name=Gordon-Ware-patent-US3287023A/>

[[File:Morris L Maury Silver-US3880441A-1975-Tandem roller hockey skate-Patent Drawing-Rearranged.png|thumb|right|300px|Single-unit hockey skate - Silver 1975]]

In 1975, Morris (Maury) Silver received a patent on a "Tandem Roller Hockey Skate". The key claim of this patent was the single-unit nature of the skate, where a wheel frame was permanently attached to a hockey boot. Prior patents on roller skates did not claim a boot as part of the apparatus. In this patent, the boot was part of the "roller hockey skate". This skate was equipped with larger wheels than those in prior designs. The front wheel was positioned farther forward, and the rear wheel farther back, for enhanced speed and balance, as required for hockey. Both front and rear wheels can be shifted upward in their slotted mounting holes for a rockered wheel setup. The patent and drawings specified the use of roller bearings, when ball bearings had become commonplace by this time.<ref name="maury-silver-tandem-skate-1975">{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=3880441
|fdate=1973-11-08
|pubdate=1975-04-29
|gdate=1975-04-29
|title=Tandem roller hockey skate
|inventor1-first=Morris L
|inventor1-last=Silver
}}</ref>

Silver developed his skate with his friend, [[Ralph Backstrom]], a Canadian hockey player from the [[Montreal Canadiens]]. Backstrom briefly played for the [[Los Angeles Kings]] from 1970 to 1973, and would train off-season with this skate. Their company marketed the skate under the label Super Sport Skate (or Super Street Skate), as an off-ice training tool for ice hockey players.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2007/05/ralph-backstrom-and-bill-hicke.html <!-- Pelletier is a hockey writer, and wrote for Greatest Hockey Legends, but Wikipedia doesn't like/trust blogspot.com. I understand. -->
|title=Ralph Backstrom
|website=Greatest Hockey Legends
|first1=Joe
|last1=Pelletier
|date=2007-05-07
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240623120115/https://habslegends.blogspot.com/2007/05/ralph-backstrom.html
|archive-date=2024-06-23
}}</ref><ref name="ross-holland-rollerblade">{{cite book
|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/100greatbusiness0000ross/page/151/mode/1up
|title=100 Great Businesses and the Minds Behind Them
|chapter=Rollerblade - Live your product
|pages=151–155
|location=Naperville, Illinois
|publisher=Sourcebooks, Inc.
|year=2006
|isbn=978-1402206313
|access-date=2024-12-20
|first1=Emily
|last1=Ross
|first2=Angus
|last2=Holland
}}</ref><ref name="joyner-guide-inline-skating">{{cite book
|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/completeguideres0000joyn/page/22/mode/2up
|title=The complete guide & resource to in-line skating
|chapter=Profile: Scott Olson
|pages=22–24
|location=Cincinnati, Ohio
|publisher=Betterway Books
|year=1993
|isbn=155870289X
|access-date=2024-12-20
|first1=Stephen Christopher
|last1=Joyner
}}</ref>{{efn-ua|name=silver-super-sport-skate-ads-pics|See [https://web.archive.org/web/20241218042955/https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/~bkAAOSw~I5jfSNO/s-l1600.webp ad for Super Sport Skates] endorsed by Ralph Backstrom in "Faceoff" 73 / 74 season by World Hockey Association.<ref>{{cite magazine
| author      = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| title       = Ad for Super Sport Skates by Super Skate Inc. sponsored by Ralph Backstrom
| url         = https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/~bkAAOSw~I5jfSNO/s-l1600.webp
| magazine    = Faceoff 73 / 74 season
| publisher   = World Hockey Association
| year        = 1973
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20241218042955/https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/~bkAAOSw~I5jfSNO/s-l1600.webp
| access-date = 2024-12-21
| archive-date = 18 December 2024
}}</ref> Also see archived pictures [https://web.archive.org/web/20241222040944/https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/N4MAAOSwUNJnH8o~/s-l1600.webp one], [https://web.archive.org/web/20241222041243/https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/MFsAAOSwgvhnH8o~/s-l1600.webp two], [https://web.archive.org/web/20241222041321/https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/-KcAAOSwHfhnH8o~/s-l1600.webp three] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20241222041359/https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/isQAAOSwRk1nH8o~/s-l1600.webp four], from an antique listing.
}}

[[File:Lange-molded plastic hockey skates-from 1970s-by Fenkelllparts-landscape.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Lange hockey skates - 1970s]]

Meanwhile, another [[Roller sports|roller sport]], [[skateboarding]], became popular in the 1960s. Avid ocean surfers adopted skateboards with rubber wheels during downtimes. In the 1970s, the increasingly popular sport of skateboarding reached new heights with the advent of [[polyurethane]]  wheels and their superior performance. Some of these polyurethane skateboard wheels were in fact made by the Chicago Roller Skating Co.<ref>{{cite magazine
| author      = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| title       = The Roller Renaissance: Forgiving, quiet urethane wheels and new suspension tricks have put a great sport back on its feet
| url         = https://books.google.com/books?id=YM8DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA94
| magazine    = Popular Mechanics
| volume      = 151
| number      = 6
| page        = 94
| location    = Chicago
| publisher   = Popular Mechanics Company
| date        = June 1979
| access-date = 2024-12-20
}}</ref><ref name="washingtonpost-reinvention-of-wheel-2004">{{cite news
|author=<!--not stated-->
|date=2004-08-17
|title=A Reinvention Of the Wheel
|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6502-2004Aug16.html
|url-status=live
|newspaper=Washington Post
|first=Eric M.
|last=Weiss
|location=Washington DC
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808201310/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6502-2004Aug16.html
|archive-date=2007-08-08
|access-date=2024-12-20
}}</ref><ref name=Shevelson-golden-days-of-skating/><ref name="museum-of-roller-skating-history-of-roller-skating-1997"/>{{rp|20–22}}

At the same time, in the 1960s, the ski boot manufacturer [[Lange (ski boots)|Lange]] launched the first molded plastic ski boots furnished with liners.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://lange-ski-boots.blogspot.com/1970/01/early-days-1957-to-1963.html
|title=The early years - 1957 to 1963
|website=Lange - The History of an All-American Brand
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124151740/https://lange-ski-boots.blogspot.com/1970/01/early-days-1957-to-1963.html
|archive-date=2023-11-24
|access-date=2024-12-27
}}</ref> Lange then entered the ice hockey market in the 1970s with similar plastic hard boots, gaining some success. These boots were rigid to provide proper support for aggressive hockey skating. Yet they featured soft inner liners to provide a comfortably fit, despite the use of hard shells. A pivoting cuff is riveted to the boot, allowing a player to forward flex.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://lange-ski-boots.blogspot.com/2009/02/from-racing-glory-to-flo-leakage-1970.html
|title=From racing glory to bleeding "Flo" - 1970 to 1973
|website=Lange - The History of an All-American Brand
|date=2009-02-01 <!-- manually entered based on URL of the page. This article was not written in 1970: ARPANET was just being built. -->
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124151648/https://lange-ski-boots.blogspot.com/2009/02/from-racing-glory-to-flo-leakage-1970.html
|archive-date=2023-11-24
|access-date=2024-12-27
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.iceskatehistory.co.uk/lange
|title=Lange Ice Skates (with many pictures)
|website=Ice Skate History
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229115002/https://www.iceskatehistory.co.uk/lange
|archive-date=2021-12-29
}}</ref>{{efn-ua|See archives of ads for Lange Hockey Skates: [https://web.archive.org/web/20241222044836/https://www.ebay.com/itm/143921044999 1974], [https://web.archive.org/web/20241222044849/https://www.ebay.com/itm/143541585682 1977] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20241222044909/https://www.ebay.com/itm/115523188426 1979].
}}

Both polyurethane wheels and plastic hard boots would soon be borrowed for modern inline skating, to be combined with the best ideas from precursor skates, leading to the rise of Rollerblade in the 80s and its wide adoption by the general population.<ref name=Shevelson-golden-days-of-skating/><ref name="powell-svensson-inline-skating"/>{{rp|7}}

===Development of modern inline skates===

[[File:Scott Olson-Early Rollerblade Prototype-CCM Super Tacks with Super Street Skate-2010-02-11.jpg|thumb|right|220px|CCM Tacks boot riveted to Super Street Skate ca. 1980]]

For two centuries, inventors and entrepreneurs attempted to popularize skates with a single row of wheels. By the end of the 1970s, only Chicago Roller-Blade and Super Sport Skate managed to gain limited adoption for training, within a niche community of ice hockey players. It took Scott Olson, his brothers, his friends, and his company, [[Rollerblade]], to perfect these skates, and to make them enjoyable as mainstream recreation for the general population.<ref name="city-pages-wolf-wheel">{{cite magazine
| author      = Erika Wolf
| title       = Reinventing the Wheel
| url         = http://digitalissue.citypages.com/publication/?i=135676&p=8&view=issueViewer
| magazine    = City Pages
| date        = November 21–27, 2012
| pages       = 8–14
| location    = Minneapolis, MN
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20241224151742/https://cdn.coverstand.com/5512/135676/135676.1.pdf#page=8
| archive-date = 2024-12-24
| access-date = 2024-12-24
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|first1=Steve
|last1=Hahn
|title=Steve Hahn interviews Scott Olson ( Rollerblade Founder )
|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iaGK-FrN2Y
|website=youtube.com
|publisher=Steven Hahn's YouTube channel
|language=en
|format=video
|date=2012-02-06
|others=Refer to the video transcript for this long interview, a part of the "Hockey in the Park" Series.
}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media
 | people = Paula Schroeder (host)
 | date = 1995-07-31
 | title = Voices of Minnesota: Interview with Scott Olson (Part 1 of 3)
 | type = audio
 | language = en
 | url = https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1995/07/31/voices-minnesota-scott-olson-part-1-3
 | access-date = 2024-12-25
 | transcript=Transcript 1/3 in PDF
 | transcript-url = https://codytranscripts.apmcdn.org/production/9896941368e0d360b5826476023d7373.pdf
 | location = Minnesota
 | publisher = Minnesota Public Radio
}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media
 | people = Paula Schroeder (host)
 | date = 1995-07-31
 | title = Voices of Minnesota: Interview with Scott Olson (Part 1 of 2)
 | type = audio
 | language = en
 | url = https://archive.mpr.org/stories/1995/07/31/voices-minnesota-scott-olson-part-2-3
 | access-date = 2024-12-25
 | transcript=Transcript 2/3 in PDF
 | transcript-url = https://codytranscripts.apmcdn.org/production/e8d38a90a9e6a9040b7960a9b73ec172.pdf
 | location = Minnesota
 | publisher = Minnesota Public Radio
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.inlineplanet.com/History/scottolson.html
|title=Scott Olson
|quote=But I know now, after weeks of research and interviews, that it can't be taken literally, and that much of the popular history of inline skating should, in fact, be rewritten.
|author-first=Robert
|author-last=Burnson
|year=2005
|website=The Inline Planet
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322202300/https://www.inlineplanet.com/History/scottolson.html
|archive-date=2017-03-22
}}</ref>

[[File:Scott Olson-Early Rollerblade Prototype-Lange with Super Street Skate-Mark Lipson-2024-12-17.jpg|thumb|right|330px|Skates used by Mark Lipson and Scott Olson ca. 1980 in a 200-mile marketing trip{{efn-ua|name="MIA-exhibit-notes"}}]]

In 1979, Scott Olson, an ice hockey player, stumbled upon the Super Sport Skate (or Super Street Skate). Fascinated by these novelty skates, he soon made a living promoting and selling them to hockey players in [[Minneapolis]].<ref name="city-pages-wolf-wheel"/> As a licensed distributor, Olson traveled on these skates through the city and around the state in guerrilla marketing tours to promote the product. Scott Olson and his brother Brennan tinkered with these skates. They removed the wheel frames from Super Street Skate, and custom-fitted them to customers' old hockey skates for improved ankle support.<ref name="ross-holland-rollerblade"/><ref name="MIA-olson-inventive-impulse">{{cite web
|url=https://new.artsmia.org/stories/mind-in-motion-the-mias-leonardo-show-traces-scott-olsons-inventive-impulse/
|title=Mind in motion: The MIA's Leonardo show traces Scott Olson's inventive impulse
|website=Minneapolis Institute of Art
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227015018/https://new.artsmia.org/stories/mind-in-motion-the-mias-leonardo-show-traces-scott-olsons-inventive-impulse/
|archive-date=2024-02-27
}}</ref>{{efn-ua|name="MIA-exhibit-notes"|The MIA exhibit story from 2015 includes a picture showing Scott Olson holding two prototype skates: 1) Lange boot on Super Street Skate skate with cream-colored wheels (1979), and 2) CCM Tacks hockey skate boot on his own adjustable/expandable skate design with orange polyurethane wheels (1981).<ref name="MIA-olson-inventive-impulse"/> Said picture is archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20241223184745im_/https://images.artsmia.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/01043323/2012-06-03-23.51.52-1067x800.jpg here]. The same two prototype skates are also seen in the main article picture of this [https://www.rollerblade.com/usa/en/the-rollerblade-experience/fitness/rollerblade-creator-scott-olson-will-attend-the-bmw-berlin-marathon Rollerblade article from 2019], archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20241224030540/https://www.rollerblade.com/usa/en/the-rollerblade-experience/fitness/rollerblade-creator-scott-olson-will-attend-the-bmw-berlin-marathon here]. The article picture is archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20241224030758/https://www.rollerblade.com/storage/thumbs/Article/2686__resize__16973Unknown-3.webp here].
}} Wearing plastic Lange boots thus retrofitted, Scott and his friend Mark Lipson skated for 200 miles from Minneapolis to Grand Rapids, MN, in a five-day marketing campaign.<ref name="star-tribune-biz-on-a-roll">{{cite news
|author=<!--not stated-->
|date=1985-11-17
|title=A Business That's On a Roll
|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/star-tribune-scott-olson-3/95325833/
|work=Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
|location=Minneapolis
|access-date=2024-12-23
}}</ref><ref name="international-companies-vol34-rollerblade">{{cite book
|url=https://archive.org/details/internationaldir0000unse_r5m3
|title=International Directory of Company Histories
|volume=34
|date=2000
|article=Rollerblade, Inc.
|pages=388–392
|location=Detroit
|publisher=St. James Press
|author-first1=Kathleen
|author-last1=Peippo
|author-first2=Nelson
|author-last2=Rhodes
|access-date=2024-12-23
}}</ref>

Through tinkering, prototyping and road testing everywhere he could, Scott Olson eventually arrived at a design with an adjustable/expandable frame, polyurethane wheels and double ball bearings. The skate rolled faster, and remained more reliable on road surfaces.<ref name="MIA-olson-inventive-impulse"/>{{efn-ua|name="MIA-exhibit-notes"}}{{efn-ua|See pictures of early prototypes of Ultimate Street Skate with "Ole's Innovative Sports" stamped on their frames, from [https://history.vintagemnhockey.com/page/show/1136093-minnesota-in-line-hockey-and-history-of-in-line-skates this page] on Vintage Minnesota Hockey, such as [https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/aaf9-144318485/Ole_s_Antique_Rollerblades_large.jpg this picture], [https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/23c9-144318495/Ole_s_Antique_Rollerblades-2_large.jpg this picture] and [https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/db66-144318486/Ole_s_Antique_Rollerblades-1_large.jpg this picture], plus [https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/1380-144026953/The_Ultimate_Rollerblade_Minneapoli_Ole_s_Innovative_Sports_Ad_large.jpg this ad]. Archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20240715001103/https://history.vintagemnhockey.com/page/show/1136093-minnesota-in-line-hockey-and-history-of-in-line-skates here], with [https://web.archive.org/web/20230531051459im_/https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/aaf9-144318485/Ole_s_Antique_Rollerblades_large.jpg picture], [https://web.archive.org/web/20230531051510im_/https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/23c9-144318495/Ole_s_Antique_Rollerblades-2_large.jpg picture], [https://web.archive.org/web/20230531051512im_/https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/db66-144318486/Ole_s_Antique_Rollerblades-1_large.jpg picture] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20230531051531im_/https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/1380-144026953/The_Ultimate_Rollerblade_Minneapoli_Ole_s_Innovative_Sports_Ad_large.jpg picture].<ref name="VMH-history-with-pic-gallery">{{cite web
|url=https://history.vintagemnhockey.com/page/show/1136093-minnesota-in-line-hockey-and-history-of-in-line-skates
|title=Minnesota In-Line Hockey and History of In-Line Skates
|others=A picture gallery at the bottom of the page shows rare historical images of early Rollerblade prototypes and products including the Ultimate Street Skate
|website=Vintage Minnesota Hockey
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240715001103/https://history.vintagemnhockey.com/page/show/1136093-minnesota-in-line-hockey-and-history-of-in-line-skates
|archive-date=2024-07-15
|access-date=2024-12-26
}}</ref>
}} But a patent search turned up the Chicago Roller-Blade, which claimed many of his design features.<ref name="ross-holland-rollerblade"/> In 1981, Olson persuaded the Chicago Roller Skate Company to give him the patent, in exchange for a percentage of the profit.<ref name="star-tribune-biz-on-a-roll"/>

In 1981, Scott Olson created a company called Ole's Innovative Sports, and made manufacturing arrangements. Soon, he marketed his own "Ultimate Street Skates" (or Ultimate Hockey Skates), a skate of his own design attached to a hard boot with thick liners similar to the plastic Lange boots. By then, skateboards had adopted polyurethane wheels made by roller skate manufacturers, with standard ISO 608 ball bearings. Scott similarly adopted polyurethane roller skate wheels from Kryptonics, shaving tens of thousands to fit them to his Ultimate skates.<ref name="MIA-olson-inventive-impulse"/><ref name=Shevelson-golden-days-of-skating/><ref name="bernstein-minnesota-hockey-inline"/> These skates came with a toe brake and had the now-familiar Rollerblade logo imprinted on them, which Scott and his friend designed.<ref name="usenet-chen-FAQ-inline-origin">{{cite newsgroup
 | title = Q: What are the origins of in-line skates?
 | author = Anthony D. Chen
 | date = 1993-11-04
 | newsgroup = rec.skate
 | url = https://groups.google.com/g/rec.skate/c/wJL3ruYbEYk
 | access-date = 2024-12-23
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20241223202232/https://groups.google.com/g/rec.skate/c/wJL3ruYbEYk
 | archive-date = 2024-12-23
}}</ref>{{efn-ua|See a roadshow display of the Ultimate Hockey Skate [https://cdn.outsideonline.com/wp-content/uploads/migrated-images_parent/migrated-images_94/rollerbalde_lUltimate1.jpg here], archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20241228170638/https://cdn.outsideonline.com/wp-content/uploads/migrated-images_parent/migrated-images_94/rollerbalde_lUltimate1.jpg here], from [https://www.outsideonline.com/1928656/most-influential-gear-all-time this article], archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20241228170921/https://www.outsideonline.com/1928656/most-influential-gear-all-time here].
}}{{efn-ua|A picture of the 1981 Ultimate Hockey Skate is shown under the headline: "Modern inline skate", on page 11 of the book ''Superguides: Inline Skating'' published by DK.<ref name="rollerblade-dk-superguides-inline-skating-2000">{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kf_ZTqDa9YUC
|title=Superguides: Inline Skating
|location=London
|publisher=DK Pub
|year=2000
|isbn=0789465426
|access-date=2024-12-29
|first1=Dawn
|last1=Irwin
|quote=A picture of 1981 Ultimate Hockey Skate is shown under the headline: Modern inline skate
|quote-page=11
}}</ref>
}}

In 1982, Scott Olson started to market his skates as a proper sport in itself, venturing out of the initial niche where they served as an off-season training tool for ice hockey. Scott organized Minnesota hockey players to fly east to play roller hockey teams in New York City, with his team skating on Ultimate Street Skates, and the NYC teams on traditional 2x2 skates.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Profile on Scott Olson and Rollerblade 1982
|others=In 1982, Jeff Passolt from NewsCenter 11 interviewed Scott Olson, and played street hockey with his team wearing Olson's new roller skate invention, the "Ultimate Street Skates"
|date=1982
|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlVEPLylbo0
|website=youtube.com
|publisher=WTOK NewsCenter 11
|language=en
|format=video
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123114949/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlVEPLylbo0
|archive-date=2025-01-23
|access-date=2025-05-04
}}</ref><ref name="bernstein-minnesota-hockey-inline">{{cite book
|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/morefrozenmemori0000ross/page/184/mode/1up?view=theater
|title=More... Frozen Memories: Celebrating a Century of Minnesota Hockey
|chapter=In-Line Hockey In Minnesota
|pages=184–185
|location=Minneapolis, MN
|publisher=Nodin Press
|year=2007
|isbn=978-1932472493
|access-date=2024-12-24
|first1=Ross
|last1=Bernstein
}}</ref> Scott also started to advertise his skates to the masses, in print and in person, as everyday fun activities, where one could "roll over large sidewalk craters without feeling them".<ref>{{cite magazine
| author      = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| title       = Product placement ad for Ultimate Street Skates
| magazine    = Playboy Magazine
| date        = August 1982
| pages       = 144–145
}}</ref><ref name="city-pages-wolf-wheel"/> Enthusiasts colloquially referred to these skates as "roller blades".<ref name="joyner-guide-inline-skating"/>

{{multiple image
 | direction = horizontal
 | total_width = 400
 | footer = Rollerblade skates with heel brakes - 1983
 | image1 = First Rollerblade brand inline skates with round heel brake-from early 1980s-IMG 5651-profile view-FRD.png
 | image2 = First Rollerblade brand inline skates with round heel brake-from early 1980s-IMG 5668-perspective view-FRD.png
}}

In 1983, Scott Olson marketed a new generation of skates with heel brakes instead of toe brakes, under the trademark "Rollerblade". His company grew from one worker in 1980 to 25 employees in 1985, selling many thousands of units that year.<ref name="star-tribune-biz-on-a-roll"/>{{efn-ua|name=olson-1983-rollerblade-with-adjustable-ultimate-frame|See pictures of the new generation of early Rollerblade skates with heel brakes, from [https://history.vintagemnhockey.com/page/show/1136093-minnesota-in-line-hockey-and-history-of-in-line-skates Vintage Minnesota Hockey]: [https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/8217/4572/Rollerblade_Ole_s_Innovative_Sports_Packaging_large.jpg picture], [https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/3264/3697/Blade_Runner_Rollerblades_large.JPG picture], [https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/3262/7119/Rollerblade_Training_Skates_Ad_large.jpg picture] and [https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/8bc0-134049225/Rollerblade_Only_a_Hockey_Player_Can_Understand_Ad_large.jpg picture], archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20230531051534/https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/8217/4572/Rollerblade_Ole_s_Innovative_Sports_Packaging_large.jpg here], [https://web.archive.org/web/20230531051536/https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/3264/3697/Blade_Runner_Rollerblades_large.JPG here], [https://web.archive.org/web/20230531051527/https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/3262/7119/Rollerblade_Training_Skates_Ad_large.jpg here] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20230531051525/https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/8bc0-134049225/Rollerblade_Only_a_Hockey_Player_Can_Understand_Ad_large.jpg here]. These have a refined version of the adjustable frame from the Ultimate Street Skate, and a similar hard boot. These skates witnessed the transition of Scott Olson's company from "Ole's Innovative Sports", to "North American Sports Training Corp.", and finally to "Rollerblade", as attested by marketing materials.<ref name="VMH-history-with-pic-gallery"/>
}} In the same year, the company published a book, ''Rollerblades: Dryland Training for Ice Hockey'', edited by [[Chris Middlebrook]], with chapters written by [[Randy Gregg (ice hockey)|Randy Gregg]], [[Jack Blatherwick]], Laura Stamm, [[Brad Buetow]], Scott Olson, and Brennan Olson. This is the first book that elaborated on the equivalency of inline and ice hockey skates with respect to hockey moves, and the first book that documented wheel rockering adjustments, wheel wear, and wheel rotations.<ref name="rollerblades-dryland-training-1985"/>

{{multiple image
 | direction = horizontal
 | total_width = 400
 | footer = Lightning TRS - 1988
 | image1 = Rollerblade-Lightning TRS-Team Rollerblade Series-1988-IMG 5703-profile view-FRD.png
 | image2 = Rollerblade-Lightning TRS-Team Rollerblade Series-1988-IMG 5728-perspective view-FRD.png
}}

Around 1986, Ole's Innovative Sports was renamed "North American Sports Training Corporation" (NASTC). As the Rollerblade brand became more popular, the company was eventually renamed to Rollerblade Inc. around 1988.<ref name="bernstein-minnesota-hockey-inline"/><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=tm&sno=73491507
|title=Trademark Assignment Abstract of Title: ROLLERBLADE
|website=United States Patent and Trademark Office
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250108042642/https://assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=tm&sno=73491507
|archive-date=2025-01-08
|access-date=2025-01-08
}}</ref>

In 1988, the company released ''Lightning'' skates with fiberglass-reinforced plastic frames.<ref name="usenet-chen-FAQ-inline-origin"/>{{efn-ua|See pictures of early Lightning skates
from [https://history.vintagemnhockey.com/page/show/1136093-minnesota-in-line-hockey-and-history-of-in-line-skates Vintage Minnesota Hockey]: [https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/3262/7224/Rollerblade_Lightning_Ad_1986_large.jpg 1987 with round heel brake], [https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/3276/2652/Rollerblade_Sharpen_Your_Skills_Ad_large.jpg 1988 ad for hockey players] and [https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/3302/7080/Rollerblade_off_your_butt_ad_large.jpg 1989 ad for hockey players], archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20230531051530/https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/3262/7224/Rollerblade_Lightning_Ad_1986_large.jpg here], [https://web.archive.org/web/20230531051523/https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/3276/2652/Rollerblade_Sharpen_Your_Skills_Ad_large.jpg here] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20230531051523/https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/photo/3302/7080/Rollerblade_off_your_butt_ad_large.jpg here]. Note how the 1987 ad had "© 1987 NASTC", and the 1988 one "© 1988 Rollerblace, Inc." See this vintage [https://www.ebay.com/itm/234613490168 Lightning listing] for Lightning skates with a square heel brake, archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20241227050552/https://www.ebay.com/itm/234613490168 here].
}}{{efn-ua|name=notes-on-brennan-olson-1987-lightning-patent|Brennan Olson's patent application filed in 1987 described key innovations in the 1988 Lightning skate: a single-piece plastic frame with reinforcement bridges, toggleable inserts for mounting hole for rockering (named axle aperture plug in the specification), and wheel hubs each with an interlock rim (named outer annular ring 16P) over which polyurethane is molded to reduce wheel deformation and heat buildup.<ref name="brennan-olson-1987-patent-modern-inline-skates"/>}} The Lightning TRS (Team Rollerblade series) with a cuff buckle was particularly successful, and turned "Rollerblade" into a household name.{{efn-ua|See pictures of Lightning TRS skates with a cuff buckle in [https://www.ebay.com/itm/315787426401 this listing] and [https://www.ebay.com/itm/256433377165 this listing], archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20241227050623/https://www.ebay.com/itm/315787426401 here] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20241227050733/https://www.ebay.com/itm/256433377165 here].
}} The company claimed to have up to 75% of the estimated $12 million market in 1988.<ref name="international-companies-vol34-rollerblade"/>

{{multiple image
 | direction = horizontal
 | total_width = 400
 | footer = Ultra Wheels - 1986
 | image1 = Ultra Wheels inline skates made by First Team Sports Inc-ca 1986-IMG 5781-profile view-FRD.png
 | image2 = Ultra Wheels inline skates made by First Team Sports Inc-ca 1986-IMG 5747-perspective view-FRD.png
}}

The Chicago Roller-Blade patent expired at the end of 1983. Eying the success of Rollerblade, competitors jumped into the race. Another Minneapolis firm, First Team Sports Inc., started manufacturing its Ultra Wheels skates in 1986. More manufacturers joined in, including Oxygen, K2 and Bauer.<ref name=nyt-1990-craze-outsprint>{{cite news
|author=<!--not stated-->
|date=1990-08-07
|title=A Craze May Outsprint Its Creator
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/07/business/a-craze-may-outsprint-its-creator.html
|url-status=live
|work=New York Times
|location=New York
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140321231120/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/07/business/a-craze-may-outsprint-its-creator.html
|archive-date=2014-03-21
|access-date=2024-12-22
}}</ref><ref name="international-companies-vol34-rollerblade"/> Then, the Super Sport Skate patent expired in 1992.<ref name="maury-silver-tandem-skate-1975"/> This allowed even more inline manufacturers to produce skates without fear of infringement.

Rollerblade continued to dominate the market in the 1990s, in the face of competition.<ref name="international-companies-vol34-rollerblade"/> In 1990, it had 66% of the estimated $50 million global inline market.<ref name=nyt-1990-craze-outsprint/> Sales peaked in 1996, leaving 1997 with a reported revenue of $106 million, or nearly 40% of the estimated market.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.benettongroup.com/site/assets/files/6170/1997_annual_report_en.pdf
|title=The Benetton Group - Annual Report 1997
|website=Benetton Group
|page=66: at 1997-04-30 exchange rate of 1710 Lire/USD, Rollerblade revenue of 180,813 million Lire equals $106 million USD
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241223052025/https://www.benettongroup.com/site/assets/files/6170/1997_annual_report_en.pdf
|archive-date=2024-12-23
}}</ref> According to Rollerblade, by 1997, 20 percent of American households had a pair of inline skates, and a 1998 survey found that 32 million Americans over the age of six had tried inline skates at least once that year.<ref name="ross-holland-rollerblade"/>

{{multiple image
 | direction = horizontal
 | total_width = 320
 | image1 = Rollerblade 303 70mm 85A hubless inline skate wheels by Kryptonics ca 1980s-608ZZ TMK bearings-IMG 6757-bg-FRD.png
 | image2 = Rollerblade 303 70mm 85A hubless inline skate wheels by Kryptonics ca 1980s-608ZZ TMK bearings-IMG 6726-bg-FRD.png
 | footer = Urethane wheels with ISO bearings (1980s)
}}

Modern inline skates became practical for manufacturers to mass-produce, and enjoyable for the masses as a recreational sport, when technological advances such as polyurethane wheels, standard ISO 608 ball bearings, and molded plastic boots arrived on the scene. These skates incorporate double ball bearings with dual-purpose axles from Chomin Harry (1925), single-piece frames from Christian Siffert (1938), adjustable wheel rockering from Gordon Ware (1966), single-unit boot/frame, longer frames and larger wheels from Maury Silver (1975), plus additional innovations.

Both Scott and Brennan continued to refine skates, each having been granted a dozen patent applications for skate-related innovations from 1982 through 1996.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://patents.justia.com/inventor/scott-b-olson
|title=Patents by Inventor Scott B. Olson
|website=Justia Patents
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241224014324/https://patents.justia.com/inventor/scott-b-olson
|archive-date=2024-12-24
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://patents.justia.com/inventor/brennan-j-olson
|title=Patents by Inventor Brennan J. Olson
|website=Justia Patents
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241224014448/https://patents.justia.com/inventor/brennan-j-olson
|archive-date=2024-12-24
}}</ref>

=== Rollerblade as a noun ===

[[File:Google Ngram-Rollerblade,rollerblading,in-line skating,inline skating,roller skating-Not case sensitive-1970-2022-chart.png|thumb|right|340px|Usage stats of "inline skating" vs rollerblading and roller skating]]

From 1979 through 1990, when referring to his skates in patent applications, Scott Olson called his skates simply "roller skates", "street skates" or "hockey skates".<ref>{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=4492385
|fdate=1982-07-21
|pubdate=1985-01-08
|gdate=1985-01-08
|title=Skate having an adjustable blade or wheel assembly
|inventor1-first=Scott B.
|inventor1-last=Olson
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=D325417S
|fdate=1990-07-16
|pubdate=1992-04-14
|gdate=1992-04-14
|title=Skate having an adjustable blade or wheel assembly
|inventor1-first=George E.
|inventor1-last=McNamara
|inventor2-first=Scott B.
|inventor2-last=Olson
}}</ref> "Rollerblade", as a trademark, was filed on July 25, 1984 with the USPTO, with a first use date of March 1983.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=1326171&caseType=US_REGISTRATION_NO&searchType=statusSearch
|title=Trademark record: ROLLERBLADE
|website=United States Patent and Trademark Office
|access-date=2025-01-08
}}</ref> But when promoting them in the early 1980s, "Rollerblade" was often used as a noun for this new type of skate, exclusively sold by Ole's Innovative Sports. For instance, the 1985 book edited by [[Chris Middlebrook]] and published by the company, was titled ''Rollerblades: Dryland Training for Ice Hockey'', with a plural "Rollerblades".<ref name="rollerblades-dryland-training-1985"/> The Oxford English Dictionary dates the earliest printed uses of "Rollerblade" to the publication of the trademark in 1985 by the USPTO Gazette, and to this 1985 book.<ref>{{cite book
|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordenglishdic0000unse_s1d3/page/339/mode/1up
|title=Oxford English Dictionary: Additions Series
|volume=3
|page=339
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|location=Oxford
|year=1997
|access-date=2025-01-08
|editor-first1=Michael
|editor-last1=Proffitt
}}</ref>

[[File:Inline skating at a skate park-IMG 8461-stillframe 15-FRD.jpg|thumb|right|340px|Rollerblading at a skate park]]

By the late 1980s, Rollerblade, as a company, started to relabel roller skating of this style as "in-line", in order to preempt "rollerblading" from becoming a new verb.<ref name="international-companies-vol34-rollerblade"/> This was reflected in Brennan Olson's 1987 patent, which he titled "In-line roller skate with frame".<ref name="brennan-olson-1987-patent-modern-inline-skates">{{Cite patent
|country=US
|number=4909523
|fdate=1987-06-12
|pubdate=1990-03-20
|gdate=1990-03-20
|title=In-line roller skate with frame
|inventor1-first=Brennan J.
|inventor1-last=Olson
|assign1=Rollerblade Inc
}}</ref>

By 1990, newspapers and the media had generally adopted "in-line skating" as the name of this new recreational sport.<ref name=nyt-1990-craze-outsprint/><ref name=Shevelson-golden-days-of-skating/> In 1991, Rollerblade Inc. used "in-line" in the subtitle of its official guidebook ''Wheel Excitement'': "Official Rollerblade® Guide to In-Line Skating".<ref name="feineman-wheel-excitement"/> In the same year, "Rollerblade In-Line Skate Association" (RISA) was founded, but quickly changed its name to the International Inline Skating Association (IISA) shortly after.<ref>{{cite news
|author=<!--not stated-->
|date=1991-04-27
|title=On a Roll: the new 'in-line' skates offer balance, maneuverability and a good aerobic workout
|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1991/04/27/on-a-roll-the-new-in-line-skates-offer-balance-maneuverability-and-a-good-aerobic-workout-and-theyre-lots-of-fun/
|work=Orlando Sentinel
|location=Orlando, Florida
|access-date=2024-12-23
}}</ref><ref name="powell-svensson-inline-skating"/>{{rp|4}}

When comparing modern inline skates to the 2x2 Plimpton roller skates, enthusiasts referred to the latter as "quad skates". But the term "quad skates" never took hold among the masses.<ref>{{cite magazine
| author      = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| title       = Quads vs. In-Lines
| url         = https://www.networkistics.com/sample/asufoundation/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1990-July-Roller-Skater.pdf
| magazine    = Skaters
| volume      = 1
| number      = 1: Premier Issue
| date        = June–July 1990
| pages        = 37–42
| location    = Mt. Morris, IL
| publisher   = CFW Enterprises, Inc
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240619204436/https://www.networkistics.com/sample/asufoundation/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1990-July-Roller-Skater.pdf
| archive-date = 2024-06-19
| access-date = 2024-12-20
}}</ref>