18th century inline skates

Eighteenth-century inline skates, in appearance and structure, look more or less similar to today's inline skates. The 5 wheels are arranged under the shoe rack, and its design is a bit close to speed skating shoes. The interesting thing is that the wheels have different diameters. It is said that the designers at that time were inspired by Rocker (bend skates) when they designed it. People at that time must have understood that Rocker brings convenient curve movement. Most notably, the shoes at that time already had brakes.

roller skates

This pair of roller skates appeared around the 19th century. The roller skates of this era had 3 single-row single-row fancy shoes with front brakes. Most of these shoes were made of wood and metal, but they were not as modern as Many synthetic materials. In terms of wheels, brass, wood, and horns are all made into wheels to provide unstable sliding on rough ground. After all, the ground at that time was not as smooth as today's cement and steel bars. Interestingly, there are people who have suggested using ivory to make wheels, but it is currently impossible to verify. Since then, the innovation of roller skates has stopped for a long time.

double row skates

Compared with the shoes introduced above, this pair of roller skates has a technical innovation, that is, it has a movable axle. This technological innovation benefited from the American inventor JamesLeonardPlimpton, who named the invention: roller skating (rockingskate). The characteristics of this kind of shoes are similar in structure to the double-row roller skates we see on the market now.

Shoe features: 4 wooden wheels are placed side by side in two rows, there is a movable axle in the center of the wheel, and there is a copper ring on the axle that acts as a spacer. The sole where the foot is tied has a lateral inclination, so that the force is concentrated on the shaft and it is easy to turn. The feet are tied by belts, similar to the kind of children's shoes we played with when we were kids.

The advent of bearings

The British J.Gidman1852 obtained a patent for the production of bearings on roller skates, and 30 years later, the first pair of roller skates with bearings in the true sense came out.

The birth of the PU wheel

Before the birth of PU wheels, manufacturers mainly produced cheap roller skates with metal wheels and inferior quality bearings. Over time, rubber wheels were sometimes used, as in France in 1912. The emergence of rubber wheels is a heavy blow to the unstable and strong metal wheels. Subsequently, roller skates with rubber wheels and sleeves appeared in 1987. In the Soviet Union in 1980, plastic wheels were also used at that time, and the PU wheel was first introduced in 1979. The many advantages of this wheel made riders and manufacturers particularly favor this new wheel. Since then, the innovation of this wheel has promoted the development of inline skating.

PU wheels only appeared in the United States in the 1980s, and in Europe around the early 1990s.

This kind of roller skates looks a bit like speed roller skates, maybe it is the predecessor of speed skates. It has a long metal base and is equipped with PU wheels, and there are 2, 6, and even 7 wheels in this similar shoe.