Inline skates might seem like a 1980s invention, but the idea of putting wheels in a straight line is actually older than the quad skate. It just took about 160 years — and a couple of hockey players from Minnesota — for it to really catch on.
An old idea
Some of the earliest roller skates in Europe in the 1700s and early 1800s had their wheels in a line, meant to imitate the feeling of ice skating. A French patent in 1819 described an inline skate, and other designs followed. But these skates were hard to turn and hard to stop, and once James Plimpton’s steerable quad skate appeared in 1863, quads took over for more than a century.
The Minnesota connection
Around 1980, brothers Scott and Brennan Olson, hockey players in Minneapolis, came across an older inline skate design and saw a way for hockey players to train when there was no ice. They mounted wheels in a line under hockey boots, added a rubber heel brake and started building them in their family’s basement.
Their company, Rollerblade, began selling the skates to hockey players and skiers for off-season training. The brand became so dominant that “rollerblading” turned into the everyday word for inline skating, the same way people say “Kleenex” for tissues.
Why inline skating exploded
Several things came together in the late 1980s and 1990s:
- Better materials: Molded plastic boots, aluminum frames, precision bearings and polyurethane wheels made inlines fast, smooth and comfortable.
- Fitness culture: Inline skating was a fun, low-impact workout that felt nothing like the gym.
- Outdoor freedom: Bike paths, boardwalks and beachfronts became skating highways — South Florida’s sunshine made it a natural fit.
- Pop culture: Inline skates showed up everywhere in ’90s movies, TV and ads.
By the mid-1990s, tens of millions of Americans were inline skating, and it was among the fastest-growing sports in the country.
New disciplines
As inline skating grew, it split into specialties:
- Aggressive inline: Grinds, rails and ramps. It was featured at the first X Games in 1995 and built a passionate street and park scene.
- Roller hockey: Leagues formed nationwide, and roller hockey was a demonstration sport at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
- Speed skating: Inline racing became a serious sport, and several Olympic ice speed skaters, including Chad Hedrick and Derek Parra, came up through inline racing.
- Freestyle slalom: Technical footwork weaving through lines of cones.
The quiet years and the comeback
In the 2000s, inline skating’s mainstream popularity cooled, and quad skates later enjoyed a big revival. But inline never went away. Aggressive skating, urban skating, marathon racing and fitness skating all have dedicated communities, and plenty of skaters own both.
Quad or inline?
Today it isn’t a rivalry — it’s a choice. Want to dance and skate the rink? Quads. Want speed and distance? Inlines. Check out our quad vs inline guide to figure out which is right for you.
Grew up skating at Super Wheels? The floor remembers — and so do we. Share your Super Wheels memories and photos so the next generation knows where South Florida learned to roll.