Freeline Skates

The area of skates has changed a lot since I bought my fist pair back in 1982.  I remember I was about 10 years old and the height of fashion was to own a pair or roller skates that essentially were running shoe like design attached to the skate.  It was uber hot and super cool fashion at the skate rink and on the block around my friends.  I got my pair for my birthday and still remember the great fun I had with these things.

However the world of skates has sure changed over the last 20 years.  You wouldn’t think something so simple as a pair of skates could change that much over time but with the major advancements in computers and technology has lead everything to accelerate including incenting and manufacturing skates.

A Short History of Skates

Skates originally were a little piece of metal with metal wheels that would strap onto a pair of shoes.  Hit one small rock and you would be laid out flat.  Over time the wheels became soft so they could roll over most small rocks and debris.  Eventually this lead to the top of the skate being more built up and instead of clamping or tying them to a shoe the shoe came with the skate.  They began as large leather hitop looking shoes and eventually the running shoe or sneaker became the popular look.  Then the inline skate came into fashion which placed three wheels inline with each other.  This allowed for a greater amount of movement and flexibility and people could now to all kinds of new tricks.  Inline skates were a big hit and brought skating into a much more popular realm as moms, dads and kids would enjoy their inline skates. The moms and dads would go out skating for fitness kind of like jogging but less jarring on the knees.  Little boys would wear their inline skates for a mean game of street hockey.

Over time the idea of inline caught on and in the past 5 years or so a new skateboard has come out that has only two wheels inline with each other.

Enter Freeline Skates

Now this is the next natural yet nonetheless amazing progression of skates.  Inline skates are essentially a piece of thick metal square.  They have  two 72mm wheels that are connected to the board with a s shaped axel and feature ABEC 5 bearings.  The smazing thing is these two little pieces of metal with wheels don’t have any straps.  So your weight keeps you on them and you have to keep moving.  They will for sure take a little bit of getting used to.

However once you are up to speed (pun intended) then you can have the ultimate in freedom of movement.  You can do some really amazing tricks and new moves with these skates.  They work well for going downhill, going uphill and just doing tricks on ramps or in pools or on the street. 

They were originally invented in San Francisco which could sure use a skate that can go uphill.  They look amazing and are one of the newest and coolest toys to come out in the skating realm in a long time.  If you are or you know a serious skater, surfer or roller/inline skate then this is a must have gift for the holiday season this year.