Inline skates are a type of roller skate used for inline skating. Unlike quad skates, which have two front and two rear wheels, inline skates typically have two to five wheels arranged in a single line. Some, especially those for recreation, have a rubber "stop" or "brake" block attached to the rear of one or occasionally both of the skates so that the skater can slow down or stop by leaning back on the foot with the brake skate. Invention of the inline skate preceded the quad skate.
Roller skating is traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sidewalks, and bike paths.
CompUSA was a retailer and reseller of personal computers, consumer electronics, technology products and computer services. Starting with one brick-and-mortar store in 1986 under the name Soft Warehouse, by the 1990s CompUSA had grown into a nationwide big box chain. At its peak, it operated at least 229 locations. Crushed by competition from other brick-and-mortar retailers, corporate oversight which was out of touch with evolving market realities, and a failure to make a strong transition to online sales, CompUSA began closing what they classified as "low performing" locations in 2006. By 2008 only 16 locations were left to be sold to Systemax. In 2012, remaining CompUSA and Circuit City stores were converted to TigerDirect stores, and later closed. CompUSA has ceased operations.
Inline skating is a multi-disciplinary sport and can refer to a number of activities practiced using inline skates. Inline skates typically have two to five polyurethane wheels depending on the style of practice, arranged in a single line by a metal or plastic frame on the underside of a boot. The in-line design allows for greater speed and maneuverability than traditional roller skates. Following this basic design principle, inline skates can be modified to varying degrees to accommodate niche disciplines.
Roller skates, are shoes or bindings that fit onto shoes that are worn to enable the wearer to roll along on wheels. The first roller skate was an inline skate design, effectively an ice skate with wheels replacing the blade. Later the "quad skate" style became more popular, consisting of four wheels arranged in the same configuration as a typical car.
Soap was the brand name of shoes made for grinding, similar to aggressive inline skating. They were introduced by Chris Morris of Artemis Innovations Inc. with the brand name "Soap" in 1997. They have a plastic concavity in the sole, which allows the wearer to grind on objects such as pipes, handrails, and stone ledges. The company and their product rapidly gained popularity through fansites, a video game, and live demonstrations. Soap fell to legal vulnerabilities, and was readministered twice, eventually bringing the brand to Heeling Sports Limited.
Lexar Media, Inc. is an American brand of flash memory products manufactured by the Chinese company Longsys.
Foot Locker Retail, Inc. is an American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in 28 countries.
Zytel is a trademark owned by DuPont and used for a number of different high strength, abrasion and impact resistant thermoplastic polyamide formulations of the family more commonly known as nylon. The Zytel product line is based mostly on nylon 66, but also includes grades based on nylon 6 as a matrix, long chain nylons such as nylon 610, and copolymers including a transparent resin called Zytel 330. Resins based on polyphthalamides are branded 'Zytel HTN'. The Zytel product range takes advantage of the fact that nylons are one of the most compatible polymers with modifiers and so offers grades with varying degrees of fiberglass, from 13% to 60%,, rubber toughened resins, flame retarded grades. Nylon resins with mineral reinforcement are branded 'Minlon'.
K2 Sports, LLC is an American winter sports company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. K2 Sports operates the K2 Skis, K2 Snowboarding, K2 Skates, Backcountry Access, Ride Snowboards, Tubbs Snowshoes, Atlas Snow-Shoe Company, LINE Skis, Full Tilt Boots, and Madshus brands. Famous users of K2 Skis include pro champion Spider Sabich, World Cup and Olympic champion Phil Mahre, and his twin brother Steve Mahre, World Champion and Olympic silver medalist.
Monster Inc. is an American company that manufactures and markets about 6,000 products, but is best known for audio and video cables. It also produces speakers, headphones, power strips, mobile accessories and audio devices for automobiles. The company was founded by an audiophile and engineer, Noel Lee, in 1979 by experimenting with different ways to build audio cables. It grew by doing demonstrations to convince the industry that audio cables made a difference in audio quality and by establishing relationships with retailers that were attracted to the cable's profit margins.
Nordica is an Italian manufacturing company of winter sports products, focusing on skiing. Based in Giavera del Montello, Nordica is currently a division of Tecnica Group, after it was acquired from Benetton in 2003.
Fiorucci is an Italian fashion label founded by Elio Fiorucci in 1967. The first Fiorucci shop exposed Milan to the styles of Swinging London and to American classics such as the T-shirt and jeans. By the late 1970s, the direction of stylistic influence had reversed, and the Fiorucci store in New York City become famous for the foreign fashions it introduced to the United States. Known as the "daytime Studio 54," it attracted trendsetters from Andy Warhol to Madonna.
Roller Derby Skate Corp is an American manufacturer and distributor of sporting goods, specializing in quad skates, inline skates, ice hockey skates, skateboards, skating accessories, and recently, through its acquisition of 360 Inc., sporting goods for water sports including body boards, surfboards and swim products. Roller Derby sells products under the brands Roller Derby, California Advanced Sports, Pacer and 360 Inc. It is the second-largest supplier of inline skates to the U.S. market. They have just introduced a skate that is designed for roller derby.
Arlo Eisenberg is an aggressive inline skater who pioneered street skating. He is considered by many to be an important innovator of the aggressive skating industry.
Aggressive inline skating is a sub discipline of inline skating in the action sports canon. Aggressive inline skates are specially modified to accommodate grinds and jumps. Aggressive skating can take place on found street obstacles or at skate parks.
Chris Haffey is an American aggressive inline skater.
Tecnica Group is a sport equipment manufacturer in the market of footwear and winter sports equipment founded in Giavera del Montello, Treviso, Italy. Tecnica Group brands include Blizzard, Lowa, Moon Boot, Nordica, Rollerblade, and Tecnica.
Vert skating or vertical skating is a discipline using skates like inline skates or roller skates on a vert ramp, a style of half-pipe. In vert skating, the skater is able to achieve more air-time as compared to other styles of skating, meaning skaters can perform complicated aerial maneuvers and acrobatic tricks, such as spins and flips.
Nick Uhas is an American TV host, former professional aggressive inline skater, actor and YouTuber. Originally a part of CBS's Big Brother 15, Uhas gained attention after working as a producer and host for The Weather Channel, DreamWorksTV, and Fox’s nationally syndicated Saturday-morning TV show FabLab. He is also the creator of the brand Nickipedia where Uhas hosts and produces content that can be seen on his YouTube channel and national broadcast TV programs.
~US$ $20 million (2008) [1] 