The 90s was when inline skating was at its biggest you couldn’t escape it 29.1 million participants TV shows movies the money was rolling in we made 13 and a half million dollars and where there’s a healthy scene and money to be made you’ll find Brands and lots of them here
Are some of the best 90s rollerblading Brands all the stunts are performed by professionals do not attempt this yourself there was a lot of great boot bands with all manner of designs some more aesthetically pleasing than others but we’re going to be focusing on the brands outside of this starting off with
A big favorite and another worldly brand Cosmo well known for their high quality wheels and extraterrestrial influence foreign the Curious mind behind it all was Australian Tim Door Tim was actually an OG skateboarder and his first Ventures into the Skate World came in 1978 under the name Aussie skate originally
Manufacturing was outsourced until Tim was like these wheels are actually gash man I’m gonna try and do it myself so he started making his own European which turned out to be exceptional and a lot better by comparison nine years down the line taking all his top-rate wheel pouring skills he started a skateboard
Brand called cockroaches very quickly the brand became synonymous with having the greatest European going with some strong Graphics as well they they still rate them as the best skateboard wheels ever in 1992 Billy boy became president we’ve got Batman Returns Chris Cross was shaking up the hip-hop scene and a
Friend of Tim’s was like mate can you make some wheels for inline skating yes yes I can I’m gonna give you the best Wheels ever and it’s going to be called Cosmo why are Cosmos so great Tim Dore who made him was a year methane genius basically he was meticulous when
Creating the wheel he knew rollerbating had slightly different needs so the formula was tweaked and the first ones were hand poured he’d mix them up geez in jugs and pour them into molds by hand just like with the Cockroach Wheels the quality was recognized quickly and they
Became the wheel of choice if you wanted hard wearing fast wheels Cosmo was the one Debbie just came in incredible that’s just so fast and they wouldn’t wear out they’ve always been known for their quality from the moment they arrived on the scene in 1992 until they stopped production in 2006. they’ve also
Been known for their alien and UFO inspired Graphics in issue one of Daily Bread Tim explained where the name came from I have an interest in unusual things and at first glance the wheel reminded me of a UFO I feel the name Cosmo relates to the times to come it’s
A new product in a new world now when he says he was interested in unusual things others would say he was a devout conspiracist he had collections of secret VA best types on alien autopsies UFO Landings footage of the JFK assassination all sorts I mean the iconic Cosmo Wheels logo was an alien
Fashioned to look like him and their tagline was extraterrestrial performance he absolutely loved it man amongst his collection was a stack of classified government documents where she shared a few of the young inquisitive team Rider Arlo weisenberg he was particularly intrigued by the documents regarding a specialist team who were put in charge
Of investigating alien activity it was the code name of this team that helped Inspire the name of Escape Arlo was working on with roses The Majestic 12. Cosmos graphics and marketing was full of aliens and UFOs it was instantly recognizable and gave us some of the most iconic designs my favorite was the
Free alien heads and the flywheel Graphics was so good it had Julio’s signature tea an alien of white headphones on by fire hydrant Rene holguins Teeter Viking in the UFOs all came with matching wheels and the team was really impressive Julio and Renee like I’ve mentioned and of course the
Biggest names in Australia Tim Ward Tom Frye Scott Crawford big manual Belarus Cosmo had it all going on interestingly in Easter of 2022 cockroach wheels made a return with the original Wheels being poured again in Australia could we see Cosmo make a return just like Vicky and
Pack on the west coast you had Senate and on the East Coast you had FR and if you’re IFR you’re IFR till you die and if you send it you set it till you die what is that for you know it’s like it’s just these two letters
It’s no real meaning it’s not [ __ ] rollerblade it’s not finding rehab it’s not Financial ruin now if I was the New York brand it was all about being real and being out there in the streets the brand was started by Nick Hartman when he left the rollerblade stunt team hence
Suggestions FR meant [ __ ] rollerblade Nick Cartman who started FR went to rollerblade to try to get the wheels to come on Escape they turned it down his first reaction was like [ __ ] rollerblade and then the F in the yard just stuck let’s see it legit was in a sense
Started that way but wasn’t what the company stood for everyone on FR embodied the idea of true Street skating and in the words of Nick had City fluency this was all about how you saw the lay at the land and how you adapted to your immediate environment
The ability to cruise around taking on Ledges stairs traffic gaps and all those moments in between spots two names that personified the brand the most with Dave Ortega and Ryan Jacqueline staunchly New York skaters Ryan is an in-your-face guy he is in your face and that is a New York train
Oh and of course style Master Gil Vasquez oh my goodness the backslides he could do FR had the vision the team and the gear to match a really strong simple logo that looked great on any piece of merchandise even on a chain and that came in a couple of variations but their
Most memorable designs were the peace love frt and the your wheels suck tea obviously they had loads of great wheels and the first asymmetric anti-rocker wheel they were originally called rings and were really popular then the same profile was used for Dave ortaker’s Pro wheels and they called them pinkies why
Were they called the pinkies I just like pink the asymmetrical design would give better forgiveness as the grime was initiated and then more stability once you’re in the trick they also came in two sizes and the plan was that you’d build up to a flat setup basically but anti-rocker ended up
Sticking around no skin in America for a long time okay yeah if you’re into the veg and you’d like to support me given as a life really does help I’ve also got match there’s also a patreon you can become a YouTube member as well sneak police exclusive videos again without
That support I simply couldn’t do these videos so cheers the 90s was a superb time for rollerblading clothing and the end of 1994 starting 1995 we got another great brand in 976 launderings it came from the same house as Senate and medium and was distributed exclusively by Tribe
Distribution but this time it wasn’t Mark Heineken it was actually his wife Vera who was heading up the project Riders included the like of mycopalek Brian Smith Angie Walton Dave kolash just dyronforth Shane Coburn himself in there for a little bit of modeling as well the brand took great pride in being
For aggressive inline skaters we’re not skateboarders snowboarders or service so why should we wear their clothes [ __ ] do right mate yeah stuff those other people like 976 seem to make absolutely everything in terms of clothing and apparel wallets belts bags visors caps beanies flat caps a pretty decent
Collection of eyewear that is very rare you don’t see much of that these days and I’d love a pair of those man of course they had jeans a rocker hoodies and t-shirts it was a range you just don’t see from Brands these days but at the time rollerblading was on top so
Things were kind of Limitless it was all designed with the help of the pros on the team and to suit the needs and lifestyle of skaters and that’s why it translated to the consumer it felt authentic and it felt like you were buying into something real and good my
First memory of seeing 976 was that John Ortiz ad from 9 e97 the kind of bird’s eye view of him doing a soul in oxygens which is 976 backpack on and 976t with all the numbers intertwined it was such a classic image the most iconic bits for me personally were the All-Star ringers
Tea the Formula Three caps the All-Star beanie and the soccer jersey if you had a bit of nine seven to six you definitely knew what their score was walking around like prouder’s punch I’d go for it now man the prayers John Julio has been part of many Brands and events
Over the years but one of the first Brands he was part owner of with Brooke Howard Smith and Jess dyerinforth was England clothing the England team consisted of Julio Latimer and Petty which was a sick team at a time and looking back at it now with their status
That’s outrageous man all they gear was top-notch really clean and simple designs with an obvious like Regal feel to it everyone who’s part of that brand was involved with the design process and you could tell they wore it with pride again this translated to the consumer
And you just wanted to have it and be a part of that movement the brand in those days was fully cemented with the release of volume England clothing team video in 1997 another classic I remember I had to wait for sales to get a hold of any kind
Of England merch so you’re always left with odd sizes and I ended up getting like a quadruple XL England hoodie I was drowning in fabric but I absolutely loved it which is funny though because it looked dangerously similar to the kind of tourist match you’d get all over
London I learned that England the five panel cap oh my goodness absolute gold now these days Grime plates are basically non-existent but back in the 90s when frames of the same durability as a bourbon biscuit Grime plates were fairly big news a little bit of a history lesson the first Grime blades
Actually started out as a winch that came on rollerblade skates you’d use it in combination with an allen key to remove your wheels but it was soon Theory purpose when people worked out it fit perfectly between the bolts of the two middle wheels and could protect your frame while grinding from then
Aftermarket Grime plates started appearing from the likes of 50 50. scribe blood for the Senate everyone was getting involved but it was CDs Detroit you took it to a whole nother level they were the Picker mix of grime lights you had repos burgundies Blue Angels Woodies
And even clear ones a whole host of protection to suit your tastes and needs they also did some of the most rudimental Soul kits that kind of looked like a hinge bit of a quiz have you ever heard of an inline skating brand called Sumo probably not that’s because they
Only lasted one ad in issue six of Daily Bread before they ran into trademark issues they were back by issue seven though and now under the more well-known name fiction the brand arrived in 1995 and was the idea of Chris Garrett who’s actually credited with inventing the
Missio grind while in Japan on a Groove tour Mizzou men water and it was the only Japanese word that he knew at the time inspired by Pat Parnell pushing skaters to lead the industry Chris started making high quality affordable clothing that would give skaters our own identity separating him from surfing
Skateboarding and Amelia’s idea of what rollerblading was it was four rolled like there’s by rollerbladers in order to grow in a positive direction we as rollerbladers need to influence the direction overall image and product Innovation to secure longevity for the industry another iconic figure in rollerblading Dave Payne became a huge
Part of fiction after Chris met him at the bottom line photo shoot Dan Jensen the main man behind harvesting the crust produced the first fiction ads most of the fiction graphics and websites play in a huge role in development of fiction clothing so this brand had some real
Heavy Hitters involved when talking to the LA Times in 1996 fiction was growing so fast he could hardly keep up with the orders and was ordering up to 5 000 t-shirts for a single production run that is huge number numbers especially compared to these days in more recent
Years official Sunday brunch even made a homage to as nod to their impact I was gutted at the time and I’m still good now actually when somebody stole my beloved fiction hoodie you uh you prick if we’re going top drawers fit from these 90s Brands you’d have all the ones
Mentioned before like FR 976 get a bit of Cosmo on there as well but your daughter had like seven medium rise above maybe some hangers chords maybe a Blood T-shirt if you weren’t in like a gang affiliated area little bit of Hardline much like Cosmo Kryptonics are actually an OG skateboard brand they
Were established in 1965 and had the first European skateboard wheel in 1976 they had a massive impact on skateboarding and the same again when they got involved in inline skating around 1993. I believe the first inline wheel was the crypto Little Rock that came with a funny little marketing
Interview from Kevin Lee they quickly became known for their quality and developed a great team with the likes of Matty Mance Matt Solano and Dawn Everett my first ever aggressive skates inliner vertex actually came stock with bright orange Kryptonics and I couldn’t believe my luck grew lucky I’m lucky beyond the
Quality of the wheels in the great team like a lot of brands in the 90s a whole host of effort was put into the packaging you had the Lyra vs Vega wheels that came in a pyramid with aliens on the side of it then you had the Mezcal wheels that came in the
Mezcal bottle with one wheel in each set having a worm inside it just like you’d get in a bottle of tequila hyper was another standout brand when it came to wheel quality and they had some utterly ridiculous names which would probably be a little bit problematic these days they had a series called
Freak show it had hyper Fat Boys hyper midgets hyper Giants fire breathing girls one eyed dog and two-headed Pig they also had hyper dwarf Wheels interestingly the first skates to ever come stock with anti-rockers were the bower front side and the K2 Soul slide both using hyper Wheels hyper also had a
Solid team in Brian Bell rules in Riviera and Aaron Feinberg plus a sick logo which looked great on a tee rollerblading has a funny relationship with wearing protection it’s sensible given the nature you’re a skating but also seems to go against its core of what it was originally all about
So the idea of trying to get people to wear it is a pretty hard sell however as in the chess piece they’re a pretty bang-up job of getting people to want to buy their gloves and wrist guards I thought those things looked absolutely banging as a kid if I could have
Afforded a pair I would have wore them everywhere wear them for a little bit of light sparring wear them while you’re watching Home Alone where and why are arm wrestling type an email fast as [ __ ] with those things on use them for a better grip on a pint while you’re out
Just wear them walking down the street so you look a bit dangerous a little bit unhinged like the quality of them was exceptional all leather double stitching abrasion resistant Kevlar patch some serious stuff for a little bit of roller blanket man those things would keep your palms soft like hot bread again they
Also had really great merch a strong logo that worked well on like headwear belts and hoodies great graphic tees and a ridiculous team adding further credibility like Julio Fabiola Champion Mike Scott jackaline 55 50 are probably most well known for frames but they were actually founded on Grime plates as
We’ve discussed frames in the early 90s were about as strong as mayonnaise it felt like they were made out of eggs and oil and wouldn’t stand up to a fart from a dog but they were actually founded on Grime plates so around 1994 just iron fourth and Ted Simpsons set about making
Grime plates Ted Simpson was a skater and worked at CNC company so you had a unique advantage of having access to lots of interesting materials the first ones were half metal half plastic hence a name 50 50. in 1995 50 50 products were hit in the stores the uhmw grind
Plates that flew off the shelf and they ended up making Pro Grime plates for all the team Riders but even then they knew the grime plates was just a bit of a distraction from the fact that frames were woeful if you know about 50 50 these days you might be wondering like
Where’s Lawrence Ingram in this whole story he was on board since 95 initially as a freelance designer getting more and more involved as the years went on and then when Ted left in 1999 him and Jess became the sole owners after their success with Grime plates they got stuck
Into the frames they started making new hmw ones but had to make base plates to fit all the different skates so the first kits were around a hundred dollars this was a little bit pricey for some people and shots were already a little bit resistance to go down the aggressive
Skating path they changed the frames to line on to reduce the price but kept the uhmw base plates and called it the juice system who doesn’t want to ride something called The Juice system mate Conor McGregor’s on the Jew system like they had every frame color going and
They were inspired by Skittles and they had a scarily good team John Elliott Petty Julio Fabiola Shima Spicer 5050 actually worked with Solomon to introduce the ufs frame system which opened up the gates for competition for them but they were always about making skating great we were skaters passionate
About making quality products not businessmen and ultimately the big companies had big budgets and lowered some of our top skate is away with lucrative contracts looking back I wouldn’t change a thing ufs was great for rollerblading as it opened up a much needed aftermarket products and gave skaters more options like all great
Hardware brands at the time they also had great soft merch particularly the balance 5050 logo there’s plenty of other great inline skating brands that started in the 90s if I missed one of your favorites let me know in the comments below I purposely didn’t go in
To like Senate medium and mind game who kind of snuck in at the end of 1999 because I covered them in this video here I also didn’t really talk about daily bread but that’s in this video here go and check those ones out massive thank you to my patrons without your
Support I simply couldn’t do this see you again soon spotty dog
source
