Inline speed skating
The boot or shoe is close-fitting, without much padding and usually made of leather, carbon fiber, and/or fiberglass composites.
Skin blisters due to friction can be a problem, and common solutions include neoprene or silicone "ankle bootee" such as "Ezeefit" or "Bunga Pads"; double thin synthetic socks; smaller boots; improving technique; re-moulding the boots; sports tape; and use of "advanced healing" plasters to help recovery.
The frame (sometimes called the chassis or plate) that holds the wheels may be made of aircraft-quality aluminum, magnesium, or possibly carbon fiber.
It may take a skater several days to weeks to test and adjust the frame position of his new skates.
Each wheel contains two ball bearings with an aluminum spacer, held in place with an axle screwed into the frame.
In 2014 Powerslide (a German inline skate company) introduced a 125mm wheel for use on a three-wheeled frame varying in sizes from 11.8" to 13.0".
On January 18 of 2016 FIRS released a press release that stated: "Dear Friends, Considering the evolution and growth that our sport has attained in the last years, the FIRS and the Speed Technical Committee have decided to allow, starting from February 1, 2016, the use of the wheels up to a maximum size of 125mm but only for the Marathons (JUNIOR and SENIOR) and the MASTER Category (MEN and LADIES).
Harder wheels minimize elastic hysteresis energy absorption, due to skater's weight deforming the solid polyurethane "tyre".
It is a reasonable comparative indicator of the relative energy absorbed by elastic hysteresis of a wheel during skating.
At the modest rotational speeds encountered in skates, manufacturer data suggests negligible difference in friction performance between the various bearing materials.
The lifetime of bearings used for outdoor speed skating is often quite limited due to damage caused by dirt ingress.
In search of the maximum speed the principal goal is to minimize wind resistance, hence the use of skinsuits, special helmets and techniques.
Speedskaters move each foot across the center line of travel, leading to the double push, a method named by United States skater Chad Hedrick.
However, it can be tiring for inexperienced skaters who have improper technique, and they will often save it until needed, such as the latter stages or final sprint of a distance race.
During sprints, skaters need to initially push their body with force to get a jump start.
Secondly, a low posture reduces the total surface area of the skater's body that comes in contact with the resistive air, thus providing an aerodynamic advantage.
One technique is the T-stop, essentially dragging one foot perpendicular to and behind the other, however this wears the wheels of that skate quickly.
While there are some small differences in technique, speed skaters already have the muscle they need to skate on ice.
It typically takes several hundred feet on a level surface to come to a stop at a full, controlled deceleration.
Thus, a skater should be familiar with and proficient in stopping techniques before attempting difficult situations such as heavily travelled roads or hills.
Inline speed skating requires professional athletes to go through intense physical training.
Wheels and bearings used for practice generally require much more efforts to gain some momentum and speed, as compared to the ones used in competitions.
If so, tactics are similar to those of marathon ice speed skating and of road bicycle racing, in which members of the team perform specified roles.
During the course of a race, skaters may make "attacks", speeding up the pace in an effort to weed out the weaker and slower competition.
Depending on the length of the race and the skills and the cooperative effort of the chasers, these breakaways may or may not prove successful.
Another skater may be the designated winner for the team, and he may avoid chasing any breakaways until late in a race, possibly until the final sprint if the lead pack has never broken up.
Events, or meets, are typically structured so that members of numerous age groups race in three or four distances.
To some extent, indoor inline races are similar to short track speed skating.
Such specialized skating tracks are relatively common in Europe but rare in the United States.
