Why 4-wheel skates?
From CadoMotus Skate Anatomy… As fitness, recreational, aggressive and hockey skates refined a 4-wheel format, speed skates looked to 5-wheels as many as 15 years ago as a means to increase roll and replicate the feel and movement patterns of ice skating. As inline speed skating developed rapidly through its infancy, it developed its own movement patterns (such as the ‘Double Push’) and configurations soon placed the wheels as close as possible to each other–shortening the wheelbase and improving maneuverability and acceleration. Beginners and smaller skaters often struggled with the length of the 5-wheel format and found that although it improved their rolling speed, their ability to master technique was impeded. With the introduction of 5-wheel HiLo frames in 1999, 84mm wheels were produced. The 5-wheel skate would have 3x80mm wheels at the front, and 2x84mm wheels at the rear for added roll. The HiLo in this format remained on few skaters, and in 2002 a World Inline Cup team raced
