Inline or Quad Skates for outside?

Should I get quad or inline skates?

• I want to buy some roller skates/blades to basically exercise around my neighborhood and such. Although I have MINOR prior experience in both, I'm still a beginner (i learn fast, though). So which one would be better? I would be using them for about 30-60 minutes a day around my neighborhood.

• Answer:

  For outdoor use and without a specific need for quads (some dance moves or roller derby practice) definitely inlines. note: one word repeated seven times isn't a very compelling reason. Quads have some advantages for dance moves (but if you look at the freestyle skaters you will find that inlines are the leading skate for that) and are required for roller derby because it would be too dangerous at the speeds of inlines. Quads are best on really smooth surfaces without debris or disruptions to the surface. The short, wide, flat wheels on quads tend to stop suddenly (aka face plant) if they hit ANY THING. The narrow rounded wheels on inlines kick small debris out and the larger diameter bounces over many things instead of stopping suddenly. Inlines also have a much longer wheel base (distance between the front and rear wheel) which improves stability at speed and helps prevent tipping either forward or backward. tripping forward is more common but falling backwards is more dangerous since you cannot control if you hit your head. All of these differences also work together for a big increase in speed. Once inlines were allowed in roller skate races, it became obvious that a mediocre skater on inlines was faster than a top level skater on quads. Quads disappeared from racing the next year.