Inline skates are generally recognized as a modernization of quad roller skates. However, the first known pair of roller skates, created in the 1760s, actually had a single line of wheels, and that design was standard for about 100 years. According to the National Museum of Roller Skating in Lincoln, Nebraska, James Plimpton revolutionized the roller skate in 1863 by creating the first "quad" skate with pairs of wheels in the front and back, allowing users to turn more easily. The quad design dominated roller skating until the 1980s, when the Rollerblade company helped bring inline skates back to prominence.
Design
Quad roller skates have four wheels that are arranged in pairs at the front and back of each skate. Much like a miniature skateboard, roller-skate wheel pairs are attached to a plate, or truck, with an axle and pivot pin that allow the wheels to move up and down, allowing the user to turn by shifting his weight.
Modern inline skates, on the other hand, were created to replicate the feel of ice skating for off-season hockey training. The wheels---usually four, but sometimes two, three, five or six---are arranged in a track that runs down the middle of the skate. The skates turn like ice skates, by leaning on the inside or outside "edges" of the wheels.
Balance
Quad skates gained popularity over early inline designs both because they were more maneuverable and because the wider wheelbase allowed more stability, making skating easier. Beginning skaters may find it easier to balance on quads than on inline skates, while experienced ice skaters may prefer the more familiar feel and function of inline skates.
Boots
Lower-level, recreational roller and inline skates have rather different boots. Many inline skates retain hockey styling in their boots, with an over-the-ankle design and hard framework. Recreational quad skates can vary in boot design, from over-the-ankle leather or imitation leather artistic skates that resemble ice figure skates, to low-ankle, sneaker-type designs. At the high end, however, speed inline skate boots and speed quad skate boots look very similar, with low ankles and streamlined, responsive designs.
Wheels
Wheels for both inline and quad skates are usually made from urethane in a variety of hardness levels suitable for different skating surfaces, such as indoor tracks to outdoor pavement. However, the wheels are very different in design. Quad skate wheels look similar to skateboard wheels. They are usually 62 millimeters in diameter and range from about 37 to 44 millimeters in width. Inline wheels are larger in diameter and much narrower: 100 or 110 millimeters in diameter and about 22 to 24 millimeters wide.
Brakes
While the brakes, or stops, on inline and quad skates function in the same way---pieces of rubber that can be dragged on the ground to slow the skater---they're positioned very differently. Quad skates have toe stops that are screwed in underneath the toe of the skate, while inline skate brakes are found behind the line of wheels. Most inline speed skates, however, do not have brakes at all; skaters must learn techniques using their wheels to brake.
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