Are you curious how the Endless 90 frame came to be? Read on to learn the story “Behind the Frame”.
Back in 2008 I purchased new Rollerblade Speedmachine 6.0 skates from my local shop, Black Diamond Sports, for $269. They featured a 4x90 mm setup on a 285 mm frame, Fiber Tech shell, SG9 bearings, and memory foam liner.
It was like Air Jordans on wheels and was a big step up from my previous Rollerblade E Series skate (1999) with 80 mm wheels. I loved how light, fast, stable it was. I skated the crap out of it for many years and when the original 90 mm wheels were worn out I replaced them with MPC 90 mm Road War wheels…a big upgrade.
Fast forward to February 2019. I had long retired my trusty Speedmachine but one day decided to resurrect the frame from a box in my garage. The ultra short and twitchy FR 310 frames on my new red FR1’s just weren’t sparking joy the way I had hoped. I felt unstable and unconfident. So I did a little polishing, and mounted the old ALU-TECH 285 frame to the new FR1’s along with the well-used 10 year old MPC wheels.
I remember that first skate vividly. I felt so nimble and free blasting down the middle of road. It was such a better experience with the stability of the long frame and lower ride height, but also the slight rocker which I would later realize was due to my worn wheels. The 90’s were fast, but also easy to accelerate. “Why aren’t 4x90 setups more popular? This is the best!” I wondered.
I couldn’t shake that sensation of how good my FR1 with the long Speedmachine 4x90 setup felt. A few months later I decided I just needed to design my own 4x90 frame. As a mechanical engineer who had spent nearly two decades designing spacecraft hardware this project was right up my alley. So I got to work on what ultimately would evolve into the Endless 90.
Thanks Rollerblade for putting quality, well-engineered skates on my feet since 1991, and for inspiring me to create something that pays that same skating joy forward.