Quad Speed Skatings Glory Days (Photos)

[brikkee]

these where my old jam-skate j/k but i have skated on these needless to say they are a little shaky



granddads old ice skates id love to take the boot off these

[brikkee]

this book has just about every thing it

[brikkee]

me and my dad in 1987


albums and 45's going back into the 50's-90's

[rwsz]

Originally Posted by brikkee

me and my dad in 1987


albums and 45's going back into the 50's-90's

nice pics Ricky,,,ok your dads in the middle, which one are you lol.

[brikkee]

Originally Posted by rwsz

nice pics Ricky,,,ok your dads in the middle, which one are you lol.

im the one on the left of him with the long hair at the time i was 18 yo so it was about 20 years ago

[splitwoods]

Originally Posted by xlracer

Dave I will search around for some more old ads to post. In the mean time check out this vintage pair of skates. This pair was up for bid on ebay about six months ago and I let them get away from me. Notice that these skates have never been used. The wood wheels show no signs of wear and the boot still shines. It is a beautiful example of the type of speed skates that were sold in the 60's. Maybe the 50's I'm not sure. Richard and Dick can help out there. Its a Hyde boot and a Chicago Jet Plate. Richard will probably know what wheels are on this skate.
I sure wish I would have won the bid on these. They are beautiful.

Tracy:

Trust me no one I knew was racing with a Pro Tecktoe toestop back in that timeframe. That setup looks like a decent round and rounder session skate, nothing more. Yes it is a Chicago Jet, too small for thaboot, even though it i is mounted too far back, I would probably would have gone with one size up to get a center heel, center ball on that size boot.

I am not sure on the wheels, they look a tad wide for Chicago SP 87's, there were a few offbrand woodies around in the 50's but they did not last long. That set up by virtue of the boot and toes protector tells me it is late 50's vintage JMHO!

Splitwoods

[splitwoods]

Brikkee:

With respect to your Grandmothers skates, you were trying to identify the wheels. If memory serves me correctly, Raybestos, the same company that was famous for outstanding Automotive brake linings in the 50's thru 60's time frame, had originally come out with a black center precision art wheel, they followed with their reds, then tans, then they were out of the skate wheel business after that.

Fomac also competed for the high end market, and that is also a possibility, but I would gamble they are Raybestos, look closely I seem to recall their signature was in script, and very fine lettering.

Splitwoods

[brikkee]

Originally Posted by splitwoods

Brikkee:

With respect to your Grandmothers skates, you were trying to identify the wheels. If memory serves me correctly, Raybestos, the same company that was famous for outstanding Automotive brake linings in the 50's thru 60's time frame, had originally come out with a black center precision art wheel, they followed with their reds, then tans, then they were out of the skate wheel business after that.

Fomac also competed for the high end market, and that is also a possibility, but I would gamble they are Raybestos, look closely I seem to recall their signature was in script, and very fine lettering.

Splitwoods

yes she had her name ingraved on them peggy young o ok i got you now i looked at all 8 wheels and nothing im afraid to take them apart cause my dad might kick my a**
they almost feel like hard rubber and not wood

[xlracer]

Richard I also thoght that the plate was a little short but I have seen so many older skates set up very similar. I had assumed it was common for the plate to be that short. I was just really amazed at the condition of these skates. For such an old pair of skates they truely looked to me like they had never been used. Were the SuperJets and Cyclones out in the early 60's?
I still would have like to have gotten my hands on them.

[MANY_SkatingDave]

Hi TN-Tracey, Splitwoods, Brikkee, RGYoung, , ,

I too wondered about the postion of that short plate when you posted it. My sister in law who skated in the late 40's and early 50's told me she could do all kinds of dancing moves that were standard in her era. That would require toe control which this plate seems to make harder.

Yours in Skating, Engineering, MA/NY Dave

[MANY_SkatingDave]

Hi Brikkee,

In looking again at your one picture, I wonder if your dad, or your grandad would know if that boot company also built boots for the army. The design and shape looks familiar to some great army boots that I still own.

<plates Douglass-synder custom
boots Betty lytle from hyde>

Yours in Skating, Army (Vietnam era), MA/NY Dave

[xlracer]

Richard I have another question about the Jet. When did Chicago stop making that plate?
Kennedy the angle of the King Pin, it is 45 degrees. Every speed skate I have ever had, has this angle of truck. I believe sometime in the mid to late 80's when the Jumbo wheels started hitting the market, the transition to double action 10 and 15 degree trucks came into use in speed skating. I remember my Jumbo Fanjets getting ripped up on the inside edge because they were hitting the mounting bolts when you leaned into the turns.
Splitwoods can give you a more accurate technical breakdown for the use of the 45 degree trucks for racing.

[brikkee]

Originally Posted by MANY_SkatingDave

Hi Brikkee,

In looking again at your one picture, I wonder if your dad, or your grandad would know if that boot company also built boots for the army. The design and shape looks familiar to some great army boots that I still own.

<plates Douglass-synder custom
boots Betty lytle from hyde>

Yours in Skating, Army (Vietnam era), MA/NY Dave

i dont know any info on these years im sure if i looked harder i could it there two diff plates alsoand if you look as the stitls skate witch they used for shows at riverdale i think its even older than 1940's but im not to sure.ill look a little tommrrow if the boots is what your looking for.

[splitwoods]

Originally Posted by brikkee

yes she had her name ingraved on them peggy young o ok i got you now i looked at all 8 wheels and nothing im afraid to take them apart cause my dad might kick my a**
they almost feel like hard rubber and not wood

Nope, no need to take them apart, first you wont find anything once you do as to name ID, it was always on the outside of the wheel. Sometimes some of the older composite wheel companies used a leaf paper type of ID rather than stamping. Only drawback is they wore off! Your Dad will be able to tell you licketysplit if they are Raybestos or Fomacs, ask him!

Splitwoods

[splitwoods]

Originally Posted by xlracer

Richard I also thoght that the plate was a little short but I have seen so many older skates set up very similar. I had assumed it was common for the plate to be that short. I was just really amazed at the condition of these skates. For such an old pair of skates they truely looked to me like they had never been used. Were the SuperJets and Cyclones out in the early 60's?
I still would have like to have gotten my hands on them.

Tracy:

The Chicago Jet plate was already on the market in the mid 50's when I started racing. The base plate was Duralium. Only 2 drawbacks to that plate, no toes stop, and the hanger and truck pivot, was not a good precision fit. Slop was there from day one, and it got worse as the parts were used. Look at a Snyder pivot pin, and then look at the archaic jet pivot! We would replace hangers 2x a year at least.

The SUPER JET hit the market early 60's, with a built in 5/8 toe stop and superior truck/hangers. Only drawback it was a heavier unit.

Suregrip's response to the Superjet was the Cyclone. I tried 2 pair in a 4 month timeframe and retired them, went back to my chicago plates. Don't recall many top skaters on Suregrip back then. Within 10 years or so they caught up and we sold a ton of their new plates in the 70's.

Splitwoods

[splitwoods]

Originally Posted by xlracer

Richard I have another question about the Jet. When did Chicago stop making that plate?
Kennedy the angle of the King Pin, it is 45 degrees. Every speed skate I have ever had, has this angle of truck. I believe sometime in the mid to late 80's when the Jumbo wheels started hitting the market, the transition to double action 10 and 15 degree trucks came into use in speed skating. I remember my Jumbo Fanjets getting ripped up on the inside edge because they were hitting the mounting bolts when you leaned into the turns.
Splitwoods can give you a more accurate technical breakdown for the use of the 45 degree trucks for racing.

Tracy:

45 degree trucks were the angle of choice all the way thru the end of the woodies era. Once we started to venture outdoors we found that the Europeans favored the 10-15 degree trucks for heel-toe style of skating.

The 45 degree angle lent itself to a lower center of gravity, and perceived superior control in the slide which was inevitable on a powdered track. Some of our workouts I would switch off of my 45's to a pair of 10's on the same floor, and there was no question in my mind the 45's had it all over the 10's in the corners indoors. Now outdoors as the our techniques developed, I favored the 10's especially on the road.

As you indicate before too long the wheel makers kept on making taller wheels and adjusting the widths, until they needed to change the plate mounting systems, truck and axle widths to accomodate the wheels, so that they eliminated interferences with mounting bolts.

As an aside to this discussion, I had always felt that a double action 45 degree plate would be just the ticket and pleaded with Charles Snyder to modify the Imperial, lighten it up, and he would sell a ton of them. He did just that a few years after we shut down! In fact he incorporated our Flip Axles into that skate as well. I saw one or two pair of them in the early 80's if I recall.

Lastly, your question on the Chicago Jet. They were fairly well replaced by the Super Jet in racing circles going into the mid 60's and beyond. I believe they kept the Jet in production for the fast paced round and rounder market for years after that. There was a stamping of a jet fighter with an afterburner smoke trail on each plate as their logo for the Jet plate!

It was not uncommon Tracy to see many mismatched skates on the market, especially the ones that came in from the Distributors and Retail Sporting Goods stores already mounted up. Many times these guys used day laborers, who knew nothing about skating and would not know center heel, center ball mounting principles from a hole in the ground! If you wanted a good matchup, you had a professional at your rink do that for you. Me I always mounted my own plates from the time I was 12 years old! That picture you have shown is a perfect example of a plate, too small for the boot, and mounted too far to the rear!! I always would find the center line on the plate, scribe it with a black magic marker, and use Snyders marking tool to do the same on the skate boot, for an easy matchup, never had a problem with that procedure.

Splitwoods



Splitwoods

[splitwoods]

Originally Posted by MANY_SkatingDave

Hi Brikkee,

In looking again at your one picture, I wonder if your dad, or your grandad would know if that boot company also built boots for the army. The design and shape looks familiar to some great army boots that I still own.

<plates Douglass-synder custom
boots Betty lytle from hyde>

Yours in Skating, Army (Vietnam era), MA/NY Dave

Hi Dave:

I spent 6 years in the Marine Airwing, 65-71. The Lytelle boot, was a model produced by Hyde back there in Mass. To my knowledge, they did not contract with the US Military for combat boots, but I do see the resemblence with the covered toe to Paratroopers jump boots! Maybe the idea for the skate boot came from that boot, rather than the other way around??

Splitwoods

[xlracer]

This is a great photo. My favorite racers at any meet are these tough little competitors. This picture is from the Dorso's annual Invitational in Cincy.
This is from 1977.


This is the start of the open at that same meet. I am somewhere in that crowd.

[brikkee]

Originally Posted by xlracer

This is a great photo. My favorite racers at any meet are these tough little competitors. This picture is from the Dorso's annual Invitational in Cincy.
This is from 1977.


This is the start of the open at that same meet. I am somewhere in that crowd.

haha an open i miss those races.what where the ruls on them once your laped your out ?

[brikkee]

Originally Posted by splitwoods

Nope, no need to take them apart, first you wont find anything once you do as to name ID, it was always on the outside of the wheel. Sometimes some of the older composite wheel companies used a leaf paper type of ID rather than stamping. Only drawback is they wore off! Your Dad will be able to tell you licketysplit if they are Raybestos or Fomacs, ask him!

Splitwoods

Raybestos are the wheels on my grand mothers skates and my dad said i could have them now to find out what kinda bearing are in them.