companies that put the most into inline

[gman 0]

I remember this being passivley discussed in an old thread, but I cannot find it. Aside from Mission, which other company(s) is/are putting the most money into R&D and sposnsorships? I am in the market for some new gear including skates and would like to support the right companies.

[SickLife 2]

i guess tour.

[sdcopp 1]

Mission and Tour have been and will be the big dogs. CCM/RBK is making a concerted effort to get established but have a long way to go to rival those two. NBH seems to give a rats ass really since instead of doing any roller development they just rebadge low-mid line ice boots and slap a one-up frame on them. Many of the smaller companies that have tried going into roller have folded or are hard to come by: Flite, Quickchange, V-Form, Nexed, Syven, Gear, etc.

[Joker518 0]

Just a few years back Nike was putting out some pretty decent Roller gear with a full line of skates, pants, and even a kick ass Inline specific backpack bag that is top notch quality but it seems like part of the folding of Nike and Bauer into NBH has been what sdcopp said, a concerted efford to piss on the inline game... Pretty sad.

[mattzilla 0]

NBH seems to give a rats ass really since instead of doing any roller development they just rebadge low-mid line ice boots and slap a one-up frame on them.

yeah, ive always wondered why they would bother doing that and why they think rollerhockey people wouldnt notice.

[sdcopp 1]

it's not that NBH is trying to piss on the sport, it's that they don't care. There's enough money in it and enough brand loyalty for them to present something, but they don't innovate anything for roller outside of legal loopholes to continue using Hi-Lo frames. Inline players make up a smaller demographic than ice, and Mission or Tour are much more established in inline than Bauer wants to be. CCM/RBK has decided to try and step up to the challenge and earn marketshare, and isn't doing a bad job of a solid #3. Any company, established or not, will have a hard time ousting Mission and Tour for marketshare in roller, so Bauer isn't trying to compete really.

[All Torhs Team 0]

Rink Rat

[sdcopp 1]

Rink Rat

I would hope the wheel companies put their all into the sport ;) I think he was asking more about the overall big manufacturers. Rink Rat, Labeda and Hyper all do a good job though as well with sponsering teams and such.

[gman 0]

Yes I was asking about the big companies. Obviously the wheel companies are relying on the sport to sustain them.

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

I'd say, for roller-specific equipment (pants, girdle, skates, etc) the leaders would be mission and tour. but the other companies technically make roller, because you can use some equipment for ice AND roller

[Justin 1933 134]

Not dissing on Tour, but I doubt they are #2 now in roller...RBK is most definitely the #2 brand.

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

yeah, but tour has so many more skates and stuff, but reebok's stuff is pretty good quality I'm not sure it'd need that many more brands.

so shall we say...tour, mission, and reebok are the top brands?

[jmiro 55]

my first good inlines were bauers. Back then you had the choice of bauer or some rec. skate like ultrawheels or rollerblade. They were really the first, that i can recall, to put out inlines geared toward hockey. Its sad to see that they could careless now. I remember when mission came out. I had the first vsi they put out. They were great skates.

[SickLife 2]

i owned like 4 pairs of the same rollerblade brand skates back in the day. they were all mesh & the toes always ripped up from the street.

[jmiro 55]

was bauer the first to put metal chasis on. The first ones i had with a metal chasis were bauers that looked like megas and you could adjust the chasis left to right. any one got picks of those

[hehatemefrisbee 0]

I have to agree with Justin. Tour has been overtaken by Reebok.

[Hoffer 0]

Interesting I would have never thought RBK. When I have tournaments and games here on the east coast it’s mainly Tour and Mission skates. I have only seen a few pairs of RBK roller. Is RBK bigger out west?

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

yeah I wouldnt have thought reebok either. the "rich" kids all tend to either have crappy or tour skates (and super expensive sticks as soon as they come out). although, I do see reebok starting to sell more stuff.

[eaglehockey33 0]

Rink Rat

I would hope the wheel companies put their all into the sport ;) I think he was asking more about the overall big manufacturers. Rink Rat, Labeda and Hyper all do a good job though as well with sponsering teams and such.

dont forget about revision

[sdcopp 1]

Rink Rat

I would hope the wheel companies put their all into the sport ;) I think he was asking more about the overall big manufacturers. Rink Rat, Labeda and Hyper all do a good job though as well with sponsering teams and such.

dont forget about revision

I haven't seen near as many teams with Revision listed as a sponser as the other three.

[shute 4]

up here in canada at least i don't even remember the last time i've seen a rbk roller skate unless it's in store. i've seen more custom ice to roller hockey jobs then rbk skates. i would say that i've seen quite a few older nike skates though.

[G60 0]

don't forget RBK includes CCM/jofa/koho etc.

[eaglehockey33 0]

Rink Rat

I would hope the wheel companies put their all into the sport ;) I think he was asking more about the overall big manufacturers. Rink Rat, Labeda and Hyper all do a good job though as well with sponsering teams and such.

dont forget about revision

I haven't seen near as many teams with Revision listed as a sponser as the other three.

they havent done as much because they are fairly new, but hey, theyve done more sponsorship and other contributions then NBH even as a much smaller company

[sdcopp 1]

Rink Rat

I would hope the wheel companies put their all into the sport ;) I think he was asking more about the overall big manufacturers. Rink Rat, Labeda and Hyper all do a good job though as well with sponsering teams and such.

dont forget about revision

I haven't seen near as many teams with Revision listed as a sponser as the other three.

they havent done as much because they are fairly new, but hey, theyve done more sponsorship and other contributions then NBH even as a much smaller company

They aren't any newer than Rink Rat is, and Rink Rat has been much more active in the sponsership area. I'm not trying to say Revision isn't commited to inline, they very well could be. My point is the companies who go above and beyond to really push the sport.

Red Star, Kuzak and Volcanix all came before, but were also overshadowed by Labeda and Hyper because Labeda and Hyper were everywhere sponsering all the major teams. I unfortunately can't see Revision having a much better fate than these companies who are gone or very low profile compared to the big three of RR, Labeda and Hyper because those three are the ones who are out the sponsering as many as they can and trying to really help the sport along in every aspect.

It works the same way for the major manufacturers too. NBH and CCM/RBK have been the big dogs in ice for a long time (Bauer and CCM for most of it), yet pure inline guys have stuck with Mission and Tour for the last decade because they were the companies commited to the roller sport. CCM/RBK really stepped it up a few years back with the Externo line, and has continued to push into roller with good product lines that go from entry level to top of the line to compete with Mission and Tour. NBH has made minimal strides trying to rely on their name alone and not really offering a full lineup. RBK has the hottest young star in all of hockey wearing their stuff, and have made the effort to provide full lines to roller players, so it's no surprise to me that they are surpassing Tour.

The thing here is that through all of this, Mission and Tour have continued doing what they do best: making killer inline products that are the best products for inline. Most of the top inline players I can think of are sponsered by one of these two companies.

gman's original post asked who are the companies doing the most for growing inline and sponserships within the sport. Mission, Tour, CCM/RBK, Rink Rat, Labeda and Hyper are the answers to that question. I personally choose to support Mission because the products feel the best to me and Justin has been world class on these boards, even fixing a problem for an ice player that Graf should've handled in the first place. For anyone looking to really give back to the companies who cater to us, I'd direct them to those six companies first and foremost.

[gman 0]

I am going to stick with Mission all the way for the very reasons sdcopp just stated. I cannot imagine a better rep than what Mission gives.