Brands that made history of inline skating: Roces

The history of the brand Roces

Montebelluna – birthplace of the brand Roces

The history of Roces begins in 1952 in the city of Montebelluna, 60k from Venice. The place is historically known for its shoe factories. Ottorino and Lina Cavasin made trekking and ski boots with the expertise of local people. This remains the core business of the company in the 60s.

In the 70s, Roces developed complete ski series, taking advantage of the revolution in plastic materials. At that time, the city Montebelluna became the world capital of sports shoes. The first composite figure skating shoe hit the market in 1978 and was a veritable revolution.

The inline boom

In the 80s, the second generation of Roces owners took over the management of the company. Vasco Cavasin met an exhibitor in a tiny cabin with a folding table and two chairs at a trade show in Las Vegas (Nevada, USA): Scott Olson. He presented his new invention: the Rollerblades.

Roces developed its first inline skate: the Pro. The shell of this skate still exists after 40 years. Now used in street, quad and ice models, it has been produced for more than 7 million copies.
The ice-skating market is booming throughout the decade of the 1980s and roller-based research and development continues for Roces. It was not until 1994 that Roces presented its first roller skate collection at the Las Vegas Sporting Good Trade Show, much to the surprise of the skate industry.

The aggressive skating team

In the 90s Roces developed the first adjustable skate for kids and the Majestic 12 (Link!). Roces was also a pioneer of aggressive skating.

In 1993, Roces launched an aluminum frame.
The Streetskate team sponsored by Roces included the following athletes: Tom Fry, René Hulgreen, Jon Julio, Arlo Eisenberg, Dave Kollash, Dawn Everett, Eitan Kramer, Randy Spizer, Rawlinson Rivera, Cesar Mora, Ivano Gagliardo, Tim Ward, Jess Dyrenforth, Jean Jean, Claudia Trachsel, Destal Whistle, Tom Alqvist, Kato (future founder of Remz). Not to mention Jenny Curry (14 in 1998), who won the X-Games in Woodward and New York.

Roces team 1997

• Tom Fry (AUS)
• Cesar Mora (AUS)
• Tim Wards (AUS)
• Tby Helsop (AUS)
• Ian Smith (AUS)
• Jon Julio (USA)
• Eilan Kramer (USA)
• David Allen Paine (USA)
• Rawlinson Rivera (USA)
• Mike Scott (USA)
• Dawn Everett (USA)
• Rene Hulgreen (DEN)
• Jess Dyren forth (GBR)
• Jean Jean Chanet (BEL)
• Tom Alqhvist (CHE)
• Distal Pipe (CHE)
• Marcio Gurreiro (CHE)
• Claudia Trachsel (CHE)
• Salima Sanga (CHE)
• Issam Tolba (FRA)
• Frank Rodulio (FRA)
• Sven Schumacher (GER)
• Olmo (ESP)

The speed team

In the late 90s Roces sponsored a speed team consisting of Swiss, Germans and five Frenchmen: the team Roces/ AMS.
In 1998 it consisted of Philippe Boulard (France), Régis Chatellier (France), Ralf Göthling (Germany), Alban Cherdel (France), Sebastian Baumgartner (Germany), Johnny Diethelm (Switzerland), Nathalie Barbotin (France) and Isabelle Jarnet (France). The team was managed by Taner Bahar. Philippe Boulard was the team leader who was mainly active in France but also in the most important European marathons. His other sponsors were Advanced Marketing Solution, Calvin Klein, Powerbar and Hyper.

The brand logo can also be found at the Formula 1 Minardi Racing Team.

At the ISPO in Munich 1997 Roces relies on its hard shell models. At that time, Roces was one of the few brands that offered off-road wheels (along with Rollerblade and Spin). The previously released model Roces Big Cat SAS had only one wheel at the front and one at the back and a suspension in the middle. In 1997, Roces used for the first time the special « double injection process » to produce the wheels (Tri-Fit).

In July and August of 1998, Roces offered skate camps for 12- to 17-year-old children along with their team skaters in Illkirch near Strasbourg.

Nowadays Powerslide also has off-road models.

Between 1996 and 1997, Roces sold around 80,000 pairs of skates. The following year sales remained stable.

An advantageous diversification

In the early 2000s, Roces kept pushing innovations and new developments. They equipped their skates with better ventilation, more efficiency and comfort. In addition, the company expanded its range on skateboards, skates, quads and protective gear, which meant a shift towards fun sports.

In 2006 Roces revolutionized the world of skiing with « the Idea »: the first adjustable model in six sizes for kids.

2003: The birth of Valo

In 2003, Roces launched the street skate brand Valo in Santa Ana, California, USA in collaboration with Jon Julio.
The first model was launched in 2004. The Valo JJ 1 is based on the shell of the Majestic 12, which has a leather upper. All models of the brand Valo are manufactured according to this principle.
Unofficial video of Valo’s history with its models (Link!) and Facebook page with Valo models here. (Link!)

Roces’ product range

In the last 10 years it became a bit quiet around the brand Roces. The decline in the skating market has hampered research and development investment by most major brands. Roces was one of the few brands to feature magnesium frame models, especially in the 2009 series. Among the most notable models is the Majestic, which has changed relatively little apart from the transition to UFS. The model Roces Lab is regarded as an icon of long-distance models, as well as the Vanquish for speed skating. Most models are reissued every season.

Roces recently released the X35, a freeride model that is now available in several variants. In 2018, the brand follows the trend of the three wheels skates and even offers an original design innovation with the « invisible frame ». This comes with the Roces X35 3x110mm TIF.

We also noticed that Roces has recently expanded its product range by integrating many quads models for general public.

One of the Roces features: models for very large sizes, up to size 54 for the Big Zyx and 50 at FCO Rental!

Roces History Video

Today, the entire Roces distribution network covers 50 countries. Every year, the Italian brand produces almost a million pair of roller skates, ice skates and ski boots. 

Links