Eli5: Is there a reason roller skates and roller blades don’t have spring shocks?

Question

I was thinking about this the other day…skateboards are flexible, bike tires are bouncy. Why aren’t there “performance” skates with shocks? Wouldn’t that be better for your knees?

In: 2620

Answer 1

There are off-road in-line skates that have pneumatic tires or spring suspensions. Those things add weight, reduce durability, and/or increase cost. If someone is skating on mostly smooth surfaces, then the benefits aren’t worth the drawbacks.