The Hyper bulletin board is on fire! 100mm wheels and frames are all the rage. Guesses, hypothesis and suppositions are flying high. Of course, I am very curious about the 100mm concept. When the Belotti name comes out on the bulletin as the creator of a new 100mm skating system called Sento (Hundred in the Verona dialect) I cannot resist and I call Mr. Belotti in Italy. He welcomes me warmly and after a nice chat I tell him that I am interested in purchasing the new Sento system. Fabio Belotti very simply tells me, “Okay, I will ship it to you tomorrow.”

Three days to "Christmas"

Three days later the mailman brings the new Sento system, frames and wheels. I cannot wait. I feel like a kid opening a Christmas gift. Cut here, cut there, the frames and wheels are on my desk. They are beautiful and just standing still they look fast. The Italian design, the tradition that makes Ferrari and Armani, is unmistakable. The 100mm 82A wheels made by the Italian Hyper factory for Belotti, bear the name Belotti and Sento. On the package the Hyper sticker is the seal of quality.

Save a TON (plus) per marathon!

I weigh everything on the triple beam scale: frame (with axles) 6.5 oz, three 100mm wheels, 9 oz, one 80mm wheel 3 oz, 8 bearings 2.85 oz, four spacers 0.30 oz; a total of 21.65 oz for a complete frame with wheels, about 6.20 oz lighter than a standard 5 wheel 80mm frame. This means that at the end of a marathon your feet will lift, if your average roll is 20 feet, about 2,660 pounds less. Wow! How about that!

Please forgive my child’s soul, but now I am dreaming. A dream about a paradise of long, fast, effortless skating, with feathers on my feet. I cannot wait any more. The Sento system is on my Bont Capetos, I am ready to go to Venice Beach to move from dreams to reality.

I start going north toward Malibu with a light wind in my face. I feel the stability of a low profile frame but I am capable of keeping the slow cadence of a high profile. This allows me to achieve a speed higher than usual. Crossovers are easier and it feels as if I have been skating this forever. Easy, pleasant, fast. I am sliding on a moonbeam.

Smooth as silk

I skate on a rough portion of the path where normally I have to slow down. Nothing! It is for sure the gyroscopic effect of the big wheels and the good design of the frame. No bad vibrations. Piece of cake.

Now I am coming back with the wind behind my shoulders. Time to be serious. I have on the Timex Speed and Distance system that is showing my exact speed. I am cruising 19, 20 easy, 2 miles more than my usual. What is really great is that I am feeling more in control and less tired than with the 13.5 frame with 84mm wheels. I am rolling with a steady low cadence and an easy full extension. My form is easy and effortless. The heart rate is below my anaerobic threshold and I am happy like a child. Wilma Boomstra, my coach, would be surprised how I am skating well.

A slight up hill, bam bam bam, I am on top. I see in my mirror a bike coming, The sprint is easy and now I am drafting behind the guy 22 steady. I am flying, I look at the Timex: 23.4. Normally at this speed I am asking my self: “Jonathan what are you doing,” sometime losing form and feeling not totally at ease. Now I have room only for the total enjoyment of the skate, flying in the beautiful California morning.

The guy slows down and we start to chat. He is wondering about my speed and about the kind of skates I am on. I tell him about the new concept of the 100mm wheels introduced first by Andy Lundstrom with Xenän and now by Fabio Belotti with my new Sento system.

Belotti's story

Belotti’s story in the skating world starts in 1979, when the polyurethane wheels for quads were replacing plastic wheels. The Italian company, feeling opportunity, introduced to the international skating community the Galaxy and faster polyurethane wheels. The prestigious Italian Champions of the day, De Persio, Cruciani, Ghermandi, Cantarella and great Americans Peterson, Labeda and Kaiser started to race and to win with the Belotti wheels. The skating “virus” is contagious (you know what I am talking about, don’t you?) and the Italian Company enlarged its range of products by designing and producing boots and skates.

In the beginning of the 90’s, inline skates took the sport by storm. Belotti understood immediately the potential of the new system. In 1992 at the World Championships in Rome they introduce the new 5-wheels skate “Extreme.” Antonella Mauri won the 3000m World title on them.

In a market dominated by Dutch and Americans, the Italian company made waves. From there Fabio Belotti put together Italian artisan skill famous for the taste of things well done, with the feed back of top European skaters. Fabio is one of the first to introduce the skating system, boot, frame and wheels integrated together to offer the best of the performance.

And now for the ultimate skate...

I ask Belotti: Is the Sento the best skating system you have ever designed? He is laughing and answers to me: “Sento is great, but the best skating system is the next that we will design.” Good job, Fabio, we are waiting.