A better boot begins with a problem worth solving. For Inze Bont, that problem was the lack of support in his leather speed skates. His experiments in his backyard in Sydney grew into a family business and a succession of ideas about materials, fit, blades, and mounting hardware.
This timeline traces our skating innovations and firsts, from fiberglass and carbon fiber boots to custom molding, heat-moldable fit, and advances in blades and mounting systems. Each development began with finding a better way to support skaters and improve the equipment they relied on.
1974: The first fiberglass skate boot
For decades, speed skating boots had remained largely unchanged, with little advancement in their basic leather construction. In 1974, Inze reinforced his leather speed boots with fiberglass to give them more support. It was a revolutionary change that transformed what a speed skating boot could be and changed the sport forever.
That first experiment led toward a foot-shaped composite racing boot, laying the foundation for Bont's approach to performance footwear a year before we began selling our own boots. Its influence extended beyond short track: long track speed skate makers copied the advancement, bringing composite reinforcement into their boots and changing that discipline too.
Much later, the same approach would help transform cycling shoes. The move from traditional leather construction to supportive composite footwear began with a skating problem in Inze's backyard and went on to influence performance footwear across sports.
1974 to 1975: The first custom-molded composite speed skate boot
Inze developed a method for building a boot around the individual skater's foot. An alginate impression captured the shape, and a plaster cast provided the form for making the boot. A year of testing helped turn a personal fitting experiment into a repeatable custom-boot process.
Perfecting that process took relentless trial and error in his backyard. Inze made plaster casts of his own feet, built boots around them, and tested the results. Then he made another mold, built another boot, and tested again. He repeated this cycle until a literal mountain of plaster feet had accumulated in his backyard, a pile taller than he was. Each new mold and boot gave him another chance to refine the fit and the process.
1975: The heat-moldable skate boot
In 1975, Inze invented Bont's heat-moldable skate-boot method. Heat-responsive construction allowed the fit to be refined after manufacture. Custom molding built a boot around a cast of the foot; heat molding offered a way to reshape an existing boot.
1976: Removable, adjustable blades
As the more supportive boots allowed deeper turns, clearance became a new challenge. Inze developed a removable blade arrangement that allowed skaters to change blade position. Boots and blades could be replaced separately, and alignment could be adjusted instead of being fixed by rivets.
1980: Thermoplastic in skate boots
Bont's early material innovations included thermoplastics, which could be shaped using heat. Inze introduced them into skate boots in 1980.
Thermoplastic was revolutionary for skate boot fitting because it allowed skaters to achieve a custom-like fit from a stock boot. By warming the boot in an oven or with a hairdryer, skaters could soften the thermoplastic and mold the boot to the shape of their foot.
In the early 2000s, we also used heat-moldable thermoplastic in a streetwear shoe, bringing the same approach to fit into everyday footwear.
1985: The first machine-bent blades
Bont introduced its first machine-bent blades in 1985. This milestone extended Inze's work beyond the boot and its mounting system to the preparation of the blade itself.
Tube blades resist bending and tend to spring back toward their original straight shape. Inze Bont's invention was to machine the slot that holds the blade into the tube along a curve, rather than in a straight line. This gave the blade a built-in bend.
The curve was less pronounced than the final bend a skater needed, leaving room for individual adjustment. Skaters could reach their optimal bend with less additional bending, reducing the blade's tendency to spring back and try to straighten itself.
1986: Kevlar enters the boot
In 1986, Bont became the first to use Kevlar in performance footwear. The material expanded the options available for reinforcing a skate boot as Inze continued experimenting with composite construction.
We later stopped using Kevlar because we found that, when skaters left their skates out in the sun, it would break down after a year or two of sunlight exposure. We replaced it with carbon fiber, which held up well in the sun.
1989: Carbon fiber enters the boot
In 1989, Bont introduced carbon fiber into its performance footwear. At the time, it was a very new material in speed skating boot construction, and we experimented with many different ways of laying it up. We tested different carbon weaves and unidirectional carbon, varying how the layers were arranged to find the optimal stiffness for a speed skating boot.
These experiments helped us refine a stiff, lightweight construction that could support the demands of racing.
1990: The first carbon fiber short track blade and inline frame
In 1990, Inze Bont created his first carbon fiber short track blade and inline frame. Both were well ahead of their time.
The short track blade did not go into production because skaters wanted to bend their blades to suit their skating, and this carbon fiber blade could not be bent. The inline frame also remained a prototype, simply because skaters at the time thought it was too novel and different.
1994: The first 100% carbon fiber football boot
Inze made the first 100% carbon fiber football boot for Tony Priddle of the St George Dragons. Priddle wore the boots during his final two seasons with St George, in 1994 and 1995.
To make carbon fiber work for running, Inze combined stiff and soft carbon fiber in the boot. The stiffer areas provided support, while the softer carbon fiber allowed the boot to bend under the forefoot as Priddle ran. This combination gave the boot the flexibility needed for running while retaining support where it was needed.
2001: The first 100% carbon fiber cycling shoe
In 2001, Bont made the first 100% carbon fiber cycling shoe. Alexander Bont and Inze Bont designed the Bont cycling shoe, bringing our composite footwear expertise into cycling. Riders wearing Bont cycling shoes won 16 Olympic gold medals across the first two Olympic Games in which the shoes were used.
We sold the cycling business in 2014.
Early 2000s, approximately: A small bolt with a wider story
When an inline wheel rubbed against the mounting bolt, Inze developed a slim head with tapered edges to create clearance. The design emerged around the transition from 165 mm to 195 mm inline mounting.
The same design later found widespread use in flat-pack furniture.
A pioneer of modern speed skating
Inze Bont was a pioneer of the sport. All modern speed skates are based on his original 1974 concept: using composite materials to give a skating boot the support that traditional leather construction could not provide. What began as an experiment in his backyard helped shape the equipment skaters use today.
Function always came first for Inze. His priority was how a boot fitted, supported the skater, and performed on the ice, rather than its aesthetics. Yet he also put extraordinary care into the finish of his early boots. For the first few years, he hand-painted every boot, spending up to seven days painting, sanding, and repainting to perfect the finish. His designs included country flags, boxing kangaroos, and many other individual creations.
That combination of practical invention and hands-on craftsmanship defined Inze's work. His original idea changed speed skating, and its influence lives on in every modern speed skate.