Our Journey to Develop the Best Children's Skateboard

Hi, I’m Bryan Tracey, the founder and president of SkateXS. We are a small family business based in Southern California. We design and custom assemble each of our children’s skateboards with passion and care. 

2010 - Wauwatosa, Wisconsin

Our story began in 2010. I was a happy dad with a successful career as a technology executive. I had grown up in Maryland. But my career in tech had taken me from New Hampshire, to Northern California, to Dallas, and then to Wisconsin. 

I still remember the day my six-year-old son Zyler told me he wanted a skateboard. He was always a superstar on his 3-wheel micro scooter. But skateboarding was next level and something I could totally get behind.

I had been an active skater growing up and and even continued into my own younger adult years.

But I really hadn’t been consistently skating in several years. The idea that maybe this was something my son and I could start doing together was palpably enticing. I easily imagined weekend trips to skateparks—something I had only dreamed of as a kid myself. I was earnestly as excited for myself as much as I was for my son. This was a father/son opportunity I couldn’t wait to begin.

That excitement only grew as I somewhat selfishly went through the process of building a new skateboard for myself. It didn’t take long to spend about a $200 on my skateboard. It was replete with all the high quality parts and components I wanted. I was psyched!

But little did I know the challenges ahead I would have finding a children's skateboard for Zyler.

It was a shock. Any smaller size children's skateboard I found was obviously low quality and mass produced. I knew from years of experience that you don’t build a good skateboard for $50 or even $70.

I literally spent my evenings for several weeks searching for a high quality children's skateboard. Eventually, I realized the truth. No one thought there was a viable market for a performance children's skateboard.

I somewhat understood. What if you spend upwards of $100 on a board and your child decides they don’t like it? But I also knew from experience if I got a crappy board, he’d be guaranteed not to like it.

I saw so many different problems with the lower-end children's skateboards. Bearings that barely spun. Super hard plastic wheels. Super heavy decks. Plywood decks with no concave. Even plastic trucks!

Reason after reason for a lousy experience on a poorly-made skateboard for kids. That was the not the introduction to skateboarding I was comfortable providing to my own child.

I gave up on finding a complete children's skateboard. I decided to find the parts to build a good children's skateboard for Zyler. Eventually, I found a smaller size deck from a brand I trusted. It was maple instead of birch, and about 7" wide.

I grabbed it right away. Then came the challenge of finding smaller width skateboard trucks to properly fit the deck. Back to endless internet searches. Eventually, I found a set that would work. The bushings were rock hard in these trucks. So I got some aftermarket softer bushings so he could actually turn the board.

I knew we would spend time skating at home in the driveway and around the neighborhood. So I found him some wheels that were a bit softer and more forgiving on rougher surfaces. I grabbed some reasonable bearings. We finally had a pretty decent kids skateboard!

It took me a month to build this skateboard. I had spent at least $160 to do so.

A month? This was crazy, I sure knew a thing or two about skateboards. I knew the difference between quality components and lousy ones. I knew the brands, I knew the shops. And it still took me a month! What in the world did all the other parents do for a children's skateboard? Especially the ones that didn’t skate themselves!

The more we started participating in the skateboarding scene, the more obvious the problem became. I met so many other parents at various skateparks that had the same challenges. They couldn't find good-quality, properly-sized children's skateboards. They typically ended up with their children on decent boards but that were just way too big. They could still push around. But seeing them trying to maneuver those boards or do tricks was like watching a battleship in an obstacle course.

With encouragement from fellow skate parents, I made the leap. I found a company making high-performance skateboards with a unique mix of both maple and bamboo. This lead to a deck that was lighter, more durable, held its pop and flex longer, and was more eco-friendly. Most importantly, they were willing to work with me to develop these decks in 3 smaller sizes. These children's skateboard decks would be appropriate for children between 5-12 years old.

I found a skateboard truck company that was making good trucks that would fit our boards. They were willing to install softer bushings for us. I found a midwestern skateboard parts distributor that carried the slightly softer wheels. They also had affordable bearings and the colorful griptape options we wanted.

I invested $5,000 on a credit card to get an initial run of all the parts rolling. We launched our website for children's skateboards on the fledgling Shopify e-commerce platform.

2012

The business grew quicker than we thought. Word spread about the quality of SkateXS children’s skateboards. Kids loved our designs and the personalization and customization options. These include choosing colorful wheels and griptape and adding their name to the deck.

Parents seemed to resonate with a company that clearly but the actual needs of the kids ahead of everything else.

Because I had my day job, I was able to reinvest every dollar we made back into the business. I increased our inventory to keep pace with the growing demand.

I remember one day getting an online order from one of Zyler’s classmates. I replied with an offer to just bring the board to school the next day. Turns out they had no idea that we were the family behind SkateXS children's skateboards. I don’t think they even know SkateXS was in Wisconsin! That was pretty cool.

2015

In the summer of 2015, I took another big leap. I left my tech carrier behind to focus full time on SkateXS kids skateboards. That full-time focus on the business paid off with an uptick in sales and attention. By that Christmas, business was booming.

I still remember driving back and forth to the post office in the snow. My pickup was fully loaded with boxes of children’s skateboards heading to places all across the globe.

2016 - Carlsbad, California

At this point, most of our parts suppliers were out of Southern California. So were many of our team riders. We decided to make a move. We packed up the house and business in one big U-haul. We made the trek to Carlsbad, California, a beach town in North County San Diego.

Being in California helped us meet new suppliers. We finally began making all the components for our beginner skateboards for children ourselves. We finally had a fully-branded SkateXS complete children's skateboard. This allowed us to directly manage production costs and keep our prices low despite the increases in the market.

2020

We loved living in Carlsbad, but we missed not having a dedicated Skateshop in town. In 2020, we decided to open Status Skateshop in downtown Carlsbad Village. Status carries a huge variety of skateboards for all ages and all sorts of specialties. It also gave us the chance to bring SkateXS to a retail environment. It allows young customers to even demo the SkateXS children's skateboards before they buy them.

2023

In 2023, Status was Voted Best Skateshop in all of San Diego County by the San Diego Reader. We carry over 70 different brands of skateboards. But SkateXS is our #1 selling brand regardless of age group.

2024

In the summer of 2024, our first SkateXS skate team member Gavin Bolger represented Team USA at the Paris Olympics.

Needless to say, a lot went into making SkateXS what it is today. We couldn’t be more excited to be part of your family’s own upcoming adventures in skateboarding!

Read the tips from our parent’s guide for skateboarding tips. Head to our shop to find skateboards for kids of all levels. Make your kids skateboard one of a kind with our customization and personalization options. Protect your child with our kids skateboard helmets and kids skateboard pads.

We look forward to building your children’s skateboard and becoming a part of their own skateboarding journey!