From a garage to one of the largest freestyle scooter shops in the world
The Gizmania story began in March 2009. But to understand how a small garage became an international scooter shop, we have to go back a few more years.
Freestyle scootering began to take shape at the turn of the new millennium, primarily in the USA and Switzerland. The first Czech riders appeared around 2002, especially in Prague, Pardubice, Havířov, and Karviná. One of them was Gizmania co-founder Jakub Volf, who started riding a scooter around 2001.
Back then, there was no wide selection of specialized decks, handlebars, forks, or high-quality complete scooters. People rode common folding models that were definitely not built for freestyle. The community was so small that most riders knew each other. Spare parts were difficult to get from abroad, and broken components were repaired or modified in various ways.
Gizmania was born out of enthusiasm for this new sport. At the beginning, it wasn't a well-thought-out business plan, but rather a leisure project meant to make the equipment that Czech riders needed accessible to them.
2009: The garage, the first parts, and a sport almost no one knew
The first shop was established in a garage at Jakub's home in Prague's Čimice district. Looking at the photos today, it seems almost unbelievable: a small space, simple shelves, and scooters and spare parts stacked wherever there was room.
But even then, the stock was not just symbolic. That was where the core philosophy we still hold onto today was born: to have a wide selection of parts physically in stock, to truly understand them, and to be as close as possible to the people who ride them.
During the first year, we began offering brands that wrote the early history of freestyle scootering: American PROTO, District, Eagle, French ID, Micro, and others. We weren't entering a finished market; it was just being born, and Gizmania grew along with it.
Even our communication back then didn't resemble classic advertising. Instead of product campaigns, we shared photos of riders, new tricks, videos, races, and news from the scene. Our own team and community gradually began to form around the shop.
Among the first preserved videos are, for example, Flying Hornets with Jára "Mini" Soukup from 2010 or Fliar? by Johan Walzel:
By the way, both have been working with Gizmania to this day!
From the beginning, one rule applied to us: selling equipment and helping to develop the freestyle scooter community are two sides of the same coin.
2010: First major races and custom components
Under the Gizmania banner, races, team videos, and photo reports began to emerge. One of the most significant events was the two-day international race "Big Time Scootering! with Eagle" in Pardubice.
Riders arrived from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Poland, and the factory teams Madd Team Europe and Eagle Sports Team were also represented. At a time when the European scooter scene was still relatively small, it was an extraordinary event.
Besides races, we also began experimenting with our own products and services. We launched the first custom scooter configurator, thanks to which customers could assemble their own combination of components. We even offered powder coating in RAL colors. Today, such a service has lost its significance due to the massive range of colored parts available, but at the time, the ability to build a truly original scooter was something exceptional.
At the same time, we were developing our own brand, KuBars. Its name was created simply: Kuba + Bars. Jakub Volf first hand-manufactured the handlebars, and in 2010, the first one-piece fork in the world was created under the KuBars brand. It was manufactured in the Czech Republic from a single piece of material and was long considered one of the strongest forks on the market. We even offered a lifetime warranty on it.
2011: The garage is no longer enough
Gizmania was growing fast, and the original garage soon became insufficient.
On January 14, 2011, we closed the first shop and announced the move to much larger premises in Holešovice, specifically to Hall 19 on Bubenská Street.
The Grand Opening showed how strong a community had formed around Gizmania in just two years. The new shop was no longer just a place to buy equipment. It included a mini-ramp and a chill zone where riders could spend time, meet each other, and watch the latest videos from the world scene.
Gradually, we were also visited by international teams and legendary riders from brands like Madd Gear, Blunt, or French Toast. Thanks to Gizmania, riders such as Coedie Donovan, Terry Price, Flavio Pesenti, George Gartlehner, Joe Grunwald, Tobias Mayer, Ludovic Pistat, Jean-Yves "JD", Kevin Demay, Marko Szabo, and others visited the Czech Republic.
At the beginning of the year, the "Scooting Series" race series started in Stráž pod Ralskem. Several other races and exhibitions followed, introducing freestyle scootering to the wider public.
In the Pardubice skatepark, we also organized the first year of the now-legendary Gizmania Scooter Day Rookie – a race focused primarily on young and beginner riders.
And our team set off for major international races in Montreux, Switzerland, for the first time:
2012: International races, trips abroad, and our own skatepark
In 2012, freestyle scootering experienced its first big boom. Races and exhibitions already had their firm place in the Czech Republic, and we tried to be everywhere where something was happening.
At the For Bikes trade fair, we exhibited freestyle scooters and organized a race for the best Czech riders in front of thousands of visitors. Our team toured practically the whole country, and more videos were created, such as "Chrudim Skatepark"
or Gizmania & KuBars Night Session.
We were also active abroad. In Linz, Austria, we organized another major international race, "Big Time Scootering!", which was also attended by legendary American riders Zig Short and Big Ron.
The Gizmania Team visited the biggest European freestyle scooter events of the time. We went to the World Championships in Deeside, England, where Johan Walzel fought his way into the finals among the best riders in the world:
We also didn't miss the ISPO fair in Munich and another trip to the legendary race in Montreux, Switzerland.
But big changes were also happening at home in Prague. We rented the neighboring hall, renovated the shop, and built our first indoor skatepark with a foam pit—a foam-filled pit where riders could safely practice new tricks:
International teams from Blunt, AO, or Micro Xtreme also came to visit us in Holešovice:
2013: First coaches, Scooter Camp, and more world travel
With a growing community, the role of older riders also began to change. Those with more experience gradually passed on their knowledge to the younger ones, helped them with new tricks, and the first instructional "how-to" video guides were born.
The third annual Big Time Scootering! took place in Linz, Austria.
And the Gizmania team hit the road again. ISPO trade fair in Munich:
Team tour to Leipzig, Wrocław, Budapest,
or perhaps Scoot Fest in England—one of the biggest freestyle scooter events of its time.
In Pardubice, the European Scooter Championship was held under the banner of the international association ISA, whose formation we were a part of:
The Pardubice skatepark simultaneously launched the Scooter Camp project, which continues to this day. Gizmania has been its proud partner since the first year.
Our Prague skatepark also continued to grow. We rented another part of the neighboring hall, knocked down a wall, and gained more space for riding:
Under the leadership of Johan Walzel, the foundations of the first Scoot School also began to form.
2014–2015: Street scootering conquers Prague
While park racing was already a firm part of Czech scooter culture, the street scene also began to assert itself more significantly.
The traditional Gizmania Scooter Day Rookie continued, the ISA Europe Scooter Championship took place in Pardubice, and during the summer, two fully booked sessions of the Scooter Camp were already being held.
A novelty was the first Prague Street Jam—an informal gathering of riders directly on the streets of Prague. Famous international names also arrived, and we built a special obstacle for this occasion: a new rail that we placed on the legendary street spot at Stalin, Prague:
Meanwhile, our team set off for a similar event in Vienna:
Our indoor skatepark also went through further changes. We gradually utilized practically all available space, so unfortunately, there was nowhere left to expand it further. Even so, we gained a full-fledged facility for year-round riding, races, joint sessions, and regular training. The shop also received its final form for several more years.
The French team Wise Scootering arrived for the next annual Prague Street Jam and showcased a level of street riding previously unseen by the local scene. Meanwhile, our team riders established themselves among the world's best, and the series of international races under the ISA banner continued in Linz:
2016–2019: Camps become an educational system and events become traditions
In 2016, another important project arrived: Scooter Week.
A separate spring training weekend was organized by Skatepark Pardubice with Gizmania as the main partner. It was no longer just a few days of free riding. The program had a clear structure: division into training groups, warm-ups, riding technique, learning new tricks, and preparation for races.
Three sessions of the Scooter Camp followed in the summer.
The Street Jam continued for its third year in Prague, and, of course, other traditional events were not missing—the Czech Championship in Pardubice or the popular "Pražská Vánočka" (Prague Christmas Session) in our skatepark:
Individual personalities of Czech scootering were profiling themselves ever more significantly. Richard Zelinka gradually ranked among the most prominent street riders, David Šenkýř represented the next generation, Jára "Mini" Soukup established himself among the world elite, and Johan Walzel continued to belong among the leading riders of the older generation:
Years passed, and originally smaller meetings became established events. Prague Street Jam regularly attracted foreign riders, and at the Czech Championship in Pardubice, spectators could watch the world elite. In 2017, the seventh Gizmania Scooter Day Rookie took place, and other Pardubice camps followed in the summer.
The production of our own KuBars components also continued, this time with the last SCS series (all made in CZ):
The year 2019 marked the first big milestone: ten years of Gizmania.
In that time, we grew from a garage shop into an established scooter shop, but our core idea remained the same: to understand freestyle scootering, to have the widest possible range of products in stock, and to be as close as possible to the people who really ride them.
2020: Pandemic, record-breaking Rookie, and the first Rich Paradise Jam
The arrival of Covid hit the entire sports and events world hard. Nevertheless, on May 30, 2020, we managed to organize the jubilee 10th Gizmania Scooter Day Rookie, which had a record 111 riders at the start.
Despite the restrictions, Scooter Camps and the traditional Czech Championship in Pardubice also continued.
In the same year, another exceptional project began. Our rider Richard Zelinka, who newly joined the legendary brand Ethic, took a liking to huge jumps and big air.
He found a piece of land where, together with Ethic, we helped him build his dream: Rich Paradise, the first Czech mega-ramp. The first Rich Paradise Jam took place there that summer:
2021: The last year of the first skatepark
The pandemic continued, but we didn't stop organizing events in 2021 either. Another Gizmania Scooter Day Rookie took place, along with Scooter Week, summer Scooter Camps, the Czech Championship, and the second annual Rich Paradise Jam:
Our team also set off on a foreign tour to Barcelona for Xtreme Barcelona, one of the biggest events of European freestyle culture:
We also continued filming instructional videos. Among other things, "How to Tailwhip to Barspin" was created with Jára "Mini" Soukup:
At that time, unfortunately, the operation of our original indoor skatepark had already come to an end. The reason was not only pandemic restrictions but also an eviction notice due to the planned demolition of the site.
At the time, it was an unpleasant complication. In the end, however, it triggered one of the biggest changes in the history of Gizmania.
2022–2023: Holešovice Market and Czech Crown
After many years on Bubenská, in 2022 we began moving to a location we had dreamed of for a long time: the Holešovice Market.
It was by no means easy, however.
We had to move more than 200 pallets of goods, all our shelving, building materials, skatepark equipment, our archives, and practically the entire company. But the premises we were moving into were still under renovation.
The entire move ended up taking almost a year, and we had to relocate the warehouse several times during that period due to the ongoing construction work.
It was likely the most demanding logistical operation in our history to date.
But even that did not discourage us from another ambitious project: the Czech Crown Scootering Week.
Within a single week in August, we connected three completely different events: the Rich Paradise Jam focused on big air, the Prague Street Jam in the streets of Prague, and the Czech Republic Championship in the Pardubice skatepark.
The total value of financial and material prizes reached an incredible 333,333 CZK.
The goal was simple: not just to organize one good competition, but to turn the Czech Republic for a few days into a place worth visiting for riders from all over Europe.
Alongside this, Scooter Weeks continued, and the Scooter Camp entered its tenth season.
At that time, we already had more than ten years of regular competitions, camps, and community events behind us. Projects that once originated almost spontaneously had become established traditions of Czech freestyle scootering.
2024: A New Chapter for Gizmania
After years of moving, gradual expansion, and separate operations, we finally began to realize our long-term vision: to connect our shop, skatepark, school, and community facilities in one place.
The new shop in Hall 11 of the Holešovice Market opened on May 1, 2024. With an area of approximately 230 m², including a fully equipped service workshop, it ranks among the largest specialized freestyle scooter shops in the world.
The Grand Opening showed how far both Gizmania and the entire community have come in fifteen years.
A few months later, we also completed the new Czech Park – an indoor skatepark in the adjacent part of the hall.
Why Czech Park? We wanted to create a place where Czech riders could train even the most demanding tricks year-round, use a safe inflatable landing, supplement training in the gym, and have access to high-quality facilities regardless of the weather.
The grand opening took place in November 2024.
But we didn't stop traveling this year, either. After a multi-year break, we visited Budapest again:
headed to a street jam in Barcelona:
and to the World Championship in Rome:
We also supported the original creative work of Czech riders through the Best CZ Edit competition. We subsequently held a festive screening of the winning videos in the new Czech Park.
The year 2024 also brought a new form for the Scoot School, building on our many years of experience with coaching and scooter camps.
2025: Supporting Riders and Competitions Across Europe
While we were gradually settling into our new premises, the number of international events we supported was also growing.
Competitions, street jams, and workshops across Europe became a natural continuation of the work we started in the Czech community back in 2009.
The Gizmania New Talent Incubator project was also created, with the goal of supporting talented riders who do not yet have enough opportunities to present their skills to a wider audience and helping them kick-start their riding careers.
The Gizmania Scooter Day Rookie, the National Championship, and the summer Scooter Camps continued. The Scoot School organized its first day camps, and the Czech Park became a base for other local events, including the revived Prague Christmas event (Pražská Vánočka).
2026: The Eighteenth Season
In 2026, we are entering the eighteenth season of Gizmania’s existence.
When we look back at photos of our first garage shop from 2009 today, it is almost unbelievable how far we have come in that time.
Our current facilities at the Holešovice Market have a total area of over 1,200 m². They include one of the largest specialized freestyle scooter shops in the world, a warehouse with over 60,000 product items, a professional service workshop, and our own indoor skatepark.
We offer nearly thirty brands of complete scooters and more than seventy brands of components.
The Czech Park offers park and street sections, an airbag, training facilities, showers, and a bistro. The Scoot School runs regular training sessions, individual lessons, and day camps, and is also preparing online lessons that will allow our coaches to pass on their experience to riders outside of Prague.
We continue to organize competitions and community events. The Prague Street Jam has brought riders back to the streets of Prague, the National Championship continues its long-standing tradition, and the Czech Park hosts not only freestyle scootering but also music and cultural events, thanks to which our sport reaches more people.
In the spring, our team went on another big trip to Barcelona, where one of the most important European street jams took place, combined with freestyle scooter video premieres. It was like a little Oscars ceremony for our scene!
Moreover, there is another big change ahead of us. We are preparing to transition from the long-used Magento system to the Shopify platform on October 1, 2026. Technically, it is an e-shop migration, but for us, it is also a symbolic start of another stage for Gizmania.
But no matter how much our company has grown, one thing has never changed: Gizmania is built on people who truly live for freestyle scootering.
It is not just a marketing slogan. Just look at the old photos. People from the shop are also at the competitions, our team riders teach the next generation, and kids from the camps are gradually making it to the National Championship. Some of them will eventually become professional riders and start passing on their own experience to others.
And that is exactly what Gizmania has always been about.