FXR Unpacked: Design, Legacy, and What's Next

Welcome back to another episode. Hey, we switched sides.

Did we? Oh, crap.

I was over there.

Oh, you were? Yeah. I was looking that way too.

We have two. It's like when you hop in bed, you know, with your wife and she like switches to the other side and you're like, “No.” We've got this side and this side.

So, like left and right socks feel different.

Yeah. I think what you were about to say was welcome back to another Sledder Cast

Sledder Cast podcast. We're still live here at Hay Days. We've got the boys. We've got We've got Duncan's crew here now. I'm getting tag teamed right now, what it seems like. Outnumbering the Deviant Ink squad.

That's very true.

We've got a cool episode to fire off here. We're going to get to learn a little bit more about FXR, the brand, the origin story. And what kind of cool stuff you guys got in the works and where you're going in the future. I know Milt was here. You guys had your big 30-year. We'll get into that and but what if we start off? Why don't we you two? So, these guys, they've heard enough about us over the last couple days. Who are you? What do you do at FXR?

Sure, sure. Go for it, Matt.

All right. So, my name's Matt Hamm. I'm the snow director for FXR. I've been with FXR for 20 years. 20 out of the 30.

20 out of the 30.

I think if you count the hours, it's probably more like 24, 25 maybe out of 30, right? Like by the time we get to 40 years, I'll be like on par for the whole, you know, it's kind of my goal. Yeah, I've been around with FXR for a good chunk of its history and really in and around that 10-year mark was when things were really starting to ramp up.

So, I've seen 20 years of not a single not a year that matched the last, you know, in one way or another, just crazy growth or just keeping up with things and like watching the company grow up from you know, it's still in a most terms would be still considered a relatively small company, but as it's growing into, you know, a large company and global leader almost, you know, on the snow side, but it's been amazing to be part of that, definitely.

That's rad. 20 years is a long time. That's a cool feat, especially in this industry. I think, you know, to find someone that stuck with one brand, one company for that long. That's pretty cool. Career status.

Yeah. Yeah. I wouldn't know how to do anything else by now.

Yep. And I'm kind of the young buck. I got brought in by Milt. I actually was with Polaris in the R&D center here in Minnesota for about 6 years.

They swiped you.

And Milt did indeed swipe me and recruit me. He brought me in for some of the business development stuff. And then Matt has a whole lot going on in the snow side and it's been a passion of mine since I was way younger. So, kind of got recruited and roped into all the sponsorship stuff, working with Duncan and all the boys and we're doing some pretty cool stuff and building there. So, just a little bit of jack-of-all-trades, but happy to be with the team.

Awesome. So, as far as like history goes of the brand, I know there's, you know, a handful of kind of the key players in the outerwear performance gear space in this in the snowmobiling community. You guys have been there, obviously, 30 years. Has all of that been in the have you been in the snowmobile sector that whole time or like where did you guys start?

Snow was, yeah, it was the start of everything. I mean, if you hear Milt tell his story, you know, cross-country racer couldn't figure out why none of the gear performed as well and looked as cool as all the motocross gear, you know, in the '80s and '90s, right? And it's always been heavy moto influence in everything we do and the style, of course, and performance. And so, you know, just leading in from that side. Yeah, I don't know.

Awesome. Some of that original gear was pretty wild-looking, right? When you look back at it. But at the time, like Milt created stuff that absolutely worked for what he was doing and that was racing sleds. And actually in the booth this year, we've got a replica from Levi LaVallee who's been on our team for a long time. And it looks just like Milt's original race sled.

Oh, really?

Yeah. And so, they like showed Milt and they got this cool poster of Milt in those times wearing the gear. And Milt's speech last night for the 30th year anniversary was awesome. Just where he came from, what went down, and why.

Yeah. Well, and I think like moto gear was kind of there since the start, but definitely you know, kind of on the side a little bit, you would say. Like snow was heavy focus, you know, since day one, I guess. But like even in the early 2000s, already starting to have small collection in moto to go along with just cuz that's what we all did. That's what he did. And it was just you know, bikes in the summer, sleds all winter, but the snowmobile business is where was that opportunity and that passion to really grow it. Just cuz you know, the people in the gear in that space at that place in time just yeah, was a big gap there to fill.

And like he jumped in and the energy and the vision to do it, you know, kind of just right time and just fuel the fire, right? So,

We're talking a lot about Milt. Did we even say who Milt is for those who

Who's this Milt guy, right?

You don't You don't know who Milt is?

Well, I'm talking about the people out here, right?

Ladies and gentlemen, you don't know who Milt is? I mean, we all know this guy.

No. Yeah. So, so who's Milt?

Yeah, we all think of it as common and just, you know, we're with him, you know, all the time. But like so, Milt Reimer, the owner and the founder of FXR. He's the driving force, you know, owner, president, creative director. Still, you know, in his passion and like just leading the development of almost all divisions. You know, he's starting to back away a little bit from some other sides of running the company. You know, he's done that for an awful long time. But like his vision for the product side and the development and the graphics and the colors and the energy is like I don't know.

All time high, let's just say, right? He's in his early 60s now and he's still like probably riding moto more competitively than let's say even 20 years ago, and that age is considered, you know, getting old on the moto side. And it's like he's still fitter than most. He can go out there and like he'd be competitive at you know, world-class events like Glen Helen World Vets or Loretta Lynn's or things like that in those higher age class. Like he's a badass, right?

Or how about the vet nationals in Canada last year?

Yeah. Right. And well, he went to the ones in Glen Helen, too.

As an owner-founder, Milt is probably one of the most involved that I know, in ways a lot of people don't see. I'm really lucky I've gotten to go to a lot of different events with him. We were at Ironman, Walton. All different snow rides, right? Like the guy is just super passionate, one of the most driven dudes. And to Matt's point, is still completely into the design. Like he is pushing the ship. He is all for it. And it's so purpose-driven stuff. And I think that's a lot of what's fueling us to continue to push and grow.

Absolutely. Now, still founder-owner?

Yes.

So, we've been talking about this last few days. Is FXR the only company out there still that is still held privately by the original founder-owner?

We've got to be close to, if not the only, you know, we question even in powersports. Like you go to the moto side even, there's not a lot of those core original brands that are still founder-owned, right? And like it's one of those things that we're all almost fortunate or lucky to still be in that position because it's like we can still steer without the red tape, let's just say. Or if we want to follow the core and the values and the vision of like from day one, it's almost like still exist. And we're one of the few that we can kind of pivot and be agile that way.

And like you know, for better or worse or just follow it like follow along and follow like try to be true to ourselves, right? So, it's pretty cool on that side.

Yeah, that's rad. So,

Since we're talking about Milt, one last plug for the guy. Let's get him. I mean, whenever people ask me about Milt or who he is, I lead with Milt is a beast. The dude is fit and will smoke you on the dirt bike track. And he It is so fun to watch him when he gets pulled up talking about anything, talking about the business, talking about FXR, where we're going, what we do. But also like I think him and I talk about fitness, supplements, and racing dirt bikes the most out of anything that we talk about, which is so fun because you can tell for him, yes, business matters, but like it's life. It's the community of that this has created.

And he's just on this charge that like it's hard not for him to be infectious.

Yeah. He gets in everybody around here. Yeah. It's great.

So, the Milt that you knew 20 years ago, do you remember that? Did he interview you?

You know what? He kind of interviewed me, but I don't know. I think I got kind of hired along even without an interview. And it was kind of a weird deal because when I started, there was no like person in the shipping department for FXR. It was like we would gather together at like 3:00, pack the orders from the day because the warehouse was literally the upstairs. It was like an office building and a shop on the side of the overhead door. And above in the mezzanine was the warehouse. And at like 3:00, everyone would get together. The UPS vans would show up at like 4:30, pack the orders.

And it started to, you know, so it was like it wasn't even really like an interview. It was like, “Hey, are you a kid that can like put stuff in the box and run the UPS computer?” And like I was just a motocross racer and like, yeah, go work for a place that sells the gear or whatever. But like the start of it was so crazy cuz there's like six, seven people. And it got to start to be too busy that they couldn't just all get together and you know, that little if wasn't working anymore. It's like, “No, we need someone that's at least runs a computer.” So,

Yeah. That was Yeah. So, 20 years ago you said there was six, seven, eight folks there. Fast forward to today, like what's the growth been like in I guess human capital?

I want to say a global footprint of our staff in and around 150. Is that right, Duncan?

That'd be my guess as well.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Yeah. All over the world, multiple warehouse facilities. Our headquarters, we have one in Winnipeg. Milt and I are actually based down here in Forest Lake, so right up the road and definitely growing at a pretty gnarly rate.

Yeah. And the follow-up to that was 20 years ago, you know, you knew Milt then. How has Milt changed from then till today? What's the biggest change you think you've seen in you know?

It's in so many ways you'd say like almost hasn't changed at all. Or really quickly laugh about the lap times and you know, maybe still getting faster. You know, we're like, try to follow like And we're Yeah, we talk about the moto side, but like try to go with him on a sled ride and try to keep up and like his passion and his vision for, you know, just seeing things and darting and like cornering and stuff, but like so much of it actually hasn't changed, but so much of it was literally How did things change because everything was changing so much every year as it all grew? And like just seeing I don't know.

It's almost like the things you would notice about changing was more about adapting to just like next year's problems or next And then next year's growth or next year's growth or like a lot of it is just trying to keep up to it. Right? And like everyone just pushing hard and it's, you know, we always it's like trying to get to the start of the race season and like every week feels like the week before the start of you know, and you're just trying to get this, get this. But like for Milt, I just I don't think he's changed a whole lot.

You know, like he's kind of that thing that's just I don't know, his drive or the whatever and then like what's pushed the company like the situation changes night and day change, you know, in 20 years or even from one year to the next, but like a lot of that is kind of been the constant that's stayed the same, I'd say.

Yeah, the influence that he's had on the company you kind of mentioned it a minute ago. Do you see him that influence kind of you know, as he's getting older is he kind of spreading a little bit or is he still just day-to-day operations just going the grind?

Yeah, it's a probably a lot less day-to-day. You know, he's trying to focus a lot more you know, even as the business grows out beyond snow, even as motos grown real big and we're pushing hard in fish and just, you know, even other areas that we don't see so much, but like trying to do trying to do as much riding as he can as he's still so healthy and fit, you know, and trying to do that. Trying to let the company, you know, start to transition and be able to run itself a little bit better. Yeah.

Go out and live the life like he's I mean, the guy's been wide open for so many years growing this business and like he's actually still healthy enough to do all the stuff that you could do that you know, would have done all those years and you're focused on the you know, the business. We want to let him do a little bit more of that, too, right?

Absolutely. That's cool.

But when it comes to the design side stuff, he's full tilt.

Oh, yeah. We've had meetings all week going through some of the stuff that's to come and it really to Duncan's point, man, it spools him up. It is what he is the most passionate about and he's not slowing down by any means. The design side, the specific products, the guy is pulling.

So, that was kind of going to be my follow-up question. Well, or my next question was What makes FXR. Like when you guys are in your meetings and you're like, “Hey, we're FXR and this is like our footprint in the space.” What makes internally, what are you guys saying this is why and how we're different than everyone else?

That's an interesting question to answer. You know, like a lot of it stems from where regionally or like where it is that we're making our footprint and what that's all about because you just, you know, even just dividing let's say western snowmobile culture and mountain culture from the Midwest and the East where FXR is just so huge, right?

But like it's like a combination of sort of the secret sauce of just, you know, the way the gear looks and, you know, and the logos and the graphics and a lot of people really know FXR primarily, you know, as a brand that like brings, you know, almost like moto energy or bright energy and like, not afraid to stand out and all that kind of stuff, but like so much of it is just looking at the features, the specs, the fit, like the user experience, right?

And like a lot of that doesn't get told or doesn't get talked about enough is like because the gear is as flashy as it is, you know, a lot of it We do the blacks, too, and everything, but like when you think about it, you don't think of FXR as the you know, the black the dull brand or whatever, but like so we focus so hard, you know, we spend a lot of time on graphic and colorways.

We argue probably way too much and like there's like there's like 20 things in the catalog, we probably looked at 150, you know, and just trying to figure out what to do, but like the fit and the function and all of that is something that we've driven so hard right from day one just because whether it's the owner or just so many people within throughout and working with the riders like we try to make sure that like you don't notice anything else cuz it actually all works so well.

You know, and it's like, “Yeah, you do just notice the graphics and you get to stand out.” And whether, you know, we argue a lot about like, let's say Duncan you know, his taste is like, “Hey, Duncan, how many logos do you want to have on your jacket, right? Or on your mono?” Like Duncan's like, “Well, maybe a few less.

Give me some bright color or something, all right?” And you get other ones where it's like the logos from your knee to your shoulder and like and some customers and people like, “That's just a jam and we can do stuff.” But like we're never afraid to mess around with anything that's like change the logo, change the look, like kind of free to do as almost no holds barred with that stuff, you know? It's kind of drives some of the people crazy cuz they're like, “You just need one logo.

You need to you know, for a brand you should have one corporate logo.” And we're like, “I don't know, man.” Like we're trying to go back and say 30 years if we pulled up every version of a logo that we ever had. And Milt's like, “Don't show some of those.” Like we can't Yeah, but you know what? And at the time you thought it was so cool and then you're looking back and you're like, “Yeah, maybe not so much.” you know, and but it's just been part of it, right? Just never Yeah, don't be afraid to mess with any of it.

No, and I think honestly, to put a different spin on the question, I've been really good buddies in riding with Milt for the last 6 years. And now Duncan and Zach and myself and a lot of the guys that came in have been talking about, but like the culture that FXR built and the family dynamic that stems off of Milt's crazy passion is pretty wild. I think if you guys look at like the Phil Nicolettis, the Mike Browns, and now with Malcolm Stewart, and all this stuff that we're doing, Milt's looking at long-term family relationships and not only sponsorships, but the people that want to be in our gear, that want to be around us.

When I was a kid, man, I knew all about FXR and I had nothing to do with it. I just so happened to start riding with owner and founder one day now we're here. And Matt's been at it since way back and I think that the culture that has been built and we're continuing to build on is ultimately what drives a lot of people to it, too. If you look around at Hay Days, it's pretty funny. Milt is just looking at every hoodie and every piece of gear walking by. He's like, “Wow, it's these people are really about it.” And it's just it's cool to see. Right.

So, I think it's not only the technical side and all the stuff Matt drives, but also the family dynamic that they're building and it's something you want to be a part of.

Yeah. FXR family.

Yeah, it's a real thing.

Duncan's all about that style, you know, so I don't think Duncan you know, you guys work at all with I know you just mentioned that you'll you know, maybe call up the athletes and toss some ideas, but Duncan get Does he get any influence over there?

Lately.

Lately?

Yeah, I stepped into a bit of a different role 2 years ago signing on as repping the kind of northwest area territory, if you will, which is massive. But also helping Matt and and Tory's come on now and really you know, my interest in it is to drive the backcountry market and help FXR who has made great gear for a long time And it works in the mountains. But maybe we haven't really pinpointed a specific like goal of what we want to do in the mountains. So, I've been helping, which has been a lot of fun, design and develop new backcountry gear that we released a year ago, kind of like revamped.

And we have more coming down the pipe and it's been really cool to work with the designers, work with Matt even more on that stuff to find out like which fabrics do work better, which type of breathability or shell material and how that fits, you know, which is the best way to go. So, we're working on some really cool stuff right now. And we're kind of like taking a new deep dive into backcountry segment, which is really exciting for me cuz it's where I want to be.

Yeah, and that's you know, that was what where I wanted to get to was where is snow focused. Sounds like a little bit maybe a little bit more focused in the backcountry space, but maybe from the inside like as you guys look at the snow category going forward, what gets you guys the most excited?

You better take this one.

So, with Duncan, like he was talking about, we've spent a lot of time looking at backcountry and some of the development and really notching some of that out. We have some amazing gear. Our crossover lineup is what Matt lives and breathes in himself, right? He rips. I don't know a guy that rides to work more than Matt himself, but we really wanted to kind of narrow in and start to look at these materials and look at where's your best mobility, what is your pow day, right? Where are kind of the fits and finishes that we want the most? And all I can say right now is we have some pretty dang cool stuff in the works. And I

How far are you guys? Like what are you guys developing right now?

It'll be a combination of things that we'll see already next year and then a few things that are like probably need another season of testing and development for following, you know, and it's always a bit of a balance of what we can do and bring out, you know, early enough where there's even you If you know, look in our catalog photos and some of the stuff of Duncan, if you won't be able to zoom in close enough, but there's one or two things that's you know, probably been on the snow already that you know, you wouldn't quite see, but like just some of it has a longer testing cycle than others depending on fits fit and function oriented in something like a boot or a glove where there's additional development than just what we're trying to dial in terms of the outer where we're you know, it's cut and sew things that you can work with far quicker and get results, you know, far faster.

Yeah, and this week we're locking in some of the 27 stuff already, looking at 28 and then the big plan is the 2030 strategy, right? So we're thinking out as far as we can and trying to double down. And all of this doesn't take away from that tried and true FXR brand that the people out here know and love.

Yeah. Like you want gear for cold weather? We got you covered. Are you kidding me? Like we continue to develop that stuff in an insane way in my eyes just because I don't even wear that stuff because in the west it would like I'd cook. Yeah. But if I ever wanted to go trail riding and do some mega miles, like we have a plethora of gear that is absolutely amazing that we've done for a long time. So like it's not changing it. I think it's we're just like taking another look at a segment that we just haven't been strong in. Yeah. And it's like to me that's it's really cool because like it's new life, it's new direction, it's exciting.

We're testing things, we're doing stuff, and Tory coming in and helping with the team and like kind of building up our top tier athletes is also been a new development which is pretty cool, but

Yeah, and you got to cater to the younger generation, right?

Yeah. Yeah, because they're here to stay and taking over by storm. I mean, did you watch power hour last night? Does it like we even had Mav in it who's one of our newer athletes who I've known since he was 9 years old throwing down. I think he needs to work on his videography skills a little bit, but other than that, the dude's wild. And yeah, some fun stuff going down.

I wanted to ask this question early on and I forgot cuz we've been talking about snow, but FXR is in a bunch of different categories, right?

Yep.

What category would you say leads the way? I think going back to you know, snow, fish, what are all the other categories?

Snow, fish, and moto are our three main categories.

You know, it's right from the get-go we kind of talked about it. It's like moto driven, you know, snow apparel and just the whole concept of like FXR factory extreme racing, but factory racing like the factory ride component of motocross or even in you know, the highest level snowmobile. Like that's what drove it all, but like probably the moto side is you know, what really leads so much of it. You know, it leads all of them.

We're starting to see so much recognition as we start to work with you know, the Malcolm Stewart that you brought up or like getting things out there on that, you know, Supercross or AMA Pro Racing stage or you know, or some of the things in Europe and you know, we just won two titles in Canada again this year, but like it seems like moto is that good energy connector for almost everything cuz it's like, depending if it's you know, the snowmobile customer, but what are they doing in the summertime or like just seems like we have yeah, a lot of them a lot of the marketing, you know, spill off for the whole brand comes from what you're seeing in that Supercross stage just because it's so huge.

And it's crazy cuz we've got this connection with Mookie to his fishing passion. And it's like all of a sudden it's turning into this thing where we're realizing so many places. I don't know, it's like it's like the dots connect between oh like I love to do this, but people are coming up to him at the races giving him like fishing lures and stuff and they're talking about fishing stories and it's like it's like it lines up. You don't have to be just you know, we segment out the divisions and it's like was here's just snow, here's just moto and it's like actually no, it's like the same person and they love to do it all.

And so we just try to figure out like finding ways where that all lines up where it's you know, kind of a racing brand almost at our core, but it bleeds out in so many different ways, you know, and even like, yeah you we're here at Hay Days, you know, we sponsor so much on the snowmobile racing side and snowcross side. And you don't realize like, you want to talk about like how does that line up out west or whatever, right? But actually how many people out there are like they're Supercross fans, they ride bikes.

It's like some of that helps tie it all together and really helps bring it together and whether it's like you're talking about insulated gear for you know, trail riding or crossover riding and that's where FXR is so big, but just you know, all across it's like almost like a bit of a common thread that brings it all together.

Yeah. There's a cool exercise you can do when you walk into the office at FXR.

Okay. An exercise?

Yeah, we'll do it right now. Okay. So raise your hand if you ride snowmobiles. Okay. Raise your hand if you race dirt bikes. Raise your hand if you're into outdoor sports and fishing.

So you do that at the office and it's pretty much everybody

And once everyone's hands are up, they stay up, yeah.

Yeah, you just put them up.

Yeah. But that it's a really cool thing because you know, most people there Everyone there is living it. Yeah, they're doing it. And it's cool like, we work with people like Duncan and like all over the place, you know, for samples and development, but like there's so many people in the staff that are either doing it all or doing parts of it that like the protos come up, you can almost people start trying it on and they immediately understand almost you can tell when maybe the fit's off or something isn't going to work before you even have to like ship it out to someone, get them to go ride it.

It's like okay, we're going to still going to do that, but we already know what we you know, if it's going to be good or bad. Like you know, whether it's the sizing or just you know, trying some of the different things of materials and things like you get such a good idea and it just helps so much when you have so many people on the team that are like their heart's in it, their head's in it, it's part of their passion, you know, and it just that's part of what's you know, been the secret sauce over the years of like helping it get there is being able to expedite some of that stuff.

Sometimes you can take a two-year development and push it into one just because you're able to move things ahead quickly. Not always, you know, things need seat time and hours and testing and you know, but in some cases you can really speed things up just cuz everyone's into it so much.

And truth of the matter is Milt's not going to let you leave for a trip without putting some prototypes in your bag. He pushed on me pretty heavy last year when I headed out west. I brought ACMT, I brought our Ridge Pro setup, the Tri-Lam. And he's like you're going to ride it in every condition. He's like you're bringing two gear bags if you need to. And it was pretty cool. I did get to see our ACMT is kind of a dual lens concept, right? So in a motocross goggle you fog up if you have two lenses, the air gap between it, it allows that perspiration to go away. No different with us in the mountain sledding industry, right?

Like for us our ACMT, it basically separates that. And he made me wear one with and without and go in the some of the deep and the wet nasty stuff and it was pretty cool to see it live. So just with his passion, he's going to stop you and say no, no, no, go try this on quick. And to be fair, I'm probably twice his size. So it's pretty good to get a different size reference than he has.

Absolutely. I'm ready for a fire round here.

Woo. Woo.

That's what I like. Like to put you guys in the hot seat here.

Getting hot.

All right. You guys ready for it? We'll see if we can take it easy on you though, but favorite FXR piece you've ever helped create. No, this is you got to think.

You have a smaller range that you

No, he's got to think. Matt's got to think about it.

Give him some time. This is true. No, I think honestly just working with Duncan and the guys as we start to refine some of the new products. The Ridge Pro was something that was coming out right as I came in and then now we have the Vertical MTX and a couple other things in the works. It's a new spin on things. So it's much more mobility, lighter weight, and tough in the right areas. And it's just really cool to see it start to roll out here obviously this week. And then we'll see a lot more of it in the mountains this year. So pretty stoked on it and honestly it's just fun to watch these guys work.

Cool.

All right, I appreciate the second to go through here, but I'll go back to like year one or two Duncan relationship. The Mission gear. So Mission was like that was our first real stab at getting like more technical backcountry, but we were not afraid to eff around with like colors, color combos.

I want to say if you open the catalog page, it was like I don't know, 12 or 14 colorways, and like one was a dark one, and the rest were like it all just stood out, and we had like the matching bright pants and everything to go with it, and like you still see some of those guys, you know, at different Western events and things walking around, and you're like, “Oh, that's that stuff.” Like it was kind of like the start of a phase we went into when it was like steering away from you know, a little bit more traditional I don't know, just crossover and trail-looking gear to something that was like, “No, we're going to we're going to make a different play.

We wanted to have a different look.” And it wasn't based on anything else we saw. It was like, “We're going to do it with our own flavor, and we're going to do it to stand out.” You know, and that was kind of like I feel like the start of really where it all went from and progressed, so yeah, that's my pitch.

Awesome. Do we get to push that to Duncan, too?

Yeah, I think we should.

Well, right now, it's the Ridge Pro jacket, because it's this it's just a perfect backcountry piece. It's a shell, shell only, but super durable. And yeah, like I pushed real hard to get this thing out. And they did it, and I was like, “What?”

That a boy.

So, I'm really pumped on that. And then next year, or maybe the year after, depending on how it falls, I'll have a different answer.

Okay. Yeah. That's all I That's what you were telling me about last night. I'm just kidding. Yeah. You didn't tell me anything.

I don't think so. Duncan's sworn to secrecy here, yeah.

I don't know. I just know we're working on some cool stuff, and I'm pretty fired up.

That's cool.

Yeah. Okay. So. What's one

Still some things to work out, though. Oh, sorry about that.

You're good. You're good. What's one thing customers complain about that drive you guys nuts? Is there like a common thing that you're you just drives you nuts?

I don't know if I would I don't know if I would say so much as a complaint, and it falls on us just in terms of how we steer people into the right stuff, but we have such a Yeah, the product line's so big, and getting people into the right thing. You know, we get people come back sometimes, and it's like, “You know what? This didn't Either it didn't stay warm enough, or it didn't stay dry enough, or it didn't or something.” Or like, “I didn't like Why did you make that way?” And it's like, “Well, that What type of riding? Where are you from?

What How are you riding?” And then it's like, “Oh, okay, like you probably bought this either at a dealer or on our or from our website or wherever.

Maybe that's all you saw, or that's what they had, but like, let's go show you maybe what you would have had a better day in or better winter or something, and let's help you out, and let's figure it out.” But that's probably the biggest one we see, you know, more often than not is just sometimes it's a little tricky finding your way through our catalog just cuz it is so big, and there's like so many different types of gear that are in there for Yeah, everything from across the pond over in Scandinavia to Eastern Canada, you know, all the way out to West Coast, right? Like, you guys know all about that.

Awesome.

I think so far from my side, it's honestly just when people ask why you didn't have the exact same color the next year. Oh. “Why couldn't I get that this year?” Well, you should have bought it last year, right? Like we got to keep changing stuff up. We try to keep it within the family, but Matt, Milt, Duncan, and those guys, they do a great job at challenging the colorways each year. And so it's kind of the point now, honestly, if you don't get it the same year, you're going to have a new one.

Yeah. Yeah. Little bit of the Supreme model. Get it now before it's gone.

Yep.

Well, I think everyone's gotten used to a few years of, you know, either the sleds or the gear or everything kind of being the same as last year as we're all working through, you know, COVID hangover or whatever you want to call it with inventory, and we've had some bad snow years and all that, but like we're starting to really see things turn around to where we can it'll start coming into a more of a cadence and being able to like fire away on new designs and colors and styles regularly, right?

And just really push that again, you know, and it's a position we're really happy to be in just because we can start to we don't have to hold back anymore, you know, and we can really just push, and whether that's yeah, new graphics and colors or just new tech, too, right? The whole deal.

Yep. Yep. Okay.

Not sure if you're going to answer this question, but I'm going to I'm going to ask it anyways. If you didn't wear FXR, what would you wear?

Birthday suit.

Birthday suit. That's a good answer. That's a good answer.

Honestly, I don't I don't even know how I'd answer cuz it's been so many years that

Like you haven't even like Yeah, you don't even have any experience in anything else, probably.

Hardly. I mean, which you know, we try on almost everything like snowmobile or whatever. Like you got to know what's out there and how it fits, how it compares, or you hear comments from people, but like Yeah, I don't know I don't think I can give you an answer, sorry.

Yeah. Honestly, from my side, I've gotten to ride into everything being in R&D for Polaris for five, six years. I've kind of rode in a little bit of everything, and to be honest, it's the flavor for me, like the style of what they're bringing in the colors. I cleared out my gear bag when I started. We'll put it that way. Yeah. And I was happy to do it. And Milt used to joke around all the time.

Like I said, I've been buddies with him for many years now, and he'd joke around all the time cuz we'd have Timbersled pics and some dumb stuff in FXR gear that when we had other free stuff with us, so I've been I've been riding with it for a long time, and the more that we put into it, like I don't it's so funny going back with Matt and seeing he wore him and Milt busted out the leather jackets when we were in the Canada office and came down in them, and it's cool to see it over the years. For me with Polaris, like I'm going to always have a favorite bike because we were a part of it.

Fun fact, Duncan's going to be a big fan of Ridge Pro for a long time to come, right? So, it's just cool. As it continues to grow, I think that I don't know what else we'd end up in.

Yeah. Well, it's a weird deal cuz they're all competitors, right? And so you're kind of looking at it, and when like people come up with like cool stuff, cool color combos, whatever, all the time, but like you're also dealing with someone where they're like, “Oh, they're on the other side of the they're on the other side of the fence.” But like I think I would go back to some of the leaders from previous, right? If you talk about AXO gear or Shift gear and things in moto, or like No fear, no fear.

I'd be one of those guys that's like walking around with it like, whatever, an old colorway or an old Blair Morgan replica or something, but like Yeah, I'll go back to that, you know, if you if I can't wear FXR, I'll just go back to some cool old retro or something.

A political answer.

Yep. Okay. Well, we kind of started with Milt, why don't we end with Milt? What's been your you know, as you look back through your time there at FXR, what's been your most memorable moment, single moment, that you've had with Milt?

This is I don't know how long ago it was, but we were meant to go on a trip to down to Jackson and actually down like Afton-Alpine area or whatever, and we were meant to fly to Bozeman, and we ended up getting to the airport a little bit too late, and the lady at the front gate wouldn't let us go in and whatever, and we're looking we're like, like we're supposed to go trip to the mountains, whatever.

This is probably the first time that I think the first time he and I would have ever been out there together, and we're kind of Okay, we're looking at the itinerary, and we're Well, we're going to land, you know, 5:00 It's like that's like a 17-hour drive, and we're like, “You know what? That's only like 3 hours longer if we just get in the truck and leave right now.” So, we didn't tell anyone.

They found out soon enough, and we just like, “Well, okay, we'll just get in the truck.” We had our riding gear, and drove from Winnipeg to Bozeman and then south from there or whatever, but like that was pretty cool just cuz you get that road time, and like, you get to catch up and whatever, and just being Yeah, there's too many to list of other experiences and some stuff you probably never want me to say about like fun at trade shows or just anytime you're out riding and doing stuff, and like Milt's all about the experience, and we just when it's time to be serious, yeah, we're all serious, but like he knows how to have fun yeah, just as good as anyone else or better, but like anyway, missing a flight, still driving out to do the ride anyway.

Love it.

And I think from my end, my good buddy is one of our lead moto designers from even back when I was in my Polaris days, and he texted me one day when he was up in our neck of the woods and was like, “Hey, I brought the Supermoto. Let's come out and ride.” And he gave me this random address, and was like, “Meet me here.” Turns out it was Milt's house. Didn't know nothing about it. And I knew of Milt, but we hadn't been kicking it at that point, right? We ride the same tracks and whatever, but I didn't I didn't know much of it. And I didn't bring the nicest street bike in the world.

She was a mean one, and I cuz I thought we were going out to wheelie and do burnouts and dumb stuff. And so we pull out of Milt's area, and we go back on this fall ride, and I kind of look at Dan, and I'm like, “So, are we good, or are we not?” So, throw a wheel in the air, go past Milt. Before I get by him, his is up, and we just run in wheelies down the middle of the highway. And it the funniest part about all of it is I run a rolling burnout, Milt passes me as I'm doing it with a thumbs up, like just happy as can be. And so it's kind of funny cuz that's how it all started.

That was your interview right there.

Literally. Yeah, I had a 6-year interview. But no, it's funny cuz that's how it all started, and we still do the fall rip every year because we joke about how funny that was. And so, like I said, he's just a passionate dude who we all vibe on the same sense with, and the office check is real. He's still doing it.

Awesome. That's great. Well, Duncan, do you have a memory? Or not a memory, but a favorite a moment, right?

I do actually. We were up in Revelstoke shooting the next year's gear at a team photo shoot. And Matt and Milt had come out, which was I thought was really cool. It's like, “Oh, the owners coming out for this, that's awesome. The directors knows they're going to be there.” And I'd talked with Matt a whole lot more than I'd talked with Milt at that point. And I forget how many years ago this was, like at least five-ish or so. And I've been with them for 10 years now. And Brock Hoyer, our other lead snow ambassador athlete, who's just a boss on a bike, talked about him with the Yeti guys earlier. He takes these guys, they're all on bikes.

He got bikes for them to ride. We're off shooting sled and doing and working, and he's like, “Matt, Milt, psst come with me. We'll go for like a half hour little ride.” 4 hours later or so, we get word on the radio. They're like, “Yeah, we're good. We made it up and around.” And they Brock took them on a rowdy tree, steep, at like back door entrance up to some terrain up there in Revy, and it was the coolest thing to see was Matt and Milt come out of it just whooped.

And I was like, “They just went on like what a full day of riding really is.” And they're just like out They're like high-fiving and can barely hold their hands up and just destroy. I was like, “Yes, this is so epic.” And they were pumped. And we still talk We just talked about it yesterday a little bit, and it was just really cool to see them do that. And it I think that was the moment I'm like, “These guys are they're real riders, right?” Like, yeah, I know they ride dirt bikes, but we had never really ridden much together. And I was like, “This that's cool.” Yeah.

Like you can come and serve them up like that, and they're they'll swing for the fences and hang with you. And I like I thought that was a really cool moment, so. Yeah.

Second that. Definitely.

Yeah, right. That was your second favorite most memorable moment with

Maybe second. Yeah, right. Like yeah, going I think it was like going up the backside of Boulder up into I don't know even know where he took us, but like there was times when we would literally be sitting there and he's like, “I'm going to go make a trail up into this place you can follow.” And he would disappear for like 10 minutes at a time, and all you heard is a poor snowbike just sitting on the rev limiter like gear full. And he's just going up and down, and he's like, “Okay, we're good. You're going to have to go here.

You have to hold it wide open here, and then I think we'll be all right.” And we're just like, “What did we get into, right?” But like sure enough it worked out. And I mean on snowbikes like you just whatever you can sidehill and get up stuff like so much easier. And we just whatever we did Yeah, it took how many hours, and we finally got somewhere where we seen a snowmobile track, and we're like, “Oh, at least we're somewhere where like someone has been, right?” And just keep going. But going on those adventures, right? That's the best part.

That's great. Well, guys, I appreciate you coming on here. It's always nice to get to know more about brands, right? Like, we're right next to one of your competitors in Southeast Idaho. So it's kind of like all we see right there, but like on social media that broadens more, and you see more of, you know, the different brands out there. And so yeah, it was a great conversation. We've done some stuff in the past with the FXR and Sledder Box, and hopefully we can do, you know, do some more cool stuff in the future with you guys, and excited to see what you guys got cranking on, what you got coming out. Good stuff. Good stuff.

All right. Thanks, everybody. We'll see you on the next episode. See you later.