Catching up with new brand on the scene, M20 Industries. Spearheaded by Trent Fitzgibbins who started JetBlack Product and propelled the company to domestic international success, Trent now focuses his attention on creating the most innovative products possible through M20 Industries. And they’re only just getting started! Read on to learn more.
Let’s begin with a bit of background info about the brand. What is your mission statement and what’s the goal for where M20 Industries will be positioned in say 10 years time?
The M2O team is addicted to riding and experiencing the great outdoors. And to be honest, as a brand we’re always looking for innovation and new challenges. We ask “What if we could…?” and go from there. Situated in Sydney, Australia, M2O strives to create and Innovate, setting the path for enthusiasts and professionals who share our passion for cycling and the great outdoors. As founder of M2O, My vision is to innovate and challenge, creating products that will place my latest venture far above the competition. ‘Where do we plan to be in 10 years time’, well that’s a great question, JT, but I would say to be one of the global leaders for extreme sports in compression wear that embraces more of a high end fashion brand with super cool designs packed full of features which is made out of the highest quality materials and its the best value for money. Also our goal is to teach people about the amazing benefits compression has in everyday life which I would say is one of the biggest kept secrets.
You guys really hit the ground running when you released your first product, the anti-chafing cream, and it pretty much became an instant industry best seller. A chamois cream might seem like a bit of an odd product but in actual fact it’s something that the vast majority of experienced riders use. Tell us a bit about what makes the M20 cream unique?
To realise our goal of coming up with the world’s leading anti-chafing solution, we enlisted the help of a scientist who is highly experienced in treating and curing skin conditions. We quickly learned that a single use product simply doesn’t provide a complete solution to chafing. There are many creams on the market that aim to prevent the issue, but they don’t address the discomfort or act to relieve the damage. With our expert on board, we were able to formulate a cream that is scientifically formulated, a high performance, triple action treatment which is concentrated for fast results. It works on multiple levels, alleviating and restoring in micro-layers. So basically it’s a 3 in 1 solution that ‘activates’ through all levels of sporting performance.
More recently you guys released your second product line, a range of unique bike specific socks, which again seemed to take the industry by storm. Tell us a bit about them?
Our passion for cycling drives us to create products that empower cyclists to get the most out of every ride. While every cyclist has different physics and biomechanics, we understand they are all looking for the same three things from their equipment and kit… Comfort, support and optimised energy flow. These elements are the key focus for the M2O Cycling socks. These socks use technology to improve circulation, reduce fatigue and boost overall performance. Manufactured with a unique energy maintenance system, M2O socks simultaneously support and stimulate the area from heel to calf. The firm hold across foot, ankle and lower leg means cyclists are able to leverage more power for increased endurance and speed. Our specific compression design encourages better blood flow, upgraded energy transfer and greater circulation. This allows the lower leg to achieve peak performance throughout warm up, training and extreme race conditions. As well as providing vital support throughout the arch of the foot, M2O Cycling and sports socks have in-built ventilation to reduce slipping and rubbing during heavy exercise.
We love seeing an Aussie brand competing on the World stage up against international brands and we’ve heard that you guys have already gained a lot of traction. How many countries are M20 Industries products available in right now?
Yes, we have had a great start and we are already shipping our products to: New Zealand, Spain, France, Portugal, Thailand, Dubai, China, Taiwan, USA and by this time next month it’s looking like we will have added another 10 countries easily with the current discussions we have going right now.
We noticed a lot of racers were wearing your socks up in Cairns at World Champs, and that was before they were even released! That’s pretty cool?
Yes, that’s correct we do a lot of product testing with world class riders to know that we know we have got it right before we release our ranges.
Clearly the brand is associated with a lot of the fastest riders in the sport. Have your sponsored athletes played a key role in developing new products?
Yes, we are working with the world cup team UR Polygon right now on some new exciting features to add into our socks that has not been done before. Also we had Jason English use our socks for the complete race this year when he won his 9th Australian MTB solo 24hour Championship which gave us some other insights to some new innovation we can create going forward from the feedback. We are very lucky as there are so many medical papers already written that supports the great benefits of Compression and when I founded M2O I sold a small amount of shares to a friend who is a doctor who has great knowledge is these areas. Plus on our advisory board we have a Vein specialist who is regarded as one of the top 5 specialist in Asia pacific.
If I’m totally frank with you here mate, chamois creams and socks don’t exactly seem like products with an obvious connection. What is the M20 Industries philosophy when it comes to developing products and deciding which product category to dive into next?
Yes, I know right! I still laugh as my last company that I just sold I designed super cool hard products that helped improve performance of athletes and also maximised the enjoyment on the bike on a different level. But it’s all about solving problems that exist in cycling and after spending many long, sore days in the saddle myself I began looking for a solution to put an end to the problem of chafing for good. Also the compression was to solve the sore legs during and after a ride and after talking with a friend who was a doctor in sports injuries and another one who was a vein specialist I could see that there was no company really focusing in on the benefits to improving your well-being in the MTB side only some companies in triathlon which just did not understand the MTB rider’s needs. But in everything we do it must have innovation, high functionality and made from the best materials available. Then the final piece is to have the best value products which is what I always strive for. To give you an example our ¾ socks retail for $25 which is the same as a ‘basic’ cycling sock would cost you. But when you compare our socks with the rest, they’re like night and day different in terms of the technology, the materials we use and of course the performance increase that our socks offer to wearer/rider. Why would you ever want to buy basic socks again!?
We were checking out the website the other day, wow you guys have a lot of really cool interactive content and product info up on there. When did the site go live?
The site went up just before Christmas and has been seeing some good traffic. We still have a lot of work to do on it so the best is yet to come. We have an ex Olympic coach who is going to start writing tips along with our couple of doctors who will be sharing insights as well early this year which will really help educate people who want to learn more about getting the best out of their performance and well being.
To wrap this up, any chance of a teaser about some of the ‘next generation’ gear that you’re working on which we should keep an eye out for down the track?
Yes we have a cool project going on with the UR Polygon Team on a DH sock which will be super cool and different in some tech. Watch this space!