TRXSTLE
Oftentimes, the greatest success stories come from individuals who saw a void in an industry and sought to fill it. That’s exactly what co-founders John Smigaj and Morgan Misek did when they decided to build TRXSTLE and began designing the products they wished they had. This week, we hear from John to learn about TRXSTLE and what makes their products so thoughtfully crafted. Enjoy a few moments from our inspiring conversation!
When John and I began talking about TRXSTLE as a whole, he first helped me understand the root of their interesting name (pronounced trestle) and yes, it is like a bridge, but we’ll get to that.
“When I met Morgan, we were both working as mechanical design engineers at a research facility that worked in the electron microscopy field,” John said. “Fast forward a few years, Morgan and I found ourselves as the lead engineers designing locomotives for the likes of Cummins and even the Machu Picchu tourist rail line. The locomotive firm abruptly closed down on a Tuesday morning, doors chained shut, and we found ourselves without jobs with no warning. So, we decided to start our own engineering firm where we focused on contracts in the medical device industry and the occasional outdoor product in the mountain biking and fly fishing space. We quickly realized we only wanted to tackle the outdoor product engineering projects and thus TRXSTLE was born!"
John continued on, telling me that as he and Morgan began trying to come up with a name for their brand, TRXSTLE just made sense. “Oftentimes a train trestle is the best place for fishing steelhead and Morgan was familiar with it from his time mountain biking, so we chose the name and took off running from there.”
When most people hear the name TRXSTLE, they conjure up images of rod carriers on top of cars and the weekend warriors in search of high alpine trout. While this has become a large part of the company’s brand image, the initial intent of the company’s formation was a way to carry gear. As TRXSTLE continued to grow, mountain biking came in as a way to go beyond where the road ended. John explained to me, “We began with the rod carriers on top of our cars, but from there we began to get fascinated with gear carrying, and given Morgan's background in mountain biking, we continued to expand.” With Morgan’s history as a competitive downhill mountain biker and John’s fly fishing experience, a perfect representation of the founder’s individual interests became reflective through the brand’s products.
As John continued on about the development and success of their products, he explained “Our telescopic fly rod carrier or CRC is a convertible rod carry that has definitely been the most successful and well known product that we launched four years ago. We are currently on the latest 3.0 version of the product and excited to be releasing a new euro and switch rod carrier this year.”
“We are excited about the mountain bike offerings we have and the fact they are completely compatible with several e-bikes for hunting. We are also looking forward to several new apparel lines with collaborations from some of our new artists. All apparel is made in-house and allows us to make unique clothing that truly represents the character of our brand and the people in Helena, MT.”
With two engineering brains at the helm, and several new gravity-defying products soon to release, it’s incredible to hear about the innovations happening at TRXSTLE. “It’s definitely a world where innovation is key. With so many competitors, we benefit from a small staff allowing us to engineer high-end products that are creatively designed. We think like engineers and try to consider every way one of our manufactured goods could be used. We launched our rod carrier when there was only one other manufacturer in the market. This allowed us to launch DTC and get the product on the market as soon as possible. Today, we are in over 100 fly shops across the country, along with several large box outdoor retail stores.”
The engineering, decision behind each design, and the purposefulness with which TRXSTLE is developing products is remarkable - and they’re always looking ahead. “We will be launching an 11’6” euro nymphing rod carrier in 2023 and we’re excited to provide this to a new audience. They’ve been asking for it and we’ve worked diligently to make it happen. We’re also launching new clamping options to allow several different mounting platforms and a t-slot mounting option for the overlanding folks in Summer 2023. We’ll be launching a new blackout version, new molds, new aluminum, etc. This is set to be a very large year for us!”
As we shared Montana dry-fly fishing stories, John shared more about his home state and the impact the company is looking to make through their conservation efforts. “We have quite a few organizations we try to give back to locally,” John said. “We are supporting the Upper Missouri River Watershed Alliance (UMOWA), where I serve as an executive board member, Trout Unlimited, and other local organizations with boots on the ground. We try to donate time and effort to those organizations, volunteering through river clean ups, etc. Seeing the change is important, but being able to close the shop and put the time in is what you have to do. The trend of people joining and their increased interest in fly fishing has been incredible! From Instagram and other sources, since COVID, we’ve seen an amazing spike in these people. My perception is that retention of those hobbyists, or weekend warriors, is waning. Last year was a difficult year in the outdoor product space for everyone, so we’ve had to reimagine ways to be competitive, find new areas of growth, and I’m excited to have more in-person events this year! We also have an entire shop staff of professional fly fishing guides and outfitters and having them test your products allows great insight. Having a background in engineering also allows us to give insight into our own products. As we continue to grow, evolve, and build high-quality products for the outdoors industry, I’m excited to see where it will take us!”
As we continue to follow along with these manufacturers, be sure you’re following along with TRXSTLE this year as they announce new products, exciting ventures, and unique collaborations!
