Late last year, Mike Brennan announced that he was leaving longtime sponsor Animal Bikes to start his own venture, Merritt BMX. He assembled a small but well rounded team, got to work with designer Sean Curran on product and recently brought the team to Austin, Texas to film their first online offering. That video dropped last week, and we decided to catch up with Brennan on the latest happenings behind the new brand. Two team rider signature handlebars are on the way, and they're about to move into a new warehouse in Clifton, N.J. Here's more from Brennan.

XGames.com: Can you give us an update on Merritt's progress since the brand started?
Brennan: Things have been going really good.We got some of our softgoods a few weeks back. Our first hard goods (the Brian Foster and Brad Simms signature handlebars) are a couple weeks away. We started production on a few other products too. 

Where is the warehouse located and is the plan for you to work out of there full-time?
The warehouse is in Clifton, N.J. on the border of Passaic. We are finishing up building the offices and shipping area. Once we finish that, we can be there every day. 

Are the two types of handlebars being made in the U.S.?
The bars, we will be doing overseas. With some products, it just didn't make sense to manufacture in the U.S. We would like to keep a good portion of production in the U.S. though.

What other products do you have in the works?
Our sprocket is in production now. That is getting made in the U.S. We are still testing our stems and pegs. We also have two signature grips in the works for Charlie Crumlish and Pete Sawyer. We have a few other items on the way too.

Hate to be that guy, but I've gotta ask: With so many parts brands already in BMX, what do you think sets Merritt apart from other brands?
There's a lot of parts brands out there but I don't think too many of them have it right. We have a lot of new ideas we want to get out there and we have a great crew of guys behind them. We're taking advice from the guys and trying to make products better. 

The new Merritt BMX website features product rundowns, team videos and more.