MIKE ARDELEAN Q&A.

Mike has agreed to do a Q&A on the site. I don't even know how to introduce the dude, the fact that he went from "that dude in Nowhere Fast" to the guy who now runs MOSH and Giant's entire BMX line is a start though. Enjoy.

mike ardelean, what do i recieve for joining the lavar haters club?

When is mosh going to be available in the uk? ever?

What made you decide to leave Volume? Two years ago, I was trying to cop enough money to get one of your Volume frames, and then they stopped selling them. I was really bummed.

when and where will giant frames be avalible and how much do they weigh?

why did u start ridin pegless...i liked seein footage of you with 4 pegs you always killed it and still do i just liked the 4 peg mike better no homo.

Hey Mike, i got a couple good questions.

I've always been a fan of the mosh line up, and have had a few mosh parts through the years.

Mosh seems to be keeping a low profile right now, and even though you guys never dropped off the map after the bikes stopped happening how come the parts line up was kept undercover ?

Like you guys had the wood grain and that was a pretty big innovation, i just think you guys didn't get enough credit.

so now how come mosh is only doing parts but giant will be doing the frames forks etc ? what was the decision behind that ? or will we start to see mosh frames ? ( which in my opinion would be preferable to the giant branded one )

and what can we epect to see in the future ? the deep brown anodizng is great are there any other interesting colors planned ?

Have you ever lived somewhere with real winters? The new England life is tough.

^ michigan mike yo....

Doesnt have much to do with you being pro, but Ive heard you are a BMW guy. Whats the current whip?

what was your original intro going to be for the salvation video?

in that red bull contest there is a guy on a green bike with chromish handlebars
it looked a lot like you
was it you?
if it was it was some incredible riding so good job
and if it wasent somebody looks a lot like you
and i found an old poster of you hopping over a passat
it made me happy

Hey what’s up everyone. Here are some answers:

Manx_Rob: MOSH can be distributed in the UK via Giant UK, so if they get enough requests, they might bring in MOSH. Ask your local shop and it could happen.

Chupanibre: The Volume split was a long time in the making. The simple version is that Brian and I couldn’t possibly be more different when it comes to our views and the way we think things should work, so I decided to stop forcing it. I’m glad you liked the frame though, thanks!

JRoss: Giant frames are coming later. For now, it’s just completes, and they’re sold at Giant dealers. Find one here: http://giantbicycle.com/en-US/dealers/

MomentumBMX: I took my pegs off because I wanted to just ride a few sessions and see what it was like. I did that and got addicted, so they stayed off. I also got addicted to not having cops and skaters pissed at me. It’s sort of like having a free pass to skateparks and spots, because you don’t have 4 steel prongs sticking out of your bike. But if I got the urge, I’d put them back on in a second.

TheLegendHimself: Thanks for the compliments. The truth is that MOSH coasted for a while without any new parts, because there was no one here to develop them. After I took the job, we got it going. Just yesterday we posted up some of the new line on www.moshparts.com .

The decision was made years ago to turn MOSH into a parts brand, so all of us on the team got other frame sponsors but stayed on the parts. Since then the frame/bike program has been all Giant, and it’s going really well.

For colors, we're doing copper brown, black and dark woodgrain (named Rich Mahogany after Ron Burgundy’s apartment).

CP_Manat: Yeah, I grew up in Michigan for 20 years, so I know what’s up with winters.

SasquatchStatus: Yes I’m in love with BMWs, especially older ones. Right now I have a pair of 1980's 528e cars. One is sorta dialed; the other is stock and it’s for sale.

Soup, I’m not sure what my original intro was going to be for the Salvation video… was I going to have an intro? Laynehip, no that wasn’t me. Glad you like the poster! My mom still has it on the wall at home.
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Here's an interesting one. I'm from LA (below the airport) and in my town nobody rides except some motorcycle bros who just like doing big burners and tabletops on jumps. Also, my town is very enclosed and I very rarely go out to meet people. Will you ride with me?

N/H

I baught that Mosh Lux Four Star complete thing years ago.

Almost everything on that bike was nice, chunky and unbendable.
I just really want to know why you would make such a nugget bike and then neglect something like all the threads and bolts?
If it weren't for all the threads stripping off everything and the allen bolts rounding out then I would probably be a bit more of a Mosh supported now.

I remember I had to angle grind my cranks out just last year because I had rounded out the right and side pinchbolt and the left hand side compression bolt.
Hahah
Well I spose my question is.
Can I trust Mosh bikes now?
Have things like that been fixed and if I buy a mosh stem will I strip it to pieces and get really pissed off?

If you stopped getting paid for bmx shit, what type of job would you look for? I always think about how fuckin good it would be to be paid for somehting having to do with bmx, sales, riding or whatever the fuck...but then i go to my job everyday and only have time to ride like once a week..

I remember the beginning of your Salvation part their was that voice mail that you left Rich concerning your intro for the video, something about you wanting to do something with a Camaro for your intro. Hope you understand what I mean.

Here is another question concerning your Salvation video part, I noticed there was a lot of Woodward footage. Do you still go to Woodward? What is the craziest trick you have thrown down in the foam and resi?


(the Salvation video was a huge influence on my riding when it came out, Kevin Porter got me obsessed with crankflips)

Sure, come up to the Santa Monica skatepark tonight (Thursday) and say what's up. You're really close to Hawthorne skatepark too; there's usually a session going on there in the evenings with a few BMXers.

I was just a rider back then and had nothing to do with the bikes, but I can tell you that for a $450 top-of-the-line complete bike, I was pretty psyched on the Brass. Maybe the less expensive nuts and bolts are what kept the cost down. MOSH no longer makes bikes. These days, the high-end Giant bikes have MOSH parts, so no, to answer your question, we haven't had any bolt stripping problems. In the event that you do have any sort of problem, the warranty department here will take good care of you.

I have a friend that gets paid to take care of a famous movie director's white tigers and other exotic pets. I would probably look for a job like that. Or, I'd try to work more with apparel.

What are your thoughts on the creative direction that BMX has taken on in the last few years? Do you feel as though Defgrip,Lavar, lotek or brands like subrosa have changed the way that BMX is put out there? Not to take anything away from the products but all the previous mentioned companies have a very creative outlook on design , visual appeal and marketing.

Oh yeah, that intro. I think we were on time constraint so we just talked about an intro rather than doing one.

I haven't been to Woodward in ages. Even back in the day, I didn't get too crazy on the resi. The occasional Big Mac (truckdriver to barspin, named by Troy McMurray) was about as crazy as I got.

So glad you liked the Salvation video. We had fun shooting for that.

Well first of all I'll tell you that I don't claim to be a designer, but yes, BMX looks/feels cool and that's why people like it, whether they admit it or not. Seeing cool ads and awesome looking bikes is what got me into BMX. So yes, visual appeal is where it starts, because it gets people interested, so I like to focus on visual appeal when I'm working with the brands I work with. Giving more attention to visual appeal is helping BMX evolve and, in a way, get back to where it started. It was cool to be at Interbike this year and see all the companies taking some pride in the way they're presented.

I just posted this in the BMX part of the forum, Lavar Fall/Winter 07 Clothing, but i was wandering when these items would be up for sale?

It's in production right now, so just a few weeks. Thanks!

any chance for a lotek x lavar collaboration in the not too distant future? i think that would be hott!

visual appeal is soo important nowadays. especially when half the kids at the park have every tailwhip variation.
come ride zero gravity soon mike. and when you do, hit me up on myspace.

DJ3

MOSH DJ3 frame. my first frame. it was badass. you ever ride one of those?

no shit? i dont drive yet so ill try to get a ride. does anybody know whats up with this skatepark, i hear there's a fee and full padding required. i cant really ride like that. ill try to be there still...

mike,
your part in 'nowhere fast' was classical. check it:

-who do you think is the most underrated rider out now?

- you seem to have good taste in music, what have you been listening to lately?



i'll think of more questions later.

ps. thanks for bringing the woodgrain back (if you had a say in that).