Karl-Johan Engdahl is the sales and brand manager for the USWE mobile drink system and we wanted to sit down with the former Swedish Motocross rider and ask him what the possibilities of his product are.

MXlarge: Karl-Johan, can you give me a quick rundown on who you are and your history in the sport?

Engdahl: I am 33 years old married with three kids I am from Malmo in Sweden. I am a former Motocross rider, I was not professional, but I was riding a lot throughout Europe and I wanted to get involved in the sport on the business side. I started doing some marketing and sales and then in 2006 I started with this idea just for fun and then I saw the potential and I need to give it a couple of years to grow, but the feedback I get from the athletes we are sponsoring is very motivational to go forward.

MXlarge: Where is the direction you want to go with the USWE system?

Engdahl: The first point is for us with Enduro riders and Motocross riders. Next year we want to spread out a little to Mountain biking, cycling, running and cross country skiing.

MXlarge: How has the response been for the system?

Engdahl: During the short time, especially when it was really warm we had a lot of interest and success, a lot of riders were interested and sure in the winter it's slower, but when the sun comes out we have more interest and we give a lot of information. What we sold in the last six months of 2009 we already equaled that amount in January and February of this year. We want to keep on developing. We work with several dealers throughout Europe and we are also looking at Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and we will work directly with dealers. Also for when we go to the states we will do the same.

MXlarge: Obviously in the summer and countries in the Southern Hemisphere riders would love this product?

Engdahl: We come from Scandinavia, where it's only warm for maybe one of two months, but countries like the ones I have mentioned it's really warm and obviously a big market. We are looking for riders who want a drink system that fits well and works well, and for sure it needs to be differently promoted to the backpack drink systems, because it's a totally different drink system to the backpacks.  It fits so close to the body, but also the way it fits to the helmet, so they can ride hands free.

MXlarge: Shaun mentioned yesterday that the system isn’t just about getting enough fluid.

Engdahl: Some feedback we also get from the riders is when they are riding and they get dirt or dust in their mouth they can take a small drink and spit it out and free their airwaves. It is also important to have this physical and mental advantage through feeling fresher.

MXlarge: Which riders have used to system so far?

In Motocross we have Max Nagl, Clement Desalle, Shaun Simpson, Ken De Dycker, so four riders from Grand Prix, in America Eli Tomac, Ben Townley, Mike Alessi have used the system. In Enduro we have David Knight, Sebastien Guillaume, Kurt Caselli, Alex Gruene and the whole Huseberg factory team.

www.uswe-sports.com