I'm heading out to New Zealand for a year in June.

Flying into Auckland at the end of June. No plans as yet, but fairly soon after I arrive I'm going to get a car/van to get about in but I'll also be buying a bike as I intend on spending a lot of my spare time on my bike 🙂

I think I'll either go for an ex-hire bike from one of the trail centres or, if I can find somewhere, look out for a decent second hand bike online (trademe/gumtree etc)

Anyone on here been to NZ and know of anywhere I should look out for 2nd hand bikes?

Also, if you know of trail centres in New Zealand then I'll give them a try too as I suppose I could pick up something ok there.

I've also tried looking for active mountain biking forums for NZ – don't seem to have much joy – anyone know of any?

http://www.vorb.org.nz/

should see you right

that site seems pretty comprehensive! good stuff – cheers 🙂

I cycled at a centre near Taupo with an uphill called the Grinder and a downhill called the Coaster. Excellent. We found 1 puddle and the locals were claiming that this was quite muddy!

Yeah, vorb or trademe for 2nd hand bikes. Also there are cash converters shops, which at least in Christchurch had some nice bikes, although like here, there is a chance that any 2nd hand bikes at cash converters are nicked.

There were loads of decent 2nd hand bikes in Christchurch, I imagine the same is true of other bigger towns like Wellington & Auckland.

Joe

Im heading to auckland June as well, only for 6 weeks though. I was planning on hiring a bike a couple of days at the trail centre just north of auckland.

Roturua was quite good, I seem to remember that a lot of shops stocked second hand bike. You could ship a bike out in advane fairly cheaply too I would imagine.

Best place to buy s/h stuff inc vans/cars etc is TradeMe (its the NZ equiv of eBay. You'll find everything you need on there.
Vorb for forum type information.
Trail centres – Craters of the Moon in Taupo, Woodhill outside Akl, Whangarei has a small one, Rotorua obviously, Wellington has Makara peak and oodles of singletrack.
Best advice is buy the Kennett brothers book, the new edition, and use that as a guide. Also don't be afraid to whip into any of the farms/stations and ask if you can ride in there (once you've found something of interest on a map of course). More ofthen than not they will be happy to let you ride wherever you wish.
Have fun

+1 for Makara Peak and some great techy singletrack nearby in Wellington. Some bike stuff is more expensive here so if you're flying straight(ish) to NZ and can add your bike to your luggage for a few quid extra that might work out well.

SSWC is in Rotorua in October in Whakarewarewa forest trail centre if you're into SS.

There are some epic wilderness rides to do too. Have a look at tracks.org.nz which covers trail centres and other routes.

kona kula primo 2006 in medium of interest to you? I am in Whakatane so can deliver/meet you in Rotorua. email in profile if interested