Im planning a bit of an expedition over to NZ in teh New Year, with a bout 6 weeks to see North and South Islands, Id love to hear from anyone who has done any MTB’ing over there, where are the best places bike hire and guiding deals, etc etc.
I ride pretty much anything, DH, XC, so all tip offs appreciated!

I was there last December and here’s what I wrote in reply to a similar question soon after I got back. (Since I wrote it things are even better in Queenstown as the gondola now takes bikes up which it didn’t when I was there.)

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We did half a day in Rotorua (Whakarewarewa Forest). Great trails (venue of 2010 Single Speed World Champs). We hired bikes from Planet Bike who are located in the forest car park. If I was doing it again I’d check out hire options in town as well as it’s only a 15 min ride to the forest and the bikes from Planet Bikes were a touch on the clunky side (GT hardtails).

We also spent two days cycling the Queen Charlotte track. Arranged through these people; http://www.marlboroughsounds.co.nz/biking.php
Highly recommended. Worth upgrading to the full-suss. option for not a great deal more. (Bikes were 2008/2009 Spec. FSR xc’s and Myka FSR’s – Hardtails were Scott Scale 80’s and Rockhoppers).

Finally I did a bit of biking with Vertigo bikes in Queenstown. Hire bikes in Queenstown are in a different league to anywhere else I saw, eg. at Vertigo you get 2011 Giant Reign’s (Fox forks, 10 spd SLX etc.), they also hire out Anthems, Trances and Glorys (as well as hardtails). One afternoon I hired a bike and rode out to the the 7 mile bike park (about 40 min road ride to get there). The other day I did their heli-biking trip which I would highly recommend

That’s pretty brief but let me know if you want more details on anything.
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I did a bit of riding in Queenstown back in April. Just turned up, hired a Spesh Demo in town and booked a godola pass. Job done.
The bike was in great condition, they chucked a full face lid in with it and the gondola system and trails were fantastic.

I was back there for a while in March- spent a fortnight in Queenstown and spent most of that riding on the gondola (I was on holiday, didn’t feel like riding uphill really). I felt under biked (next to everyone else) on a 140 trail bike- it’s full face and dh or am bikes mostly, though the marked trails don’t really need it. 7 mile park mentioned above is a different proposition altogether, real bike park stuff, but it’s 7 miles out of town, and you have to ride up to go down. There’s a few classic xc routes as well. There was a rumour that the Coronet Peak (ski field) lifts will be opening up again for bikes this upcoming summer.

Christchurch has a neat set of trails on the Port Hills, but I arrived just after an earthquake, so they were off limits.

The Heaphy track would be on my must do’s- I rode/walked it about 20 years ago, then sometime in the 90’s they banned mtb’s, but are letting them on again now. I’d guess they must have upgraded the trail to make it rideable, seem to remember walking a lot, else there’d be too much erosion- it’s a fantastic mix of coast, bush and low alpine scenery.

Molesworth road is a picturesque multi day bike packing trip from Blenheim to Hanmer Springs, NE of Christchurch through an old high country sheep station, along gravel roads. Nothing demanding at all, but it has a real out there feel.

Hey there. I’m a pom currently living in EnZed. The biking here is outstanding, you’ll love it! sorry if i repeat some of the suggestions…and sorry if this turns into a bit of a long reply!

Not ridden the north island yet (although heading to Rotorua in october). The Forest where all the trails are in Rotorua is called Whakarewarewa (pronounced faka-rewa-rewa… anything with wh in Maori is pronounced f)
The trail system here is well established and is well known to have some of the best man-made trails in the north island (perhaps nz) from what i have heard they are much like trail centres in the uk… very smooth and predictable. should keep you busy for 3/4 days. As well as trail riding there are also about 4 dh tracks which have uplift…

http://www.southstaradventures.com/shuttles_rotorua.html

There is also a huge amount of xc and trail riding in wellington… yep literally IN the city limits… not ridden there but heard its good… but ask in a shop… i see to remember the guys at pennyfarthingcycles on courtenay place are pretty keen and friendly.

ok… so im sure there is lots more good riding up north but down south there is some awesome riding… just not where i live! (Timaru)

christchurch: lots of trail riding and dh of good quality in the port hills although it has been partially affected by the earthquake, victoria park is open (mainly dh tracks) not sure about uplift at the moment or bike hire.

Craigieburn (canterbury): Some of the best trail riding i have ever done! 7/8km ride up forest road then the same again down narrow exposed flowy single track then down into rooty windy single track in ancient beech forest (its like riding on a trail of drifty cornflakes!

Dunedin: xc riding in the hills around it and dh tracks on signal hill

Alexandra: lots of trail riding but you really need to be with someone who knows the area to get the best from it… also dh at clyde dam (uplift speak to Jono from queenstown bike taxis)

Queenstown: everything you could possibly want… excellent hire services from xc hardtail to full dh from a number of shops vertigo (are excellent) and Outside sports are both good options.

go watch ‘follow me’… the scene with gee atherton shows 4 local dh/trail rides which are all great and all have uplift/guiding provided by vertigo and queenstown bike taxis… vertigo also do helibiking.

in addition there is gondola access from the town centre to queenstown bike park… dh/trail riding and something for everyone.

in addition to that addition there is the wynyard bike park, gorge road dirt jumps and 7 mile… there is also some other xc.

personally having ridden the molesworth station ‘track’ on a motorbike, i wouldnt do it on a pushbike. it IS stunning and out there but is basically an 80km gravel road and gets bloody hot in the summer (also only open certain months of the year.

Heaphy track is on my list of ‘to do’s ‘ too but unfortunately it wont be open when you arrive as it is only open to bikes during the winter months to avoid conflicts with walkers, and since it is just in a trial period bikers are being asked to be sensitive.

there is loads more (wanaka, dirtpark, coronet peak, west coast-creseous track)

personally if i were you i would bring a trail bike over, rather than hiring. if you plan on doing lots of riding it is likely to work out a lot cheaper and means you arent restricted to areas that hire because there is lots of riding all over nz. a trail bike is big enough for most situations in nz… although personally i run a trail bike and and dh bike.

hope this was of some help? i spend quite a lot of time around queenstown and would be happy to show you around for a day or so, although im back in the uk in december. my email is sonik26@hotmail.com if you want to get in touch

http://www.vorb.co.nz
http://www.riderotorua.co.nz

thanks for all the tip offs guys, loads to go at! cant wait!

I am in Whakatane, bay of plenty, let me know if I can help.

Northernreetard at hotmail dot com

I was in NZ for a little over two weeks last Nov. Was with NCP so was not sure how much biking I would be able to get in but took shoes and kit. Very glad I did had two of my best ever days on a bike.

On North Island did ride to Bridge to Nowhere

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_to_Nowhere,_New_Zealand

Hired a bike and got advice from

http://www.stationlodge.co.nz/exp_bike_packages.html

Full suss not required for this ride as not deadly technical but still fun. Rode in and out in a day as was feeling superfit at the time. Amazingly different experience to English riding. The trail gets narrower and exposed with a big drop to one side about 25km from the start. There are warning signs saying to dismount and walk on some sections, trail is still about 3 feet wide. I rolled my eyes and cruised past, and then I remembered I was at least 10 km from the nearest person, 25km from the car, 55km from the nearest paved road and 85km from the nearest doctor. Around the next corner I relaxed, there was now a vertical drop to the side and the issue was more would my body ever be found!

About half way up the 2nd 400m climb of the day after 65km of riding I really started to wonder how fit I was. There are distance markers regularly on the climbs, much more like climbing an Alp than normal UK mtb climbing. The view from Mangapurua Trig is something to behold huge vista of rolling forested hills well worth the short hike up from the trail. Ride in JetBoat out would be the ultimate if money is no object.

A week later on the South Island at Takaka I hired a bike and was given a hand drawn map by these guys

http://escapeadventures.co.nz/new-zealand-trips/golden-bay-biking-services

They were really good, they can guide you for weeks worth of trails (book well ahead) or just hire out bikes and give advice. One day was just enough to get get a feel for the area. My ride was from East of Takaka up Rameka creek onto the Canaan loop on Mt Evans. My first ever 1000 m two hour mtb climb 😀 First hour was on Jeep trail then second hour less steep in semi tropical forest on sometimes hard to follow trail. On the way up I could see hand cut trails and even some wooden trail features off to the side to look forward to on the way down.
I took a couple of (interesting) wrong turns which meant when I finally made it onto the loop trail which goes along the high ground I sadly had to make the call and cut the ride short. I did ride a few km of the (17km?)loop, nice back country riding, full sus trail bike best steed.
Ride back down was a real treat, fast and thrilling through the forest then superfast on the open track. The long sections made by the local trail fairies were brilliant, made a real difference that they had altitude to play with. This was mountain biking with REAL MOUNTAINS in it. As I got closer to sea level the play sections in the dry(ish) stream bed nearly got the better of me, small but awkward drop nearly had me over the bars. Wanted to go back and ride the last section better but my legs had no uphill left in them.
Anyone with an ounce of sense would probably find a way to start from the trailhead at 800m having gotten a lift up on the highway and finish down in town.It was a bit hard to return the bike when I got back, dudes had gone riding 8)
Would love to go back there with some mates for a week. Have fun on your trip.

I’m in Wellington, if you want to hook up when you’re here just gimme a shout. There’s loads of XC riding and plenty of DH’s that are easy to shuttle too.

Some places to start for Welly stuff:
http://www.makarapeak.org
http://www.wtp.org.nz/

And I’m surprised no one has mentioned tracks.org.nz yet, it has pretty much every MTB trail listed 🙂

If possible, fly Air New Zealand – they make it pretty easy to take a bike. Then bring a bike with you. You can take bikes on the long distance coaches around New Zealand. Even on airlines that charge a bit for a bike, it is going to be worth it against hiring a bike.

Get the Kennet Bros mountain bike book:
http://www.kennett.co.nz/index.php/Books/ClassicNewZealandMountainBikeRides

It has a large percentage of the legal riding in it, and is a brilliant book to use if you’re on holiday.

There are some great trails that you can hire bikes for, but it is jolly expensive, and to be honest, the most exciting stuff I rode in New Zealand was not at the big tourist places, it was stuff away from anywhere much.

Joe

Craigieburn (canterbury): Some of the best trail riding i have ever done! 7/8km ride up forest road then the same again down narrow exposed flowy single track then down into rooty windy single track in ancient beech forest (its like riding on a trail of drifty cornflakes!

Me too – we did it twice, once in the first snow, it was an amazing ride then too (in June).

I was in Queenstown recently, and found queenstown bike taxis had a lot of local knowledge.

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a little update… no official uplift running in christchurch anymore 🙁