By Jamie Garrod, founder of New Zealand Mountain Biking
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I don’t usually write about us. I’d rather be out in the forest watching someone finally trust their bike on a steep section they backed off last week. But I get asked a version of the same question often enough, by visitors planning a trip, by locals weighing up a lesson, by people who’ve ridden with half a dozen operators around the world, that it’s worth answering properly.
The question is some flavour of: why you?
So here’s my honest take on what New Zealand Mountain Biking actually is, where it came from, and why people end up choosing us over the other options and then coming back.
The guided shuttle service made everything effortless. It was great to have maximum time on the trails without having to worry about logistics, and our driver Peter had some great stories about the history of the trail network.
I can’t recommend this experience highly enough, and hope I’m able to make another trip here sometime in the future!
Will definitely be returning for another session.
Highly recommended for any MTBiker regardless of skill or experience level.
I'll be back in a few months' time when these skills have sunk in, for another lesson.
Jamie seemed to know all the trails like the back of his hand – he was able to give us a run- down of all the upcoming trails, a heads up on all the terrain features, and was able to adapt trails as we went. He also gave us both riding and travel recommendations for the rest of our NZ trip. Sure, you could have had a “similar” experience guiding yourself with Trail Forks, but the comfort of having a very experienced guide in an unfamiliar area allowed us to get a ton of extremely fun riding in without much brain power. Having Jamie as a guide was absolutely invaluable, and I would highly recommend booking with New Zealand Mountain Biking if you want to get the ultimate NZ mountain biking experience.
Twenty years of figuring out how people learn
I didn’t start in mountain biking. I’ve spent over two decades working in the outdoors, and the bike came relatively late.
Before this I was a whitewater kayaker. I led sea kayak expeditions in Antarctica and guiding rafting trips in Colorado, and I spent years learning how to take people into genuinely committing environments and bring them out the other side better than they went in. About ten years ago, mountain biking took over completely, but that earlier background never left me. It shapes how I think about bikes and riders to this day.
Here’s the thing that whitewater teaches you that carries straight across: the river doesn’t care about your enthusiasm. It cares about your fundamentals. The people who progress aren’t the ones with the most send, they’re the ones with the best fundamentals, who read the water early and put themselves in the right place before they need to. Mountain biking is exactly the same. Vision, body position, braking. Get those right and everything else follows faster than you’d believe.
That’s the lens I bring to every session. I’m not teaching tricks. I’m teaching people to read the trail and trust the bike.
What we actually built
New Zealand Mountain Biking has been going since 2017. We’re based in Rotorua, riding out of the Whakarewarewa Forest — which, on its day, is some of the best riding on the planet, and I don’t say that lightly.
Over the years NZMTB’s grown into one of the country’s more respected coaching and guiding operations, but I want to be clear about what sits at the centre of it, because it’s the whole point.
The riding and the coaching are the product. They’re not a warm-up for selling you something else. Most of my work is one-on-one, proper, tailored sessions where a coach will watch you ride, work out what’s actually holding you back, and fix it. We back that up with video analysis between lessons, so you keep improving in the gaps when we’re not on the trail together. I work with everyone from complete beginners who’ve never trusted a front brake, through to talented young racers chasing PBs.
And around that coaching core, we’ve built out a full range. One-on-one skills sessions. You can add others to your group or bring family to your coaching session. Shuttle-assisted or eMTB coaching for maximum descending. Remote coaching programs that work around your life wherever you ride using video and data from things like the OnForm coaching app and BrakeAce sensors. And at the top end, multi-day backcountry tours that escape the bike parks entirely. We run fully guided and supported tours, with the logistics, food and accommodation handled, so you show up and focus on riding. International visitors come specifically for those.
Why people choose us over the alternatives
I’ll be straight, because I’d want someone to be straight with me. There are good operators out there, and plenty of ways to have a fun day on a bike in Rotorua. So here’s where I think we’re genuinely different, rather than just louder.
You actually get better. This is the one that matters. Plenty of outfits will take you for a great ride. We change how you ride. Progression is built into everything we do; it’s not just an add-on, it’s the reason we exist. Have a read of our reviews sometime; the word that comes up again and again isn’t “fun” (though it is), it’s “transformation.” People talk about breakthrough moments. About features that terrified them last week, they suddenly felt it was easy and in control. One rider told me she went from a scared, reluctant rider trying to keep up with her kids to loving Grade 4 trails and eyeing up the next challenge. That’s the job. That’s what we’re actually selling.
There’s real depth behind it. This isn’t a side hustle or a summer gig. It’s professional coaching systems, real trail knowledge, and nearly a decade embedded in the Rotorua scene. When I put you on a particular trail to work on a particular skill, that’s a deliberate choice informed by years of doing exactly this. The same goes for my team; they are qualified, certified, and genuinely invested in your riding.
We have an answer for almost any rider. Complete beginner or seasoned local. On your own or with the family. Here for an afternoon or a week. Building your first skills or chasing race results. Whatever stage you’re at, there’s a path through here, and that breadth, all under one roof and built around the same coaching philosophy, is something the other options in this market just don’t offer.
Why I still do it
Seeing the moment something clicks for a rider never gets old. Watching someone clear a feature that scared them the week before, or finally trust their bike on steep terrain, that confidence carries well beyond the trail. It follows them home. It changes how they ride for years.
That’s the whole reason New Zealand Mountain Biking exists, and it’s why I’d back us against any of the alternatives — not because we shout the loudest, but because of how you’ll ride when you leave.
If you’re weighing up your options, my honest advice is the same thing I tell new riders all the time: don’t put it off, and don’t ingrain bad habits hoping you’ll fix them later. Come ride with us. Whatever you’re riding, wherever you’re at, we’ll meet you there and point you up the next step.
I’ll see you in the forest.
— Jamie
At New Zealand Mountain Biking, we run epic mountain biking tours across the scenic North Island, New Zealand. We also help riders build confidence and skills in our MTB and eMTB private lessons on the legendary Rotorua trails. If you race or you want to get into some racing and you want to improve those skills, get in touch for some lessons!
You can learn more about our trips here to book your ride today to ride the best trails in New Zealand.
Check out our YouTube channel to see us ride as I chase people down all of the trails in Rotorua and NZ!
