New Zealand Mountain Biking FAQs: Essential Tips & Trip Advice

We like to keep things small and personal, so you can expect there to be around 6 people who will be riding with you on a trip, with a maximum of 12 and a minimum of 3.

We have our a comfortable van and custom-built lockable trailer for bikes and luggage.

Generally, you’ll find yourself riding for 3-4 hours per day. Some days are a little longer or shorter, and if you find yourself not keen to ride on one of the trip days that’s no problem! On our grade 4 “Hero Dirt” trip, some of the rides are longer than 4 hours.

You’ll find the climbs and descents for each ride in each trip itinerary page. Check out all our trips here.

There is generally a minimum of 450-1000m(1500-3000ft) on the biggest day of your trip.

It’s super simple to book a trip with us. You can book through each trip page with just a deposit/admin fee or feel free to email us. Alternatively, just pick up the phone and call us. Then all you have to do is let us take care of the rest. The only thing you’ll need to arrange is your flights, and we’ll help point you in the right direction for that too. All of our contact details are here.

You can change any currency on arrival at Auckland airport, and there are ATMs readily available in loads of places where we visit.

Wifi is available everywhere we stay on our trips, even on the Timber Trail. We get into some proper backcountry areas while we’re riding, so you can expect there to be no internet while we’re out riding.

Being a bunch of bike nerds, our guide team are pretty good at fixing a range of issues quite quickly, whether it’s on trail, or at the end of a day. We also carry a comprehensive tool kit while we’re out riding. For anything major, we’ve got a great thing going with some bike shops who can generally get things fixed quick smart.

We are a registered Adventure Activity Operator. All mountain bike guiding and coaching services in NZ must be registered with WorkSafe to ensure that they have met and adhere to current laws in New Zealand. Our safety systems are independently audited by AdventureMark to ensure that we are above the industry standard.

We strive to have high safety standards for our coaching and guiding whilst still giving you the riding experience that you signed up for. We don’t want you to feel bubble wrapped but we also don’t want you to have an accident. We aim to show you the trails you are going to love and manage group dynamics appropriately. This is why we screen participants on sign-up to ensure we get the group abilities as close as possible. We are trained for all scenarios and you can read more about the risks here.

No worries! We can cater for any dietary requirement so just let us know and we’ll ensure you eat well throughout the whole trip.

The central North Island of New Zealand is home to well draining volcanic soil that holds together almost better than anywhere in the world. The soil in this area has a deep top layer that holds together in all manner of weather conditions and generally allowing for flowy conditions. This makes it ideal for riding any time of year.

Pretty much everything. If you’re keen to come on a riding trip, the last thing you need to worry about is having to keep digging into your pocket for extra stuff. So we’ve included the whole nine yards – riding, lodging, great food, a couple of cold ones at the end of a ride, transport and all the guiding. If you don’t want to bring your bike, we can organise bike hire but this is an added extra ($14-160/day). Ask us for more information.

We have the choice of Zerode, Trek, Giant, Yeti, bikes and Whyte ebikes available. We can cater for any size bike required. We work with many of the local bike shops to get you the right bike to hire for your mountain bike tour.

You’ll eat like a champion on a New Zealand Mountain Biking trip. Hearty, healthy food is important at the end of a days riding, but more to the point, life is too short to not eat well, so we make sure you’ll eat great food and have plenty of it.

If you’re traveling on an Australian, US, Canadian or UK passport, you’ll be granted 90 -180 days to New Zealand. You must apply for a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA) beforehand here. For other countries, check the New Zealand immigration website: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/

You’ll need to fly in and out of Auckland (AKL) and on to Rotorua (ROT), which is where we’ll meet you, and drop you off again at the Rotorua airport. When you reserve your international flights, it’s easy to add on the short domestic flight (30 minutes) to Rotorua.

We stay at locally owned lodges, and small hotels that are specifically bike friendly, super comfortable, and are relaxing places to stay after a days riding. We’ve developed great relationships with our accommodation partners, so they know about the big and little things that round off perfect days riding. Ask us for more specifics about our accommodations if you need to know more. Standard bookings are Twin Share.

Our 1:1 lessons are for everyone. We have taught people who have never ridden a bike before, 5 year olds, 85 year olds, and riders who are absolutely ripping but want more control and confidence in the gnar. Because you have your own experienced coach, the session is tailored to your needs to build your confidence and hit your personal goals.

We are always keeping an eye on the weather and know the forest conditions because we are in there every day. If the weather really looks nasty, we will give you the option to reschedule the evening before. If it is dangerous (generally more to do with the wind) and we need to cancel, we will give you the option to reschedule. Let us know if you have any questions regarding this as we are happy to help.

Once you book, you will receive a calendar invite that includes all of this information. Most lessons meet at the end of Titokorangi Drive at the bottom of the Dodzy Skills Park where we have access to novice through to advanced terrain within a 10 minute pedal. You just bring your BIKE, HELMET, and normal riding gear (dressed for the weather). We carry first aid and tools.

The minimum age is 6 and there is no maximum.

We have tuned our lessons and worked out that 3 hours is the perfect amount of time for a lesson. It allows you to learn at a relaxed enough pace and some time to practice while riding some trails and have that valuable feedback from your mountain bike coach.

Generally, we ride anywhere between 5-20km on a 3-hour lesson. It all depends on the individual. These sessions are all tailored to each rider so that they can get the most out of it. We aren’t here to go the distance, we are here to learn how to go the distance!

YES, of course you can. Each lesson is booked as a 1:1 but you can add extra people. Each extra person comes on at $75pp and it’s never too late to add someone on. We do recommend that if you have specific needs, or the group you have in mind are all different abilities you split these things up.

We quite often get couples or kids and parents where one person thinks they are just there for moral support but they still learn a lot.

The maximum that we recommend is 6 people per session. We can take up to 10 but everything slows down and feedback gets spread much more thinly. 1:1 is the best quality and as you add people, it gets cheaper but you also get less input. The best is anywhere between 1-4 participants per lesson / coaching session.