FAQ: What's the best bike to ride New Zealand Cycle Trails?

Many of our bikes are suitable for riding the amazing network of cycle trails that we have here in NZ, but it comes down to what type of trail specifically you want to be able to ride and whether you're after an electric bike or not. 

Regular Mixed-terrain e-bikes

The most common type of bike we sell to riders who want to ride trails such as the Otago Rail Trail are electric bikes designed for mixed terrain riding.

A great example of this is the Moustache Xroad line of bikes, which have front suspension, a low step through frame for an upright riding position, efficient mountain bike tyres and lights, racks and fenders. These are some common traits that you'll find across a range of the bikes we carry, making them all suitable for this kind of light off road riding.

Keep in mind that between these different models, they come with a range of different motor and battery systems, meaning that the range you can get out of them will vary and you will have to keep an eye on your battery levels if you're out for longer days of riding.

If you're wanting to do more than just light off road riding, you may want to consider one of our full suspension models, such as the Xroad FS or the Riese & Müller Delite, as these bikes offer more comfort and capability on intermediate trails. If you want to go full on mountain biking to do something like the Old Ghost Road, the Trail and Game models from Moustache have got you covered.

Dual-battery electric bikes

If you like the sound of the sort of riding in the previous section but are wanting to do longer days over 60km, then we recommend having a look at Riese & Müller's dual battery systems. These allow you have up to twice the range as you would normally have, with the second battery nicely integrated into the frame to allow for stable and predictable handling. They also offer additional benefits, such as the fact that both the battery charge at the same time when the bike is plugged in, which you can read more about here. 

You can read more about Riese & Müller's dual battery system here, and find a story about one of our customers who went touring with his dual-battery Superdelite here.

Manual Adventure bike

Another popular way to ride the New Zealand Cycle Trails is by adventure bike. This category of bike has grown largely in recent years and covers a huge range of bikes in different shapes and sizes. Generally, these bikes are great as they work very well on rides that are a mix of on and off road. They are also capable of carrying a large range of different styles of bike bags so they can work for you, whether you're wanting to run a lightweight bikepacking set up, or you're wanting to bring your home luxuries along with a rack and pannier set up. Bikes like the Surly Ogre (pictured above) and Bridge Club are great examples of this as they are truly all-rounders.

Despite not offering the speed of traveling via electric bike, these bikes still have their own advantages. They're significantly lighter than their electric counterparts, which makes taking them on planes with you and throwing them on the back of a car much more manageable. They're also completely dependant on your input, which means they can go as far as you can keep pedalling! This means that you can get further off the beaten path, without having to worry about getting stuck without battery. Dual battery systems somewhat resolve this issue, but at a significant weight and financial cost.

It can be overwhelming browsing the bikes in this category, so if you're keen but not sure where to start, then reach out to us and we'll help you find the bike for you.