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First post for a loooooong while here... and it seems we are now moving to Rotorua, flying out on Sunday to start a new permanent job.
I can take ONE mountain bike with me on the plane, the rest of the bikes will need to be shipped overseas in 3 months.
So, which bike to take... depends on just how mucky wintertime might be in Rotorua - and whether the area has that kind of 'good' silty, dusty benign mud or that sort of 'bad' thick, kit-destroying mud.
Bike option 1: Ibis Mojo 26er with Crank Bros wheels - typically my light, fast summer-use only bike
Bike option 2: Orange 5 26er with Hope Wheels - built like a tank and about the same weight and slowness, but will not get trashed in 'wintery' conditions.
Advice appreciated!
In STW tradition, I'll recommend what I own: the 26" Orange 5 😁
The Whakarewarewa trails dry pretty quickly after rain, so generally don't get very boggy. And it's not especially gritty so won't chew through kit more than normal. Also, it probably rains less often over winter (and the rest of the year) than most places in Britain, so the trails will be dry more often than not, even over winter.
Either bike will be fine, I'd probably go with whichever I thought was more likely to survive the plane trip unscathed!
As WillH has said Rotorua dries really fast and doesn't tend to get too sloppy.
Here in NZ winter hasn't really set in, think cool mornings and sunny afternoons. My local trails (1.5hrs from Rotorua) are still quite dry, I cant imagine it being too much different in Rotorua.
Good luck with the move, you're going to have a blast living in Rotorua! The whole MTB community there is amazing.
As above, I've sat on the shuttle bus in the pouring rain thinking I'm going to die on the first run down. But it's always grippy as even when it's sloppy, unlike Wellington's clay shutes of death.
Either bike will be fine, I'd take the Orange personally.
Enjoy, you'll have an absolute blast!
Also, make sure you scrub both bikes to within an inch of their lives before shipping. The good people at border security have more dogs for sniffing out foreign soil or vegetable matter then they do for drugs! Same goes for camping & gardening equipment.
Sweet.. Thanks guys! Good tips.
Take your best/favourite bike and clean it to within an inch of its life. New tyres if you must.
Then enjoy life, you jammy, jammy get.
Then enjoy life, you jammy, jammy get.
Don't feel too jealous, he's got to live with smelly egg smell for the rest of his life 😛
Soooo.... Orange Five was the choice ^thanks to kiwicraig^ and what a great Rotorua choice that was. The trails here are utterly superb. It's the first time I've actually enjoyed mountain biking in years! Riding in shorts and sunnies a couple of weeks off the shortest day... sweet!