Queenstown or Rotorua for riding holiday

Jeffgre_6163

Jeffgre_6163

Likes Dirt
Looking at a riding holiday in NZ later this year but dont know whether to go to Queenstown or Rotorua.
Anybody ridden in both areas?
I took the bikes to Queenstown In January last year for a week of solid riding and had a blast, riding all over including a heli ride, skippers canyon, the 7 mile park, Ben Lomond Forrest etc etc, Queenstown could only have gotten better since the gondola opened to bikes.
Despite seeing lots of footage of Rotorua including the "Be Made Not To" DVD from AMB I still find it hard to accept that Rotorua could be better than Queenstown.

Any input?
 
F

Firefly

Likes Dirt
What sort of bike are you riding and what style of trails? I've spent a couple of days riding at both (no where near as much as you in queenstown). Felt Rotorua was more XC/ AM and Queenstown was more AM/DH (gondola wasn't taking bikes but climbed up and rode down). I'd recommend Rotorua for something new. With a hire car/van you could also go to Taupo for a day or two and or to Woodhill bike park nth of Auckland. Also jump in a raft for a run down the Kaituna. Have fun.
 
Jeffgre_6163

Jeffgre_6163

Likes Dirt
Firefly said:
What sort of bike are you riding and what style of trails? .
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My preferred riding is AM, technical and rough but not a huge fan of getting big air - I will ride and enjoy anything though. I quite like a good uphill slog particularly if there is a reward of a great descent.
Bike I would take would be my 2011 Reign X0 as I can pedal it anywhere and its fun on anything up to full on DH.
 
markb84

markb84

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I spent a couple of weeks riding in QT about 4 years ago and went up to Rotorua afterwards for a few days, I was a little underwhelmed by Rotorua but I think that I only scratched the surface of the trails there. QT is fantastic, I intend to go back there as soon as money and time permits.
 
bikesarefun

bikesarefun

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Jeffgre_6163 said:
My preferred riding is AM, technical and rough but not a huge fan of getting big air - I will ride and enjoy anything though. I quite like a good uphill slog particularly if there is a reward of a great descent.
Bike I would take would be my 2011 Reign X0 as I can pedal it anywhere and its fun on anything up to full on DH.
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You'll love Rotorua then. Almost 200km of AM singletrack. And there's not many trails with jumps.
 
outtacontrol

outtacontrol

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Jeff, although I have not been to Queenstown (yet) I would say that I couldn't imagine a trail network more suited to your riding style than Rotorua. The trails are all cut in pine forest covered by rainforest. The soil is the closest thing you will find to Hero Loam.

Imagine Black Snake at Smithfield.....ok, that is the worst trail at Rotorua. There is plenty of non technical climbing on single track or fire roads if you choose to go that way. There is a shuttle bus, but it only services a small section of the network, so if you want to check out everything you need climbing legs.
There are trails with jumps but there are not really any gaps and actually super easy. I found by the time I left I was heaps more comfortable with jumping after sessioning some of them. Little Red Riding Huck has about 40 jumps over about 3km of downhill trail. Behailu will not want to come home :)
 
G

Gambler36

Cannon Fodder
I rode Queenstown in December and Rotorura 12. Lnthe before that.

Traveled from Perth both times.

Bike hire: I hired a DH bike but took all my own gear for both trips. Both places had great service and cost about the same.

Shuttles: Gondala in Queenstown but bus shuttle in Rotorua, so Gondala wins.

Riding: Queenstown is such a great place to ride, the jumps in the freestyle park are huge.
Rotorua was more natural and the trails felt less man made and like a bike park. I only rode for 2 days each trip. Felt I needed more time in queenstown, but did everything i wanted in Rotorua.

Other things to do: In Rotorua I did the luge and also local go kart track. In Queenstown.... need I say more.

Which ever you choose you will have a blast and no regrets!
 
Jeffgre_6163

Jeffgre_6163

Likes Dirt
Thanks for the replies folks but i started this thread this time last year : )
Our Rotorua trip has come and gone last month.
For the record, we would not go back to Rotorua in a hurry. Qtown has a better vibe, more variety of trails and a much more diverse range of activities for your off the bike time.
 
M

mymasseur

Likes Dirt
Jeffgre_6163 said:
Thanks for the replies folks but i started this thread this time last year : )
Our Rotorua trip has come and gone last month.
For the record, we would not go back to Rotorua in a hurry. Qtown has a better vibe, more variety of trails and a much more diverse range of activities for your off the bike time.
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Wouldnt go back to rota in a hurry???:loco::loco: I know your on crack now!
 
mickeytg

mickeytg

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Will be going to NZ next summer for sure. Rotorua would be my preference although they both look great. Yeah climbing is a bitch but when you come down again there is the satisfaction of riding a full trail and just having fun. I'll do QT another time I think but their trails do look sweet.
 
Jeffgre_6163

Jeffgre_6163

Likes Dirt
mickeytg said:
Yeah climbing is a bitch but when you come down again there is the satisfaction of riding a full trail and just having fun. I'll do QT another time I think but their trails do look sweet.
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From this comment I take it you think that I am not impressed with Rotorua because of the lack of downhill, a gondola lift and having to climb too much?
Actually its the complete opposite.
Rotorua is serviced very well by shuttle buses and is very much gravity oriented. What I found [and this may change as you got to know the forest better] is that it was difficult to string a decent ride together of 1.5hrs + as most of the trails lead down hill and don't seem to connect together in a logical way that made a decent loop.
It seemed that you would jump off the shuttle, do a 2.5 km run, come out on a fire road, ride back to the shuttle and repeat as many times as you were up to. Most of the trails from the shuttle were in region of 0.6km through to 2.5km
It made the riding feel very stop start with half the day spent sitting in a bus.
Admittedly we did not get out of Rotorua [except for the Go Native Enduro which my son entered] to try the Taupo trails etc so they may offer something else.

Having ridden Qtown twice now and Rotorua once I stand by saying I prefer Qtown
However.... Rotoruas' awesome, groomed trails are perfect for an aggressive 6inch + Am bike if that's what floats your boat.
 
outtacontrol

outtacontrol

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Jeffgre_6163 said:
What I found [and this may change as you got to know the forest better] is that it was difficult to string a decent ride together of 1.5hrs + as most of the trails lead down hill and don't seem to connect together in a logical way that made a decent loop.
It seemed that you would jump off the shuttle, do a 2.5 km run, come out on a fire road, ride back to the shuttle and repeat as many times as you were up to. Most of the trails from the shuttle were in region of 0.6km through to 2.5km
It made the riding feel very stop start with half the day spent sitting in a bus.
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It sounds to me you needed to explore a bit more. Waaay more trails than what is just on the shuttle loop. We would often do 4hrs in the morning with only the one uplift.
 
mickeytg

mickeytg

Likes Dirt
Jeffgre_6163 said:
From this comment I take it you think that I am not impressed with Rotorua because of the lack of downhill, a gondola lift and having to climb too much?
Actually its the complete opposite.
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ahhhh no. Sorry if I came across the wrong way in my post. Like I said, I have never been to either but probably my riding style would suit Rotorua better.
 
Jeffgre_6163

Jeffgre_6163

Likes Dirt
outtacontrol said:
It sounds to me you needed to explore a bit more. Waaay more trails than what is just on the shuttle loop. We would often do 4hrs in the morning with only the one uplift.
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Oh I explored alright, similar to you we would ride the lower forest in the AM and hit the shuttle PM, I am not arguing as to the quantity of trails in the forest [or the quality], apparently there are 120+ km of them.
What I am saying is that the 120+ plus km is broken up in to short trails of ~3km, you always wind up back on the road after a relatively short trail and have to "commute" on the fire road to start of the next trail, often with a break to consult the manky.
If you ride at Douglas or Atherton you can ride solid single track for an hour or more in a loop that has technical features and flows without going near a fire road or feeling you need to stop to get your bearings.

Like I said, maybe I did not know the forest well enough but the riding really did seem far too stop start for my preferred riding style.
 
Worm53

Worm53

Cannon Fodder
In Rotorua it's key to ride up or shuttle up, to the top of hill where the national dh starts in redwoods forest, then go abit further up and head down Billy T, then link to huckle berry hound and little red riding huck then link back down to the lower trails. This provides a solid all mountain route. I have just come back from Queenstown pretty awesome mix of trails, less all mountain as there isn't really any "up trails" but there is trails for every level. Also Nelson is another sweet spot, has half a dozen different hills with dh tracks and some solid 2-3hr all mountain rides with really techy descents, again shuttle access is limited but well worth the hike.
 
C

chris mallen

Cannon Fodder
spent 2 months biking around nz, queens town def has more vertical more range of trails, rotorua was also sweet dude u wudnt b disappointed
 
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