E-bike touring in Aotearoa New Zealand – e-bike hire, sales and ‘buy-back’ options for visiting travellers

New Zealand is an epic destination for bike travellers, tourers and bikepackers, with the Tour Aotearoa the most famous itinerary, which takes in many of the famous Ngā Haerenga Cycle Trails. The Kennett Brothers’ books provide the best information for planning.

Naturally we recommend an electric bike, to truly enjoy the experience, hills, head winds and all! A second battery is considered by most travellers a wise investment to travel the length of the country.

Those visiting from overseas, particularly from Europe and North America where multiple flights are involved, find that bringing their own bicycle is becoming increasingly expensive. And electric bikes make that even harder, due to their greater volume and weight, and the impossibility of flying with the batteries.

Battery hire for your e-bike

If you do manage to make it happen and can bring your own e-bike sans batteries, we can help you with a hire of Bosch e-bike batteries – all types. We can usually manage with a hire of Shimano batteries but we need to hear from you first about which type your bike needs.

E-bike purchase and ‘buy back’

If you aren’t bringing your own bike and need to hire one here for your adventure, we have a special ‘buy-back’ offer for visitors. Simply put, you can choose any e-bike from our vast range and we will guarantee to buy it back from you for 50% of what you paid, at the end of your trip (6 months maximum).

Depending which bike you buy, it could be a cost effective hire or a luxurious hire, like something from the Riese and Muller range or perhaps the Moustache Weekend. The main attraction is that you can choose from any bike and we have a lot of bikes to choose from – 140 at last count, including a small selection of used e-bikes.

E-bike hire (conventional)

Although cycle tourism is a big thing in New Zealand, the e-bike hire options are for the most part based on the more popular cycle trails themselves offering 1 or 2 day hire. Longer e-bike hire (~1 week) is often as part of a tour group, providing a fully catered experience including accommodation, food, a guide and car transport to and from parts of the trail. There is e-bike hire available for ‘Free Independent Travellers’ in major cities. However, most seasoned tourers will be disappointed by the quality/selection of the bikes and the cost of the hire for a longer tour (hire charges are by the day and a 3 month long hire would often amount to the new price of the bike).

Monthly e-bike subscription/hire

Another option to consider for a budget-minded traveller who is willing to accept a more limited range of choices is the use of our subscription e-bikes. Most of our collection is available for city use only but from time to time we have e-bikes that are also suitable for travelling. This offering is designed to offer cost-effective and flexible access to e-bikes for everyday life. The size of the fleet fluctuates and availability is higher in the winter. It’s not actually possible to ‘book’ one of these in advance, as someone else might be subscribing the one youd want by the time you arrive in NZ. Nonetheless, keep in touch with us well ahead of time to maximise the chances of a suitable bike for you.