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Two new bikes at Bike Otago... one's a demo, one's for sale. If you can guess what they are, we'll make you a coffee.     

Devotees of the Bike Otago blog will remember that about ages ago we brought in four pairs of tasty no-name Chinese carbon rims, with the idea of testing their durability and strength compared to the usual branded (and much more expensive) alternatives. After six months of hard riding the results are in, and we're universally impressed. We had two CX and two mountain wheelsets built up, keeping one CX and one mountain set for ourselves and selling the other two sets. Here's what we, and the owners, have to say:Shop CX set - ridden on Kashi's Switchback CX bike Kashi says - 'They're good. Really light, super stiff, built up easily and have had no problems at all. They're plain looking which...

One of our most popular bikes is the Hammerhead 130x, a.k.a. Switchback Unveil 9 (the difference is in the decals only - the bikes are identical... it's a long story). We've noticed there aren't many reviews of these awesome high-end bang-for-your-buck trail bikes, so we thought we'd get in touch with some of our old customers to get a handful of reviews after months of riding. Here's what they say:Menno bought a frame off us and fitted the running gear from his old 29er: "After two years on my old 29er I decided I wanted to upgrade to a more trail orientated bike, rather than buying a whole new bike I came across the Switchback frame for a very good price, since the...

New stuff from Yeti this year includes: Enduro-specific gents' and ladies' 3/4 jerseys, World Cup replica jerseys, shorts, and gloves DH/freeride/park oriented jerseys, shorts, and gloves New colours for the legendary Freeland (gents') and Norrie (ladies') shorts Some nice casual stuff - a new hoodie and a cool pack Clicky here to view the whole range. We've got it all in stock in store if you want to have a closer look. 

  It's true that most of our business is top-end custom builds, but since we love to see people take up riding, we can be pretty competitive with entry and mid-level stuff too.Take this wicked little GT Avalanche Comp, for example, that we just got in for one of our customers. The best thing about this bike is the frame - GT has been fine-tuning the geometry for years, so you're getting the same ride as their most expensive offerings. 27.5" wheels and Conti Race King tyres are great quality, the Shimano Acera/Deore running gear and Promax hydraulic brakes will prove reliable for years, and the Suntour fork, whilst not as light and refined as RockShox or Fox models, has...