This is a good spot to check the local outdoor apparel scene. Yes they have the usual international…read morebrands, but they also carry local brands as well. For instance mons royale is a populate snowboarding brand and it is well represented here. The shop itself is in two parts. The one on the street corner is larger and has mainly apparel. Just down the street is an adjunct store with more sport equipment. Waneka is an athletic town so it is well filled with four seasons worth of sporting gear, but if you want to see what the locals are wearing, this is not a bad place to shop :-)

We got some great outdoor gear at a fair price. They helped us find a good pair of trekking shoes…read morefor my partner. She got a pair of Salomon's for half price on clearance. They also give a 10% discount off retail for being part of their club which is just giving them a name and email. They are a local New Zealand chain.

Terrible service. Didn't appreciate the way I was treated when asking about skis and snowboards.read more

Awesome shop. Great to find a store with super knowledgeable staff and tons of personality. Best…read morerange of gear I've seen and some really technical products for people wanting top grade stuff too. Very unique place, can't wait to go back!

I had a pretty frustrating experience shopping here back in December. To make this easy, I'm going…read moreto copy and paste the review I put on their facebook page at the time: --- BUYER BEWARE: this place does not take unused items back. I thought I had forgotten my gaiters at home so bought a pair. Found them in my bag and tried to return. Nope! They even had the audacity to tell me that their policy protects me as the consumer to not take returns. What? The truth came in his following words: "also, protects us if you buy something and then walk down the street and find it for half the price." Their prices are three times the price of everyone else in town. They were charging $30 for butane. Bought the same butane down the street for less than $10. Save your money and shop elsewhere! --- All accurate info. I have no reason to lie. This was certainly a frustrating experience, but when they refused to take the unused gaiters back I ended up exchanging them for a fleece that I now love and wear all the time. Still would have preferred my money back, but happy ending, right? Ok, cut to tonight. A month and a half later. One of the guys (who I assume works at Small Planet Sports, since he refers to the store as "our shop") FINALLY replies to my review. I was expecting the "We're so sorry you had an unpleasant experience" response. Wrong again. He was just replying to troll me! A MONTH AND A HALF LATER! These guys are the absolute worst. Do not shop here. They take horrific customer service to another level. Just take your business elsewhere and sleep well at night knowing that you didn't give your business to garbage human beings.

Great and easy place to rent a few bikes for a cycle around the lake. Staff was very polite and…read morehelpful and the rates were quite affordable.

I was in town for a project and wanted to spend my day off mountain biking, I was told by some of…read morethe local folks that Racers Edge had some of the best bike rentals in town. I went, picked up some sunblock, a new backpack and some glovers and checked out the rentals. They had Giant bikes of all types, everything from cross country to enduro. I picked the Reign, it was in good shape and well tuned. The guy helping me was very nice and helpful in getting me set up with the bike. (By the way, there's a free helmet rental with the bike.) One thing to keep in mind!!! **IMPORTANT** If you're from the states, the brake levers are flipped in NZ - so the rear brake is on the left and the front brake is on the right! They'll also help you find a trail, so ask them! Overall, the staff was very helpful and kind. I can't wait to go back!

One of my favorite bike shops in Wanaka! They have all the gear you need, including premium parts…read moreand exceptional apparel. Be sure to pick up a tee shirt, I'm a big fan of all their designs. I bought a tee and a mountain biking Bike Lounge jersey (it's now my favorite jersey, it's baggy - NOT fitted and very comfortable). The staff is extremely knowledgable of all the gear they sell and all the trails in the area. They carry a variety of high end bikes for sale, including Kona. They also have a lot of quality bikes for rent, hardtail to full suspension bikes. They offer these bikes in a variety of packages - check out their site for rates.

Alright, I'm giving this place 3 stars because I want to like it...and, hopefully they will read…read morethis review and fix the issues. We rented 5 bikes for the afternoon - the guy we dealt with was really nice and helpful and helped us figure out a good place to ride. One of the bikes was an e-mountain bike, which worked well. The other 4 bikes were good hardtails - just what we wanted, however, they all had worn-out drive trains. Mine had a new rear cassette and possibly chain, but the front chain ring was beat, meaning it slipped or came off any time I loaded up the pedals - too much torque all at once and I was flying off the pedals into the handle bars (I just avoided a disaster heading for a drop on a downhill...). Other bikes had worn cassettes and stretched chains - all slipped. There were some other more minor issues with the bikes as well. They did come out with a new bike when one of the chains broke when we were at the farthest reach of our ride. We did have to walk the bike back as we didn't have any tools with us (an oversight on my part as well as theirs). If this had been one bike that was problematic, that would have been one thing, but all 4 of the non-electric bikes were barely rideable (walked up a lot of hills after chains slipped). They were apologetic and I do believe that it was a mistake (could be that most of their customers taking out hardtails just stick to the flats and don't apply much torque to the pedals) - I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. I would go back there as they were clearly well-intentioned, but make sure you get working bikes!

As I was planning activities to do while in Queenstown, I stumbled upon this place that offers bike…read moretours that had really positive reviews. However, since I have never really done long distance biking before, I was hesitant to sign up for one of the tours that takes you further in and you bike back to the shop in downtown Queenstown. I decided to just rent an e-bike for half a day which would allow me to go at my own pace and return when I wanted to. Honestly, it was one of the best days of my life-the breathtaking scenery of Queenstown and the comfort of my own solitude exploring the bike paths overlooking Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown trail, Shotover bridge/river, Kawarau River... The person helping me at the shop was really friendly-helped walked me through how to use an e-bike (it was my first time using an e-bike but thought it would be the safest option in case I tired myself out later) and helped to adjust the seat as well when I had some trouble. The e-bike had different levels of support (eco, medium, and high)-I used eco mode for most of the time but used medium and high on my way back and it hardly used any of the battery life at all (there is a level usage on the screen). They provide you with a map which I used along with my phone to ensure I was on the right path but there are also many signs along the way, so I would say it would be hard to get lost. I would totally recommend this bike shop if you want a little adventure during your stay in Queenstown -something not as crazy as bungee jumping but will give you a thrill and some amazing views.

VISIT: end of February 2020 TOUR: Bike the Bridges -…read moreArrowtown to Gibbston Supported Tour VIEWS: 5 stars HELP FROM TOUR GUIDE: 5 stars SUITABLE FOR ALL ENDURANCE LEVELS: 4 stars DEALS: I found them through Chase Ultimate Rewards and several other sites MEETING SPOT: close to Fergburger and Fergbaker This tour was an honest pleasant surprise for us. The videos online looked cool, but mostly we got to experience so much that I don't think we would have seen. I would have never made a special trip to Arrowtown or Gibbston just based on the research I did, but what a beautiful way to view this amazing country! You meet at their meeting spot where the tour guide will drive you to your starting point. The tour guide stayed with everyone until they were comfortable on which path they were following and made sure that bikes and helmets were all sized appropriately. Our tour guide even gave special care to someone in our group that didn't speak English. You can leave items in the van, if you'd like, but my husband and I just had everything in our backpacks as the van is only there during certain check points. After that you are pretty much on your own with the bike tour, which was refreshing that you could go at your own pace. You see your tour guide at regular intervals along your track and that's always refreshing, in case you get tired you can always hop in the van. Along the way, you ride by the AJ Hackett bungee jumpers which was a nice stop to watch and use the restrooms and grab snacks, if you need. Then our tour ended at the Gibbston Winery which was just a nice treat after a good workout. ACTIVITY LEVEL: one of my biggest tenets is that the company dubs the Bike the Bridges tour a relatively easy ride and although it was, I was personally surprised at how much of a workout was. There was a good amount of inclines/declines and I workout regularly and have an active job, so I was relatively surprised. However, I realized after being in New Zealand that many of their residents are so active that I'm sure this would be an easy ride. For those on the fence, they do have electric bikes for rent, so that might be the way to go. NAVIGATION: the navigation is very easy and the trails are clearly marked. As mentioned above, your tour guide also makes sure he's waiting at regular intervals along your trail, so I wouldn't let that deter you I WOULD 100% DO THIS AGAIN: I am not a typical tourist that would return to do things again, but I cannot begin to explain how magical this was. Plus the tour was a half day, so we actually booked this the afternoon of our first full day in New Zealand to give us time to adjust to jet lag and the long tour the day before

We rented a couple of ebikes from the Arrowtown location of Better by Bikes. The staff was…read morefriendly and helpful. The bikes were in good shape and the electric aspect was extremely helpful on some of the hills. The bike trail from Arrowtown is close to the shop and it provides a beautiful ride.

A very welcoming and friendly backpackers. Staff are really friendly and knowledgeable about the…read morecity. They will help you get things booked and make your stay that little bit easier. They have free bike rentals for people that stay here. The wifi is pretty decent. They have a spa pool at the back which is nice for the winter nights. Comfy chilled lounge room I stayed in a 8 bed mixed dorm. Beds are quite squeaky so was hard to get to comfortable. Temperature in the room was always nice and warm so that was a bonus.

This place has a great vibe and the front desk staff was extremely friendly and helpful. Definitely…read morethe best backpackers choice in Queenstown hands down. Free wifi doesn't hurt either! Right near the gondola and an extremely short walk to the center of things - I enjoyed having that distance from the bars so that I could get a few hours of sleep!

After recently completing the Otago Rail Trail (HIGHLY recommend doing this, by the way), I felt…read morecompelled to give a shout out to the folks at Cycle Surgery, who organized our bike rentals, bag transport and shuttle service along the trail. Not only were the bikes in impeccable condition, the team went above and beyond making sure everything ran smoothly for us. They have branches in Clyde and Middlemarch so that you can start the trail on either end (we started in Clyde - which, after witnessing the epic tail winds, would suggest you also choose this as a starting point). The team fitted our bikes, collected our bags and even added panniers and clip-on pedals to those that desired some extra pedal-oomf. Our bags awaited us at our first stop (Wedderburn) where we enjoyed some delicious wine and hot showers. Finally, the lovely team at Cycle Surgery transferred our luggage to our final stop, Middlemarch, where we were served complimentary barista coffee and given a space to freshen up and remove our sweaty cycling gear (yum). We were then transported by the team to Dunedin airport (about 45 minutes away) and dropped off the continue our journey home. I was extremely impressed with both the quality of the Cycle Surgery bikes as well as the professionalism of each person we interacted with. If you are looking to do the Otago Rail Trail, sort your bike rentals here!