Faq

Whilst much of the beautiful waterfront is flat, the centre of Auckland is actually quite hilly. That’s great for views, but can be tricky on a conventional bike or on foot. Our electric bikes solve that problem! They flatten the hills and allow you to spend your time enjoying everything there is to see and hear, rather than breaking into a sweat.

And in terms of cycling experience, whilst we will be riding on Auckland’s fantastic cycle paths as much as possible, we will of course be riding through city streets too – so our tours do require basic riding ability. Riding in traffic on city streets is a dynamic environment, so for your enjoyment and safety, and that of the others you will be riding with, it is important that you have at least experienced riding on the road before. And Auckland’s volcanic past means that there a quite few hills to go up and down – the eBikes make going up easy, but you’ll obviously need to be able to ride downhill!

And our electric bikes are sturdy (i.e. a bit heavier than you might be used to, given the additional weight of the motor and battery – i.e. the components that deliver all the fun!). So you will also need to be comfortable handling them – particularly on sections where it’s best that we get off and walk with the eBikes, to safely cross a particular section of road. If you haven’t been on a bike in years, for your enjoyment and safety, we strongly recommend that you practice on a bike before coming for your ride on our electric bikes.

Please rest assured, however, that our eBike are stable and are straightforward to operate (not to mention great fun!). And we will take time at the start of the tour to explain how the bikes work and to do a practice ride with you near our base, to make sure you are 100% comfortable on the bike before we set out on the tour.

In terms of pace, we ride at a leisurely pace and do make every effort to ride at the pace of the slowest rider in the group. It’s not a race and we want you to enjoy your time cruising on the eBike and taking in the sights!  And we stop frequently on the tour for photos, restroom breaks and more detailed commentary.

If you have any other questions or concerns about whether you will be ok on the electric bike (either in a tour or during a rental), please feel free to get in touch with us here.

Yes – for tours or rentals – please use our secure, online booking system. Our tours and rentals are popular and availability can be limited, so we recommend that you book well in advance. For last minute enquiries, please call or txt us on + 64 (0) 21 08294218 – you never know – you might be in luck and there might just be space on the tour you’re looking for or an eBike available for rental!

PLEASE NOTE – we operate on a PRE-BOOKED BASIS ONLY (i.e. to save you a wasted trip, please don’t come to our base looking for an eBike tour or rental without having booked in advance through our website – it’s very likely that we will be out riding on tour!).

We have limited space for riders on our tours and rentals, and our tours and rentals run whatever the weather! So (except for COVID-19 related cancellations), our cancellation policy for bookings is as follows:
We offer a 100% refund if you cancel at least 48 hours before the time the tour or rental is scheduled to start.
If you cancel within 48 hours of scheduled departure time, no refund is possible.
If COVID-19 related government travel restrictions in either New Zealand or your home country force you to cancel your tour or rental we will (at your option) either offer a full refund to you or change your tour or rental date to a later available date.
Cancellation should be by email to info@powertothepedal.com or please call or text on +64 21 082 94218.

In addition, due to the nature of the tours and rentals and the environment they are conducted within, we will sometimes make decisions to cancel or postpone any tours or rentals – based on weather, genuine safety concerns or any other events or circumstances that, in our opinion, prevent operation. If we cancel for these reasons, you will receive a full refund within 5 calendar days of the date of cancellation by us.

Our eBikes and equipment are sanitized between each use. In line with NZ Government recommendations, we do request that our riders observe the following health measures:

• If you are feeling sick, please stay at home and report any flu-like symptoms to your doctor
• Please be considerate to others and observe social distancing
• Regularly wash and sanitize your hands (we have hand sanitizer at our base and we can also provide you with it at any time during your tour – just ask your guide!)

As per our cancellation policy, if COVID-19 related government travel restrictions in either New Zealand or your home country force you to cancel your tour or rental we will (at your option) either offer a full refund to you or change your tour or rental date to a later available date.
Cancellation should be by email to info@powertothepedal.com or please call or text on +64 21 082 94218

All tours start, and all rentals can be collected from, our base at Park Hyatt Auckland, in the city centre. You’ll find a description of where to find us and a link to a map of our location on our Find Us page. We are located in the heart of the city, close to many of the other major hotels and to the cruise ship terminals.

We don’t do pick ups or drop offs – e.g. from or to hotels or the cruise ship terminal. But Auckland is a nice place to walk through and there are plenty of taxis in the city centre too, if you’d prefer to use those to get to the Park Hyatt.

All our tours end back at our base. That’s where you’ll need to return your rentals too, at the specific end time of your period of rental.

Check out the dedicated page for each tour on our website – you’ll find details of the departure time, and duration of your tour, there. For rentals, the time you need to collect and return your eBike are provided via the Book Now button.

Tours  and rentals start promptly, at the scheduled time. As such, we recommend that you arrive 10-15 minutes early, so you have time to fill out your waiver forms and be fitted for your bike, helmet and audio equipment. And if you need that all-important fix of coffee when you arrive ahead of your tour or rental, our meeting place, The Pantry cafe at the Park Hyatt Auckland does an awesome flat white!

Unfortunately, out of courtesy to our other guests, we can’t delay the departure of our tours if you are running late. And we’re a small team and will often all be involved in tours – so if you arrive late to collect your rental, there may not be anyone there to give you your bike.

If you are late (or think you might be), please call +64 (0) 21 082 94218. We might be able to reschedule you on a later tour or rental period, but that will be subject to availability.

Please note, no refunds are available if you miss your tour or rental due to being late for any reason.

We provide you with the best tour/rental electric bikes in town! For more information on our electric bikes, click here.

We’ll also provide: a helmet (a legal requirement in New Zealand, and always a great idea anyway); a bag on your bike for storage of small items; a bike lock and a lightweight rain jacket to use (if it’s forecast to rain during your time on the eBike).

And if you’re doing one of our tours, we also set you up with our cycle-specific tour headphone – so you can safely get instructions and commentary from your guide as you breeze along on the eBike.

You can wear your ‘every-day’ clothes on our bikes. No need for tight fitting lycra or sportswear! (although feel free to wear that if you want!). Basically, we just suggest that you dress appropriately for the weather. You should wear something on your feet that will be secure as you ride (closed toe shoes are best) – so no flipflops (or jandals as we call them here)! Sunglasses are highly recommended all year round – that sun can be bright! Quality sunscreen is also a must, any time of year (but particularly in the Summer).

And during the cooler months (e.g. from June to Sept), a pair of gloves is often a good idea – helps with potential windchill on your hands as you’re riding around the city!

To check what the weather is likely to be on the day of your tour, and therefore to dress appropriately, we suggest you take a look at: http://www.metservice.com/towns-cities/auckland/auckland-central

And, we also suggest you bring along some cash or a bank/credit card – for drinks and food, if required. A bottle of water is also always a great idea – to keep you hydrated, particularly on hot days! And remember to wear sunscreen – the sun in NZ can be very harsh.

Cycling is a passion of ours and we love to see kids getting out on bikes. However, our tours are conducted on full-size electric bicycles, on routes than include city streets. For safety reasons, therefore, riders must be at least 14 years old to take one of our tours or rent one of our electric bikes (and teenagers of 14-15 years old must be accompanied by an adult).

If you have young kids and would like to bring them along on one of our tours, we have a bike trailer that you can rent. For health and safety reasons, this is available for use only on The Easy Rider tour  – which is almost exclusively on cycleways. It can carry up to two kids – the maximum load is 45 kgs/ 99 lbs (we’ll let you work out what your kids weigh!). If you would like to use the trailer, there is an additional charge of $30  – this option can be selected during the booking process for the The Easy Rider through our website.

Auckland has a subtropical climate. So whilst that can mean glorious sunny days, it also means that it can rain! Our tours run rain or shine – you can still enjoy an amazing tour on wetter days, if you are dressed appropriately. If it looks like there might be a change of rain, we recommend that you bring your rain jacket. You can always pack it into the bag on your eBike if you don’t need it. But if you forget – don’t worry, we have lightweight rain jackets and trousers that you can borrow for the ride.

And we do have on-bike storage. Your electric bike has a small bag on the rack that has enough space to carry your phone, camera, and other small items.

In terms of height – our bikes are very adjustable, so can accomodate a wide range of heights. However, we recommend that all riders are 5 feet tall (152cm) or above.

Our electric bikes are designed with a maximum weight capacity of 250 pounds (113 kg).

And we don’t have an age limit, but please be aware that electric bikes are a bit heavier than conventional bikes. The components that deliver all the fun (the motor, the battery etc) do add some weight to the bike. That added weight isn’t an issue when you’re in motion  – in fact, the motor etc do most of the work for you! However, you will need to be comfortable handling a sturdy bike.

This only applies for rental, and not for our tours.

We also have the ability to take cash and credit card payments (Mastercard or Visa) at our base, for last minute tour bookings and rentals.