Mondraker Motutapu 2025 - Event Recap

The Outside Sports team were at the start line before 6am to set up our bike check point and sales counter beside the registration tent. Conditions were ideal -dry and cool, with a blustery wind coming off the lake – a perfect tail wind. 

Our role before the start was to do a safety and reliability check on all the ebikes in the competitive category and spot checks on other bikes, but the team were soon inundated with riders needing last minute work – from nearly flat tyres to loose cranks, and broken gear cables! It was an intense couple of hours before the Elite division bikes headed out at 7.55am on the dot.

Participants in the bike were split up into groups based on the expected time to complete the 47km course through the Motatapu Valley. Elite riders were aiming for a sub two-hour time, and recreational riders were looking at 4 to 41/2 hours – it really is an event for everyone. 

Once all 1150 riders were grouped at the startline, they were sent off in bunches of 200, five minutes apart. Kurt followed the first group. Brendan positioned himself mid-way in the pack, and David and Dan were the sweepers bringing up the rear. The Outside Sports mechanics were all mounted on new Mondraker ebikes, which performed brilliantly on the rugged valley trail.

Alongside the Outside Sports bike store staff who were working at the event, there were several other Outside Sports team members who were competing in the bike, Miners Trail, and mountain marathon divisions.

Mondraker Academy rider 15 year old Levi Gear was a hot favourite in the Elite class, having placed second in 2024. While it wasn’t quite his year, Levi still placed a very strong 4th in under 2 hours! Here are all the official results. 

The Motatapu has a reputation for being tough on bikes and rider and this year was no exception. The Outside Sports mechanics were busy from the early stages of the race with everything from punctures to destroyed derailleurs - which Dan fixed by shortening the chain and turning a 10 speed mountain bike into a one speeder – but at least the rider was able to complete the event and get his finisher’s medal. 

There were also problems even the best mechanics couldn’t fix - snapped shock towers, bent wheels, mangled frames, and broken handlebars – meaning a long walk out for some people. 

River crossings are a big feature of the Motutapu (there are 13 of them) and they caught out a lot of riders, with a heap of wipeouts mainly due to the deep ruts which formed quickly in the mud. Luckily most injuries were minor, but one rider had to be choppered out with a broken femur. Ouch. 

The smiles at the finish line told the story. From start to finish the 2025 edition of the Motatapu was a fantastic event thanks mainly to the extraordinary work of Gemma and Carly, and the rest of their team. They seemed to have thought of every single little thing needed to make the day as good as it could possibly be. Outside Sports and our friends at Mondraker NZ were very proud to have been there and helped make it such a success. 

If you have ever wondered about doing the Motatapu just do it! It’s a unique, once a year opportunity, to see some of the South’s most spectacular high country scenery and test yourself at the same time. Just make sure your bike is ready for the challenge too by having it serviced before the event at Bikes by Outside Sports in Queenstown or Wanaka. 

We highly recommend Mondraker mountain bikes for the tough riding conditions we have in the Southern Lakes area. If you're thinking about a new mountain bike for any type of trail or track, come and see us to talk bikes and demo the latest ebikes and analogue bikes from Mondraker.