The New Zealand mountain bike brand shredding trails like no one else

Zerode headquarters sit on Miramar’s famous Park Road. Not far away, iconic Wellington mountain bike trails Jail Brake and Solitary beckon. Carbon and aluminium mountain bike frames line the warehouse walls. Early prototypes and past models display the evolution of this New Zealand brand. Zerode focuses on the downhill experience. They utilise state-of-the-art geometry and an internal gearbox design. Their bikes have won World Cup titles and are sold around the globe. 

The trails that weave through the Miramar peninsula are some of Zerode Director, Ali Quinn’s favourites. Almost all the staff at Zerode Bikes seem to have met each other out on the trails. Ali is no exception. He came to Zerode in 2015, when founder Rob Metz was looking to grow the brand. “I met Rob in the forest,” says Ali. “He was riding a prototype version of the Taniwha (a trail bike). He brought up the fact that he’d like to manufacture in a carbon factory. I said, ‘The timing’s really good, sounds like the kind of thing I want to invest in.’”

Rob had previously released Zerode’s first production bike in 2011. “He was always tinkering, classic number 8-wire, Kiwi shed kinda guy,” says Ali. “He had a good mate called James Dodds, who was a world-class downhill racer. The two of them started making a bike for him to race. More of that downhill community found out about them and asked for bikes.” 

From there, Zerode burgeoned and brought out other models that reflected their New Zealand roots. Taniwha and Katipo are enduro and trail bikes. New models: Shadow and the Downhill Bike G3 draw on the same design principles, utilising that internal gearbox, as opposed to the traditional rear derailleur. “We take the weight at the back of the bike and put it in the lowest, middle point of the bike,” explains Ali. The design makes for smoother and faster downhill riding, which has proven popular here and abroad, with New Zealand making up about a third of sales, and the remainder going out to Australia, North America and Europe.   

In 2023, Zerode formed a team to race in the World Cup Series to boost their profile. Built around New Zealand rider Sam Blenkinsop, the team sped around Europe in a van and made an impression on the racing world. “It was great but super expensive,” says Ali. “What happened out of that season was MS Racing, which is a big team, signed a deal with us as the bike supplier.” This allowed Zerode to keep competing on the world stage, but without the crazy costs.   

With research and design grants in the works and an e-bike in the design pipeline, Zerode is expanding year on year. While the company has global reach and recognition, being based in Wellington is important to Zerode, especially since the city has become something of a mecca for riders. Wellington’s annual MTB Festival attracts big names like Brett Rheeder and Brook Macdonald, and with the Remutaka Cycle Trail Great Ride starting in the city, mud-covered riders have become a common sight on Wellington streets.   

“As a city goes, Wellington has one of the closest relationships to mountain biking. You look around, and pretty much every hill has mountain biking trails on it.” For the Zerode team, the community and support Wellington offers is one of the key reasons their headquarters is here. “It’s nice to have the ecosystem of Wellington businesses supporting each other,” says Ali. “I say to people, if you’re gonna live in a city, live in Wellington.”