Crankworx Rotorua

Celebrating a decade of Crankworx, a world-class mountain biking event and communication operational excellence.

Thrills, Growth & Operational Efficiency

Photo Credit: Clint Trahan

Project Summary

The Client

The Crankworx World Tour is a multi-stop series of mountain bike festivals, bringing together the best mountain bike athletes to compete in elite-level competitions in a variety of disciplines.   

Crankworx took flight for the first time outside of North American and Europe, in Rotorua, 2015. With a mission to combine riding and the beauty of culture, the Rotorua event has now become known as the “soul” of Crankworx. 

Celebrating 10 years of operation, Crankworx Rotorua has become an important event in Rotorua’s tourism calendar. 2024 saw growth in engagement with over 440 athletes and a total of 38,000 visitations over the 10-day event. With a reported economic benefit to the region of around $3-5 million, it’s hugely successful and web-casted across the world.  

Photo Credit: Clint Trahan

The Challenge​

Operating a large-scale event on the international stage takes a huge amount of planning, resource, and operational expertise—particularly with an extreme sport in remote forest locations. Communications and separate channel solutions were needed for general operations, medics, event management, marshalling, and TV production teams.   

Staged primarily at Skyline and the Whakarewarewa Forest in Rotorua, communications needed to be reliable and resilient across the two main remote sites, the wider Rotorua area, and for a duration of approximately 10 days.    

Crankworx Rotorua needed a partner to deliver a solution both reliable and purpose-built. Logic Wireless’ Dealer, Alcom Communications in Rotorua, first engaged with Crankworx Rotorua for the inaugural event in 2015. Over their successful 10-year relationship, Alcom was able to deliver Crankworx Rotorua a bespoke solution that worked for the challenging conditions of the sites.

Vernon Douglas, Alcom Business Owner, says, “With the event being staged across two areas which have little or no cell phone coverage, radio communications were essential to the smooth running of the event. Our team worked closely with the Crankworx team to clearly identify the specific requirements and then fine-tune and improve them for successive events.” 

The Solution

A 10-year partnership and a new DMR Tier 3 network solution 

From the initial engagement in 2015, it became clear to Alcom Communications that repeaters in the Forest and Skyline sites were necessary to deliver the desired outcome of event safety and reliable communications. While this enabled localised coverage at each site, it did not provide coverage between the sites. This was workable, until 2024 when the Alcom Connect DMR Tier 3 network was used for the first time, delivering seamless coverage across both sites and the wider Rotorua area. 

Vernon says, “Alcom Connect, the DMR Tier 3 network, allowed a more tailored solution: Seamless coverage across six talk groups (channels) while also allowing key personnel to make one-to-one calls and radio-to-phone calls.”   

Photo Credit: Clint Trahan

The Outcome

The best comms yet

With approximately 120 Tait Communications TP9300 portables with ear-pieces, and Tait TM9300 mobile radios and speaker mics, Crankworx Rotorua’s Operations Manager, Tu Mutu, says, “The DMR Tier 3 comms were a game changer. Alcom’s support during thick and thin, through the successes and hardships over the last decade has been something we haven’t taken lightly.”

Looking Ahead: What does the future hold? 

Staging financially-sustainable major events, especially involving extreme sports is, as organisers say, ‘not for the faint-hearted’. Crankworx Rotorua’s comprehensive Safety Management Systems and Risk Management plans along with solid partners like Alcom Communications have meant the future looks bright for the event and Tu Mutu says, “We’re excited to deliver another outstanding event series across February and March 2025 and are stoked to continue ensuring that Aotearoa New Zealand is the first destination of the 2025 Crankworx World Tour.” Looking ahead, the Crankworx Rotorua team are planning on using Logic Connect to use GPS to track their fleet of radios in real-time.

Download Crankworx Rotorua Case Study

Photo Credit: Clint Trahan

About Alcom Communications

Alcom Communications is a radio communications and network specialist based in Rotorua and servicing the Central North Island since 1987. Their key focus is providing innovative communication solutions for enhanced safety and operational effectiveness. 

Alcom Connect is a DMR VHF trunked radio network providing coverage and service where existing phone and network provision is inadequate. The Alcom Connect Network provides seamless communications across the Bay of Plenty/Waikato, Gisborne/East Coast, and Napier/Hawkes Bay regions.

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