Arbutus Routes

Best ride experience. Booked 6hr private guide. Got taken to all the good stuff, really progressed my riding in a safe and challenging environment. Don’t think about it, just book a guide and get shredding.

Friendly and effortless bike rental with high quality bicycles. Rented an ebike and a gravel bike, which allowed us to comfortably ride several kilometers and see a lot of the whistler surroundings within one day! Definitely a good recommendation.

This was my third trip with Ali and Lizzie of Arbutus and it was every bit as magical and exhilarating as the others. Even got to ride ‘Lord of the Squirrels’ with ‘Ninja Lake’ added on for good measure. We took in some of the best that Whistler, Squamish and Pemberton have to offer, building on skills as the days passed. They have an extraordinary knowledge of the trails and terrain and knew when to stop to look at a feature and when to ride on. Company was delightful and the whole experience was uplifting. Came back a better rider than I arrived.
Can’t recommend them enough

I knew shyte about Downhill MTB'ing (still don't, really) prior to arriving at Whistler so my experience with Arbutus started with a bunch of reviews as I looked for the highest rated shop. Low and behold, I quickly booked what I though I needed, and the website worked so well, I booked for the next day instead of the day of my trip, which was over 2 months in the future. Alistair (Ali) was a jewel of guy and cleared up my snafu quickly.

We arrived, and stop by the shop the night before our rentals were to take place. Ali was there and helped us in person quickly realizing that I had booked the wrong style bike for the bike park. Yes, you guessed it. Ali promptly fixed my second mistake and got us on the proper bikes. Got us ready to tackle Whistler mountain bike park for the first time.

Bikes were top class, expertly set up, and Ali, and his team at Arbutus were the foundation of our wonderful day.

Can't say enough about how great Arbutus was for us. Book without hesitation, and you will receive top-notch equipment, best in class customer service, and great post-ride beer recommendations.

Wish I could give 10 stars!

Matias was a wonderful Coach, he try to understand my skill level through observation and lead me to be successful at the bike park.
Thanks for the great coaching!

It was a great experience! We did a eMTB tour with Matias around Whistler. We rode through nice ways, Lost lake, Green lake and were able to see surroundings of Whistler. He chose nice routes adecuate for our MTB level, both up and down hills! We really enjoyed the tour!

This was our second year renting Enduro bikes from Arbutus, instead of flying our own bikes out to Whistler.

First off, the customer service was great, as before. Issues that came up were aknowledged and rectified quickly.

We rented two SB160s for 8 days over two weeks. The first week our bikes performed brilliantly, as expected. However, the second week we had a few issues that required swapping bikes twice, which resulted in some delays to riding plans. Unfortunately these were mechanical issues that should have been caught beforehand, which is why I've given 4 stars. These issues included a stuck fork damper that was in need of a service, a torn front tire that should have been replaced, and a very loose bolt in the rear suspension linkage that should have been caught and torqued as part of bike inspection/prep. Each issue was quickly dealt with when I brought in the bikes, but we would have preferred not needing 3 different bikes over 4 days!

That being said, I'd like to say that we received good service other than these issues. Anna was wonderful in sorting out some modifications to our rental bookings. Alex was great mechanic and ensured that my third bike of the second week felt awesome and got me through our final two days riding Squamish and the bike park. Finally, Austin went above and beyond when we caught him after hours (mix up with the shifted closing hours) and he provided ad-hoc mechanic service to reinstall the linkage bolt in order for me to ride the bike back to our accommodations without wearing through the seat stay.

All in all, Arbutus is a great shop with incredible bikes (that SB160 is one incredibly capable bike for both park and pedal days!) and great customer service. We will be back next year, just hopefully sticking with one bike for the duration!

Great experience. Rented two Yeti SB160s for the flexibility to climb trails and ride the bike park. Thank you Mathais for the terrific tour of two parts. A great intro of the green trails at Lost Lake for my newbie wife, and then giving me the confidence to tackle the black trails on Black Comb.

Excellent bikes and great guided rides. Sam was a very nice guide and gave good instructions for the singletrack and the bike park.

We had the most fantastic week, Lizzie was an amazing guide and coach. We saw all the best tracks in Whistler, Pemberton and Squamish and the bike park. Didn’t waste any of our time trying to work out the best routes - Lizzie took us straight there! Stopped at all the good spots for lunch and ice cream too! The staff at Arbutus Routes really looked after us with any mechanical problems - we were in great hands all week - best holiday experience! Would book again for sure!

Had an awesome coaching experience with Matthias. Even though the mtn closed the lifts at the beginning of the coach session, he made the most of it, and we still managed to learn tons and was an excellent way to start off our time in Whistler. All the staff at arbutus routes were super awesome too. Would 100% recommend!

We had a great half day guided tour/lesson with Val and Matthias. We had an adult and five kids of varying levels, and Val and Matthias were excellent in getting everybody the right amount of help and splitting people by experience and comfort level. We would highly recommend Val, Matthias and Arbutus Routes to anybody visiting Whistler who wants to do some riding, find some new trails and get some tips!

My wife and I had a great week in Whistler thanks to Arbutus Routes We had high quality Spezialized bikes for trailbyking and Yeti bikes for the park. With Sam we had a great single trail day in the woods around Whistler. Sam is a super friendly guide who assessed our level quickly and well and planned the routes appropriately. Thanks a lot Sam and Arbutus Team! Immediately again!

Nice bikes and wide selection to choose from, no complaints with my rental.

However, staff by and large seemed indifferent and were not particularly engaging. Also disappointed that an online booking discount is offered, but with the (hidden until actual booking) caveat that 32 hours notice is required to do so. Other shops offer this sort of arrangement without this loophole.

EDIT: Thank you for the response. I did not intend to accuse you of anything shady and understand that bikes do need some prep time. It would be great if we could book online with a cutoff of some time the night before! Maybe 9PM or midnight?

Well, a great bike shop does not need "Bike" in the name. Had to deal with a rear shock issue and, right off the bat, the staff was willing to lend a pump and expertise without any money changing hands. I can tell that this is the spot to roll into for service and gear, nice small shop, packed with all the best goodies in stark contrast to more visible shops in the village. I ended up buying a great Top Peak pump for my shock that can take the higher pressures needed from my weight and I found the cost to be reasonable. We headed back to grab a new helmet for my kiddo and also found the cost/selection to be solid. If you are looking to rent, I was also impressed with the options on deck, especially their Yeti fleet that can take the hits from this huge hill. I recommend making the hike up to Blackcombe base.

Excellent service! Saved my whistler trip. Not a single shop in whistler was willing to take a look at my bike and wanted it booked in 1 to 2 days later. The team at Arbutus freed up shop time to get me back on the trails and riding right away, despite being fully booked. Thanks for everything guys!

Alastair and Austin were guides on a 5 day trip that me and 3 of my friends took. They were both extremely knowledgeable of the Whistler and surrounding area trails. Both led with great attitudes and bike skills. More importantly, Alastair and Austin were extremely conscientious about safety. I highly recommend them.

The 8 year old—who is very into trail biking— gives the bikes and Coach Sam 5 stars for a “very cool” 3 hour bike tour. Booking the tour and looking at bikes beforehand- like a few days earlier— is a good idea. The tour director very diplomatically helped the 8 year old pre-choose the right bike. This company does tailored bike tours very well.

Really accommodating help you with absolutely anything got all the parts mechanics really helpful highly recommend.

Had a great experience with Arbutus. Did a 3 day rental of a Yeti SB160 enduro bike for the Whistler bike park. The bike was in perfect shape and set up for me. I also had 2 half days with their guide Sam. He was Awesome! I improved so much during my time. He got me over my fears of drops and got my speed up in berms. Would recommend him to everyone.

We had a fantastic experience with the team at Arbutus. We rented high quality mountain bikes from them and also lined up two separate coaching sessions in the bike park for me and my 11 year old son. Coaches Sam and Lizzie were awesome! Everyone was friendly and helpful in the shop. Alastair made sure we had a great experience. Highly recommend!

Overprice rental bikes, and they don’t disclose the insurance cost of 35 per bike until the very end. It end up costing 275 per bike for one day. Be aware

Alastair and Austin recently guided us on a 5-day trip that included riding in Whistler, Squamish, Pemberton, and the Whistler Bike Park. While we primarily spent time with Alastair, both guides were excellent. They far exceeded my expectations and essentially served as personal coaches, greatly improving my riding skills. Both Alastair and Austin had fantastic personalities and maintained a light and enjoyable atmosphere throughout the entire week.

After a brief jump class at the park, Alastair had us confidently going down A-line and successfully clearing most jumps. Without his guidance, I would never have attempted it on the first day at the park.

I highly recommend their services and will definitely request them again when I return to B. C.for more riding!

Just got back from a trip planned by Chase epic. The owner in organizer tried his best to ruin our trip. The guides from Arbytus routes, Alastair and Austin saved the day. They did an amazing job at keeping us safe while completing trails we never thought were possible. Instruction was next level. They made the trip fun and the teaching and coaching was well beyond expectation. Whatever they are being paid, it’s not enough. I can’t say enough about the guides. We truly appreciated their teaching and making the trip fun.

They were able to work on and fix my sons bike 1st thing. We were on the lifts way before noon! Great service and friendly staff.

Signed up for a half day tour with Jaime and had an excellent time! He took me on some great trails and gave me lots of helpful tips and tricks - now I can come back with more skills then I started with!

Great guided tour by Sam. Explored all the trail networks with fantastic views and back country riding