Brown’s Bikes

The bikes are very nice. We rented electric bikes for the day and they beat a 40.00 per hour golf cart. Electric bike at 45.00 for the day is well worth it.
My low stars are due to the woman that works there and rents the bikes. crabby old unhappy with her job lady. You work on an Island thats beautiful! enjoy it!

Do NOT rent from this place! I saw on Unilocal that the reviews were pretty good, so I decided to stop here for my bike rentals. I was asking questions relevant to renting and payment, and the woman who helped me at the counter was so incredibly RUDE! I could not believe the customer service that I was getting. If I wasn’t short on time, I would have just walked away and found a different bike rental shop. I did end up taking two of their regular beach cruisers, which were $ 8/​hr. As I was riding, I found another location more centrally located in town (I think Catalina Golf Cart Rentals & Tours?) that was only $ 5/​hr. I also spoke to the people who work there, and they were so incredibly nice. Their beach cruisers also come with baskets, which Brown’s do not. I regret giving any money whatsoever to Brown’s bikes.
To Brown’s: This was on Feb 21, around 12 pm. Get rid of her or train her on how to treat customers. When tourists are coming around, and this mean old lady is what you get, it gives us an extremely poor impression of locals on Catalina.

The employees are RUDE! Yelling at customers… We walked up to the counter and the employee decided to just yell at my 19yr old daughter assuming she wasn’t of age to rent a bike. She also decided to yell at my husband who was there to pay we will NEVER go back to you folks. This company needs to educate their employees that its customers that keep them business and pays their bills!

We rented 2 electric bikes for the day. Highly recommended means of transportation. Get there right when they open. It’s only $ 45 for th entire day, while a golf cart is 40 – 60 for one hour.
The bikes are fast and plenty of power for going up step hills. My fiancé and I toured the entire island in 2 – 3 hours that includes stops and a lunch break. I’m about 180 lbs and she’s about 100 lbs and the bikes had plenty of power up all types of hills however she would smoke me up the steep hills because of her weight. We recommending getting sandwiches at café metropolitan, then taking the bikes up to the wrigley botanical gardens.
The staff here was friendly and helpful. Gave us brand new bikes. We also recommending swapping out the batteries half way through, you’ll notice a decrease in power when battery life is at 50%. You have to wear bike helmets so prepare for the humor that comes along with that. Enjoy!

Not a bad deal, got two mountain bikes for the whole day for $ 50 all together and road around the whole city of Avalon, it’s a lot of work to ride the hills up but going down is a blast!

$ 8 per hour to rent beach cruisers. This island is very bike friendly so I recommended doing this! One hour was plenty of time to bike to Wrigley Memorial, then to Casino Point and finally to Lover’s Cove. You get a map of the town on areas you can bike to with your rental.
Note 1: Minimum charge for credit cards is $ 24.00. Otherwise, you better have that cash handy!
Note 2: Get there early if you want to rent a mountain bike or electric bike. They were both all rented out by 1:30pm on a Friday.

Definitely rent electric bikes while on the island, it’s worth it! You will not need more than 2 hours to see the Avalon area.
Cons: bike seat would not stay in place. We had to stop numerous times to fix it and even crashed along the way.

They did not have any charged electric bikes left when I got there, so I waited for one to charge. The lady was a bit rude about it. Then, the man came up and was even more rude, talking to me as though I were stupid for thinking that there were no bikes ready and insisting that he had the real info. The electric bike ride was awesome though!

What a bad way to end our trip!!! My boyfriend and I decided to explore Catalina further and the electric bikes rentals seemed like a promising, exciting way to do so.20 minutes through the trip the «fully charged» bike died on him so he had to peddle the entire way down the hill and through town. We arrive at Browns 30 minutes into our one hour time frame to explain what happened and get our money back, but the kid refused to do so. So… we take two bikes back 30 minutes early and we don’t deserve a refund? And how is it our fault that the bike died? He told us we should’ve called the number on the map, but the woman who rented us the bikes failed to give us one before we left or let us know what to do if there were difficulties. And on top of everything else, the guy at the window had the audacity to give us attitude as if it’s our fault! Unbelievably terrible service, rent your bikes elsewhere!!!

Wow! what a pair knuckleheads working at the front desk. they acted like they were doing us a favor by renting out bikes. the bikes that don’t make it around the island in one charge. But their attitude come from the owner as we first called to see if they had anymore available and she was not much better than the two behind the counter. their are other electric bike rental companies close by. we tried them out the next day and are sooo sorry we did not stop there first.

Ride like a power-​rider! Get electric bikes here and cover the WHOLE ISLAND!
Anthony gave us the quickest instruction and best service, make sure to leave gratuity.
Stay open later. That’s my only suggestion to Brown’s.

We stopped here on a recommendation from a local when we grabbed lunch. Seems to be plenty of options when it comes to bikes but let me say this.. .. an electric bikes is the only way to view the island. We were astonished to see the mad dash for folks off of the boat to get golf carts. Seems as if the carts sell out everyday. My wife and I were so glad we opted for the electric bikes from Brown’s. Going of the hills is a snap and the views were amazing. As we stopped at different look out points, others in golf carts were inquiring on the bikes.. .. you could tell regret was in the air. Bottom line — electric bike the island (assuming no younger kids) and Brown’s does a great job.

This company provided the bikes for our tour around the city. They were pretty good bikes– and I was not afraid that they were going to break down. Their prices are great, and the guys are friendly!
They are located right near the port and not hard to miss.
Nothing more that I can say lol!
**adding on: I failed to mention that if your bike does break down or becomes uncomfy (too small seat, can’t adjust the seat height etc) give them a call and they’ll come and bring you a new one. **

Pedal assist bikes were a great idea! It gives you the option to do the work or flip a switch and have your energy matched. Totally worth it! I’m definitely up for a challenge, but didn’t want getting wiped out to interfere with continuing our adventure and I wasn’t sure how strenuous the roads would be. Not too challenging, but for someone who doesn’t ride regularly, some of the uphills might be frustrating. The pedal assist was a great option. Super fun!
It was recommended to my husband and I to rent some bikes to explore the island. Definitely was a fantastic recommendation. The staff was kind, helpful, and patient even when I asked a lot of questions. My husband rented for a couple hours and I got the birthday deal. It was so great we ended up extending our rentals for the whole day! From what I understand, this is THE bike rental place to really explore. Go early, before they run out!

Check the map, the area in Catalina you can ride cruiser 6 speeds bike is so limited. I would say 1 hr is pretty enough. Whole day is kind waste of money.
If you are more adventurous as me… go with the mountain bike.
We went with the 21 speed mountain bike (all day $ 25)
She suggested us taking the route from Lovers Cove to the Edison power plant (this part is flat and level) and up to Mt Ada and down back to the fire station. This route is under «Advanced Rider», very steep hill, Mountain bike only, no cruiser.
It’s not as scary as it looks from the bottom, doable.
However, riding cheap mountain bike (Trek Navigator 3.0 and Gary Fisher) were really a challenge. These two are so heavy. Gears were not super smooth but alright. Seat was comfortable but somehow I felt the seat post just kept lowering after adjusting.
I think their cruisers are in better and newer condition.
So many golf carts drive passed us… some even cheering for me saying: you can do it!!!
The view from Mt Ada looking down casino Catalina was amazing. And all the downhill from there was easy.
I think if you only have limited time, doing this route first.
We took a break just cruise to the Casino Catalina and Descanso Beach then started again riding to Wrigley memorial and Botanic garden. This one is less steep but it was hot and I was already tired.
We rented the bike from 11am and returned it at 4pm. Not enough time to try out the west side of the map.
They told us no need to lock the bike, if bike got stolen just call them and they will deliver another one.
Catalina is pretty safe for bike riding too.
P.s you will need one out of 3 item for deposit: return ticket, credit card or ID.

Friendly nice service. Did the birthday special but it only works for one person. Pay for the first two hours get it for the rest of the day free! (Bummer it closes at 5 pm though so get on this deal early)
Beach cruisers single rider $ 8 per hour so we paid $ 16 for my mom.
I paid $ 20 for the entire day
The bikes with the basket are the best. Don’t need bike locks which is awesome. You can just park your bike wherever and if someone takes it just give them a call and they’ll bring you another one. Perks of living on an island.
Also ask for a free bottle of water if it’s your bday!

$ 15/​hour for e-​bikes, $ 45 for the day. Pretty easy to use but definitely not for kids. Helmets are required b/​c CA state considers e-​bikes motor vehicles. There are two modes — one is full electric power (no pedaling necessary), and the other is pedaler-​assist (required to use when going up hills so the bike doesn’t burn out). The pedaler-​assist seemed to go faster than full electric. The bike shoots forward which can be a bit alarming at first. If you aren’t acquainted with bike gears, make sure to ask because there’s some motherfriggin’ steep hills that will burn your thighs! I learned the hard way. Everyone else was pedaling uphill easily, and I was getting the workout of my life!
Brown’s is one of the first stores on the left when you get off the ferry (across from the basketball court). E-​bikes are an inexpensive way to check out the lay of the land and have a little fun.

Fantastic experience! I was really pleased that they pro-​rated the cost of the rental when we returned our bikes. We were expecting to pay for the entire second hour, having exceeded our minimum 1-​hour rental, but we were only charged for actual time.
We rented two bike cruisers (at $ 8/​hour each) and they worked great, including climbing up slightly steep roads on first gear past the botanical gardens. The staff member gave us a very colorful map showing the recommended bike paths as well as areas that were more challenging and areas to avoid all together.
I’m 5’2″ and I’m glad they had a cruiser short enough for me with a minimum of tiptoeing required. We showed up without prior calls or reservations and they had plenty around 11am during Monday of Memorial Day weekend.
They give out free helmets, but we opted to go without.
If you lose your bike, they claim you just go back to the office and get a new one and they deduct the time spent on this. And you don’t get charged for someone stealing your bike. I guess because they could catch the thief pretty easily, ‘cuz who steals a bike off an island?

I rented a beach cruiser bike for the day and called one hour before I had to return the bike to see if I could rent it for another day and keep it over night and they said they would report the bike as stolen and were not flexible at all. Decent bike and horrible customer service.

It is conveniently located next to the Catalina ferry landing in Avalon. They offer bike rentals on an hourly basis and for an entire day. They carry electric bikes, beach cruisers and mountain bikes. You will certainly need electric bikes and mountain bikes to explore further in the island. But, if you simply want to go to the gardens and bike around the Avalon bay, beach cruisers are the way to go. Helmets are included along with the rental prices.
Avalon has back racks at every nook and corner and with a bike rented from Brown’s Bikes, you don’t need to lock your bikes at all. They even give you a map with all the streets that are bike friendly and the streets that you bike on, depending on whether you rent an electric one or mountain bike or the beach cruiser.
The rental experience and bike returns were simple and efficient.