Hello from Orange County California!

[OC eMTB]

Hello Friends! I moved to California just over a year ago and decided to buy an ebike. There are so many trails out here that I've caught the bug pretty fast.

I'm currently just on a budget ebike that I'm using way past its capabilities I think. now that I have a love of trails, I'm looking for a true eMTB within my budget. Deciding between the new Aventon Ramblas or Trek Marlin+6 or 8. I'd love to find a used Specialized Turbo Levoy Alloy in my budget.

I look forward to learning a lot from you folks as I continue my progression into MTB!!

 

[uspsa2011]

Welcome bruddah! I frequent Santiago Oaks hope you enjoy their trails!

 

[RustyIron]

Welcome, from behind the Orange Curtain..

 

[Paulquattro]

Welcome

 

[FjClay]

Welcome

What size Levo are you looking for? I have an XL Alloy Comp that could be for sale and I’m in Orange County.

 

[OC eMTB]

An S3. I'm 5'9 178lbs

 

[FjClay]

An S3. I'm 5'9 178lbs

I have an S5, too bad. Good luck, there’s lots of sales going on now.

 

[Twindaddy]

Welcome bruddah! I frequent Santiago Oaks hope you enjoy their trails!

Santiago oaks! My local trails

 

[dcpatters]

Great to read about local e-bike members in Orange County. I’m in Laguna Hills and cycle, almost daily, over to Aliso Woods or Laguna canyon. If you see an Avocado Green Heckler, most likely that’s me.

 

[OC eMTB]

Great to read about local e-bike members in Orange County. I’m in Laguna Hills and cycle, almost daily, over to Aliso Woods or Laguna canyon. If you see an Avocado Green Heckler, most likely that’s me.

Nice area you're in. I haven't ventured over that way yet. Most of my riding has been on the trails in Whiting Ranch and Portola Hills. I'm Looking to head over to the Borego Park trails soon. Laguna canyon after that!

 

[jeanmarc]

Welcome to the forums you lucky Californian..!
My 2 cents is whatever you do, go Full Suspension on the eeb.

 

[DogRanger]

Rancho Santa Margarita here. Ride O'Neill to Whiting Ranch, Caspers Park, into the Cleveland Nat'l Forest, etc, all without ever having to put the bike in a car or spend much time on pavement. I live here for the trails.

A good way to check out the local trails and do charity work at the same time: Home - Good Dirt Ride

FYI: You'll see more Specialized bikes out here than any other single brand, probably because of the local dealer support.
If you get the bug, the road riding out here is also terrific.

 

[Rod B.]

Hello Friends! I moved to California just over a year ago and decided to buy an ebike. There are so many trails out here that I've caught the bug pretty fast.

I'm currently just on a budget ebike that I'm using way past its capabilities I think. now that I have a love of trails, I'm looking for a true eMTB within my budget. Deciding between the new Aventon Ramblas or Trek Marlin+6 or 8. I'd love to find a used Specialized Turbo Levoy Alloy in my budget.

I look forward to learning a lot from you folks as I continue my progression into MTB!!

View attachment 136451

OC eMTB,

Welcome to the sport. Orange County has some excellent riding. If you are looking for riding partners or wanting to learn about new places to ride, shoot me a message. I've met a lot of great riding partners via this forum.

Aventon and Marin would not be my choice for an eMTB. The Specialized Turbo Levo makes an excellent choice for a first eMTB. The Turbo Levo tends to tick all the boxes and you can easily grow into the sport of mountain biking with the bike and advance your level of riding with a few mods to the bike, i.e. brakes and suspension.

Were I you and looking to buy a new/used eMTB, I would begin to "demo" various brands of bikes. This will give you an excellent understanding of the differences between various bikes and how each brand's bike has it's own unique characteristics due to the geometry of the bike frame, battery size and motor power. Renting an eMTB for the day affords you the ability to ride a top tier eMTB without forking over thousands of dollars. Once you ride a bike that you like, you can go out and buy the same eBike used.

"Pink Bike" is an excellent website source for mountain bike information and has a used bikes and parts for sell section.

Results for

Explore our listings of used Ebikes - Mountain for sale. Pinkbike hosts the largest directory of Ebikes - Mountain listings.

www.pinkbike.com

"Pro Bike Supply" is located in Newport Beach, 353 Old Newport Blvd, Newport Beach, Ph # (855) 777-2453, and has an excellent inventory of rental bikes. The shop is also close to Aliso Woods, Laguna and Crystal Cove riding areas. You can rent the bike in the morning and drop it off post ride on the drive back home.

Pro Bike Supply

Specializing in high end custom mountain, gravel, road and tri bikes along with the best selection of premium parts and service.

www.probikesupply.com

 

[OC eMTB]

Welcome to the forums you lucky Californian..!
My 2 cents is whatever you do, go Full Suspension on the eeb.

Thanks. I am heading in that direction. Some of these current sales are making it really hard NOT to make that jump.

 

[RustyIron]

Thanks. I am heading in that direction. Some of these current sales are making it really hard NOT to make that jump.

Hey, OC.
Often I feel that buying a bike is like playing roulette. You take a fat wad of cash, put it on a particular bike, and pray for the best. But putting your money on a hardtail eMTB isn't a smart bet. The cool thing about Amish hardtails is they can take off like a rocket ship. That's not even a consideration on an eMTB--they all take off like rocket ships, even the long travel ones.

The downside of hardtails is that they're harsh on the little stuff, and it takes a VERY talented rider to take it over the rough stuff. I'm not that talented, so I'm just speaking hypothetically. But even for average jamokes like me, the full suspension allows us to ride trails where we would otherwise flounder, and at the end of the day, we're not all beat to hell.

OC is the Land of Milk and Honey for bike shoppers. We have a lot of great dealers, and plenty of bike companies have their regional headquarters here. You have lots of choices.

 

[Litespeed]

Hello Friends! I moved to California just over a year ago and decided to buy an ebike. There are so many trails out here that I've caught the bug pretty fast.

I'm currently just on a budget ebike that I'm using way past its capabilities I think. now that I have a love of trails, I'm looking for a true eMTB within my budget. Deciding between the new Aventon Ramblas or Trek Marlin+6 or 8. I'd love to find a used Specialized Turbo Levoy Alloy in my budget.

I look forward to learning a lot from you folks as I continue my progression into MTB!!

View attachment 136451

You do know that the fun trails in the OC are off limits to ebikes, right? Only the bike ways. I'm sure not everyone is adhering to that but a ticket is expensive. Very sad for me as I got an ebike looking forward to going up there from San Diego to do Irvine Ranch (santiago oaks) and Aliso.

 

[dcpatters]

You do know that the fun trails in the OC are off limits to ebikes, right? Only the bike ways. I'm sure not everyone is adhering to that but a ticket is expensive. Very sad for me as I got an ebike looking forward to going up there from San Diego to do Irvine Ranch (santiago oaks) and Aliso.

Technically this is correct, but park rangers have accepted that class 1 e-bikes are here to stay.

From my experience, Rangers at Aliso, Laguna, Quail Hill / Bommer have not been enforcing the rule or issuing fines.

I road Friday mornkng, and all I saw were e-bikes. Moreover, a Ranger drove passed me on Wood Canyon, waived and said “enjoy your ride”. From 2017-2019, it was a different story.

 

[Litespeed]

Technically this is correct, but park rangers have accepted that class 1 e-bikes are here to stay.

From my experience, Rangers at Aliso, Laguna, Quail Hill / Bommer have not been enforcing the rule or issuing fines.

I road Friday mornkng, and all I saw were e-bikes. Moreover, a Ranger drove passed me on Wood Canyon, waived and said “enjoy your ride”. From 2017-2019, it was a different story.

Thank you for the update!!! I know there is movement afoot to fix the ebike thing. My thought is that people are conflating the 'three kids on a class 3 ebike zipping around on sidewalks' to class 1 and 2 pedal assist.

 

[RustyIron]

You do know that the fun trails in the OC are off limits to ebikes, right? Only the bike ways. I'm sure not everyone is adhering to that but a ticket is expensive. Very sad for me as I got an ebike looking forward to going up there from San Diego to do Irvine Ranch (santiago oaks) and Aliso.

How much was the expensive ticket you had to pay? What agency cited you? Unless you were being unreasonable, the cop really must have had a stick up his ä🫏šś.

Once I had a "discussion" with a ranger in LCWP about the legality of eMTB's. We didn't come to an agreement, but we parted ways and I continued my ride. More often than not, I'll just wave and there is no drama. That's been the limit of my personal interaction with the popo regarding eMTB's.

Before you come up here to ride, check out Trailforks to be sure of where you are. Santiago Oaks is pretty much a free-fire zone for eMTB's. I'm serious, I'll bet there are more eMTB's than Amish. But The Oaks is NOT Irvine Ranch. The land belonging to the Irvine Ranch Conservancy isn't public. They open to the public one day a month. If you set foot on their land any other time, they'll know about it and there is a good chance you'll be apprehended. I've never seen anyone riding there illegally because the risk/reward is too high.

Anyway, that's my thoughts on it. I hope you come up for The Oaks. It's like a bike park that is make specifically for eMTB's.

 

[RustyIron]

My thought is that people are conflating the 'three kids on a class 3 ebike zipping around on sidewalks' to class 1 and 2 pedal assist.

I'm afraid that's probably the case. When we tell people we ride eMTB's, most of them think we're hanging out with little kids riding on the sidewalk.

 

[OC eMTB]

Hey, OC.
Often I feel that buying a bike is like playing roulette. You take a fat wad of cash, put it on a particular bike, and pray for the best. But putting your money on a hardtail eMTB isn't a smart bet. The cool thing about Amish hardtails is they can take off like a rocket ship. That's not even a consideration on an eMTB--they all take off like rocket ships, even the long travel ones.

The downside of hardtails is that they're harsh on the little stuff, and it takes a VERY talented rider to take it over the rough stuff. I'm not that talented, so I'm just speaking hypothetically. But even for average jamokes like me, the full suspension allows us to ride trails where we would otherwise flounder, and at the end of the day, we're not all beat to hell.

OC is the Land of Milk and Honey for bike shoppers. We have a lot of great dealers, and plenty of bike companies have their regional headquarters here. You have lots of choices.

Appreciate the feedback, thanks. At this point, I think I have decided to go for a full suspension bike.

 

[Litespeed]

How much was the expensive ticket you had to pay? What agency cited you? Unless you were being unreasonable, the cop really must have had a stick up his ä🫏šś.

Once I had a "discussion" with a ranger in LCWP about the legality of eMTB's. We didn't come to an agreement, but we parted ways and I continued my ride. More often than not, I'll just wave and there is no drama. That's been the limit of my personal interaction with the popo regarding eMTB's.

Before you come up here to ride, check out Trailforks to be sure of where you are. Santiago Oaks is pretty much a free-fire zone for eMTB's. I'm serious, I'll bet there are more eMTB's than Amish. But The Oaks is NOT Irvine Ranch. The land belonging to the Irvine Ranch Conservancy isn't public. They open to the public one day a month. If you set foot on their land any other time, they'll know about it and there is a good chance you'll be apprehended. I've never seen anyone riding there illegally because the risk/reward is too high.

Anyway, that's my thoughts on it. I hope you come up for The Oaks. It's like a bike park that is make specifically for eMTB's.

You assume to much. I haven't gone up to the OC since I got my ebike because I was told the trails were off limits. I see by this thread that whereas the county of OC may have that opinion, it's not enforced. Been to santiago and aliso on the analog bike.

 

[RustyIron]

You assume to much. I haven't gone up to the OC since I got my ebike because I was told the trails were off limits. I see by this thread that whereas the county of OC may have that opinion, it's not enforced. Been to santiago and aliso on the analog bike.

Well then it's about time to point your truck north for some more adventures Behind the Orange Curtain. If the coppers give you any flak, just tell 'em you're from down under and aren't familiar with the ways of the Northmen. If you haven't done it already, San Juan is one of our more interesting trails, and it's a lot closer to you than The Oaks or Aliso. it's a little more serious, too, but it sounds like you're an experienced rider. Roger Ranger hasn't banned eMTB's in the Santa Anas, so you needn't be concerned.