Surface 604 Blog

There is no better feeling than hoping on a bicycle and going for a ride. I chose my fat tire electric bike specifically for the vast possibilities it provides me as a rider. Living in Calgary, (a city that sees almost 8 months of ‘winter’ weather) it seemed to be an easy choice; a bike that makes riding on snow easy...it was a no brainer. It wasn’t until a friend invited me out to Kelowna for spring break that I thought about riding my bike on a beach. Kelowna’s untamed nature speaks to my soul. Its vast landscape and rolling...

O.K… we hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you haven’t checked this week’s weather forecast for Calgary..we are sorry to tell you that we are in for some snow. As Calgarians, we should be used to our flip flop one day, winter boot the next, kind of weather; yet somehow, it is still so disheartening. Some might think that this means we need to hit the pause button on our evening family bike rides, or resort back to the carpool lane instead of our beloved bike lanes, but this just isn’t the case. Riding a fat...

Buying a new bike’s always a big decision, and purchasing a fat bike’s no different. You could just walk into a shop and start asking questions, but you won’t get far unless you’ve got a solid idea of what you’re looking for. First, you should at least understand what your own needs are. Beyond that, you should know a few of the basic features of fat bikes. By asking yourself the right questions and learning what makes fat bikes special, you’ll wind up fat and happy with your purchase. WHAT KIND OF TERRAIN ARE YOU GONNA SLAY? Start by asking...

Spring is the season of new beginnings. Fresh buds bloom, animals awaken and the earth seems to come to life again. It is my favourite time of year because everything is so fresh and full of life. The longer days and warmer weather means it is time to turn off Netflix, put away your heavy winter coat and get outdoors and welcome the seasonal changes. One of the first things my family likes to do on a warm spring evening is get out on our bikes and hit the local trails. Our northwest Calgary community, has some amazing paths that...

We’ve all heard that not having a car is one of the best personal things you can do for the environment. We’ve all probably heard too that bicycling is a great alternative. So what about electric fat bikes? How do they fit into the picture? Year-Round, Gas Free One study out of Sweden showed that one of the biggest impediments to cycle commuting is something pretty much unavoidable: winter (although with global warming, we might be seeing less of that). The paper, which was published in Transportation Research, concluded that improving the level of winter maintenance on bicycle paths could...

Fat tires are typically about 4” in width – twice the width of an average mountain bike tire. Riders in Alaska are often given credit for inventing the first fat bikes, using them to improve traction in snowy conditions. Since then fat tire bikes have grown in popularity and people have been discovering all kinds of uses for fat bikes. Fat tires hold a huge volume of air, and unlike smaller tires, you can run them with very low pressure (5lbs or even less) without fear of having the rim bottom out and puncture the inner tube or tire itself....

Like many, I’ve become increasingly conscious of my carbon footprint over the past few years. I can actually pinpoint when my personal paradigm shift occurred. It came about 2002 when an old college friend gave me a book called “The Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists”. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Like a child (or conveniently under-informed undergraduate engineer) I had imagined that someone was in charge, that there were smart people in lab coats somewhere who would prevent humanity from destroying itself. My own naiveté makes me shudder....

Fat tires let you bring your bike places you couldn’t go before, opening up all kinds of possibilities for recreation. And with all of the incredible stretches of wilderness that North America offers, you can up with some incredible extended adventures. For these amazing outdoor adventures fat bikes are the only rides that will take you everywhere. They may not be the fastest or the lightest, but they will take you wherever your heart and legs desire.Before you start dreaming up your fat bike tours, though, make sure you have the equipment to make them happen. 1. Grippy Tires HÜSKER...