Surface 604 Blog

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...

This started as an FAQ entry because we’d had a lot of great questions about the “torque sensor” on the new bike, but it got pretty long so here it is, posted in the Bike Garage. The decision to build the Boar with a torque sensor was based on our past experience with cadence sensor bikes – we think both have their merits, but after riding the Boar with the torque sensor, it was a clear winner for us: we like to “ride”. For further reference go to ElectricBikeReview.com. The Torque Sensor senses how much “torque” or “force” you apply to the pedals, with...

This installment of “Friends” takes us to Calgary, Alberta where Wendy M. is now the proud owner of a new Boar E350. High-five Wendy. Our first Friends post had Dwight W. from Massachusetts in the spotlight, and we described an inspiring story about how our bike’s electric assist gave a young-at-heart man with a history of health issues the freedom to stay out of the hospital. Freedom is a theme that’s so inseparable from biking – not just ebiking – that I say we stick with it. Consider these two “freedoms”: the freedom to keep up on the family bike rides and...

 “I was 61 when I purchased my Surface 604 – I never thought I would ride a bike again. I went for a sixteen mile ride the other day, it keeps me positive and that helps keep me out of the hospital.” — Dwight W., Massachusetts, USA   We didn’t design our line of electric bikes with ‘freedom’ in mind, freedom was more a consequence of our design: fat tires that take you anywhere in any terrain; electric assist that eliminates things like sweating and fill-ups; racks and towing capacity that let you haul all the stuff you need. In...

If you’ve been checking out some of the videos and imagery we’ve posted, you may notice that sometimes we’ve swapped out a few parts, like handlebars, from the stock bike that’s shown in the product pages of our site. Fine-tuning the cockpit of your bike – changing the riding position to suit your body, your needs and your style – is as old as biking itself and can make the difference between a bike you LOVE to ride and a bike that might feel a little neglected over time. Ebikes have the advantage that you don’t have to worry as much...

At Surface 604 we get people riding. We provide freedom to put a little lifestyle in your commute. A paddle board has never been easier to carry! Go ahead, pack your lunch and catch a perfect sunset out on the water. Enjoy a comfy ride on Surface604 bike to the lake, take an inflatable puddle board with you. It's so easy transport it with your electric bike! You can head out for a relaxing paddle on a calm lake, river or catch waves on the ocean.

 I was there for the planning of the trip to Naramata. I recall talk of wine-tasting tours by ebike and a plan to use the bikes to haul the ISUP’s down to Okanagan Lake for a morning paddle. I was the one who suggested riding the ebikes on the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR), an abandoned railway that stretches hundreds of kilometers and is a popular attraction for riders and hikers. I’d ridden stretches of it many times a few years earlier during a summer I lived on the Bench in a fruit picker’s shack at Tightrope Winery  The smooth, low-angle rail...