Surface 604 Blog

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...

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...