Boar E350, E-bike, Electric, Electric Bicycle, Fat Bike, Surface 604 - March 15, 2016

Surface 604 Boar E350 utility E-bike

Fat tires shine as one ventures to the beach (click to enlarge).

What is it?

The Surface 604 Boar E350 is a fat bike with electric assist designed to get you riding around town more on your daily activities. Picking up some groceries, running errands, dropping off some packages, carrying your surfboards to the beach are all fair game for this fun utility bike.

It powered by a 350 watt Bafang torque sensing motor so it is a no-fuss assist bike that will give you an extra push when you need it. There are five levels of assist that manage the amount of pedal ‘matching’ power that it delivers and the maximum speed that it will keep delivering power at.

It is a fat bike so it is heavy at 57 lbs and very stable and comfortable with its 4 inch tires. It can handle rough roads, dirt roads and sandy terrain with ease. Using fat tires allows the rider to dial in the comfort as well as pressures down to 10 psi can be used for comfort and 20-30 psi for speed.

How can we say no? (click to enlarge)

How is the power?

The 350 watt motor hauls this heavy bike + rider with ease. On flat ground, it accelerates quickly to max governed speed of 20 mph. At that point, the rider is working with just a light/medium effort at the highest level and it is difficult to maintain over 20 mph on human power alone when the motor cuts off past 20 mph. Thus it’s best to use lower levels of assist to get a better workout on flat ground.

On short hills, the Boar E350 can get up them with ease with the rider and motor delivering power to the big tires. But long hill climbs are not its forte though (as with many hub motors) as the motor can bog down at low speeds and overheat and shut down for a few minutes.

Hauling a trailer is no problem (click to enlarge).

What fat tires?

The concept of an e-fat bike is a bit of an enigma as a fat bike is typically slow and an e-bike is usually a fast efficient commuter. So we anticipate this to be more of a fun, utility bike that is comfortable and stable. The big tires offer lots of traction so it’s pretty capable on sand, snow and rough terrain.

The interesting discovery is the slowness of the fat bike is negated by the assist motor. This bike is just fast and capable and the 20mph max laws negate the speed advantage that smaller tires would have provided.

So there are benefits to it with the downsides being shorter range (40 miles) and added weight (57 lbs) when moving the bike around.

The downtube is very stout (click to enlarge).

How was it to ride?

It was fun to cruise around everywhere on this bike. It just gets up and goes and it’s just fun to get on the bike all the time and explore. Commuting to work too is a cool option that is quite entertaining with a bike like this.

The frame and fork are pretty harsh as they seem to use thick tubing. But the are plenty strong and stiff and comfort can be dialed in with low pressure on the 4 inch tires.

The real opportunity for this bike is to accessorize it with the optional racks so it can really carry more cargo and be used on more trips and errands around town.