Surface604 Boar Explorer Review 2024

Our review model of the Boar is spec’d with an upgraded 48V, 20Ah (960Wh) battery. Stock, the bike comes with a more standard sized 48V, 14Ah (672Wh) battery which should alone yield good battery range. But our upgraded option really put up impressive results.

In PAS 5, the bike’s highest assist level, the Boar went for 35.18 miles before running out of battery. In PAS 2, the second lowest assist level, our test rider made it 50.78 miles before dying.

Both of these results are great, and as to be expected of a bike with an upgraded battery. The PAS 5 result in particular is impressive. Few other bikes we’ve tested — to be exact only six bikes — have gone further than this one in their max assist setting.

As far as battery upgrades go, this one is a pretty good deal. The 20Ah battery tacks on an additional $300 to the overall cost of the bike, which is fairly low when compared to battery upgrade options offered by other brands that can run two or three times that amount. So is it worth your money? I’d say yes, it’s a relatively affordable price for a battery large enough you really won’t have to worry about range.

On our test hill, the combination of the Boar Explorer’s relatively low weight, its torque sensor and that torquey Bafang rear hub motor made for a nice climbing e-bike.

We did two tests on our test hill Hell Hole, a one-third of a mile long steep section of bike path with an average gradient of 12 percent. Our first test was using the Boar’s throttle only, which brought me up and over Hell Hole in 1:31.00 with an average speed of 11.9 mph. Our second test, in PAS 5, yielded a time of 1:13.00 with an average speed of 15.9 mph.

Both of these results are really solid, especially for an electric fat bike equipped with a 500W rear hub motor. Most of the e-bikes we review in this class — affordable electric fat bikes — utilize a 750W rear hub motor, the largest you can legally fit onto an e-bike.

But the Boar, with its smaller motor, put up times and average speeds up Hell Hole that are competitive, if not quicker than, many of those bikes with larger motors. This is likely due to the Boar’s comparably low weight of just 50 lbs. For an electric fat bike, which we’ve seen weigh in at 80 lbs or more, the Boar is a featherweight. This undoubtedly gives it a leg up on hills, despite using a smaller motor.

It’s also likely due in part to the Boar’s torque sensor, which feels really responsive to hard pedaling. All I had to do was keep a consistent tension on the pedals in the PAS 5 test to feel like I was getting 110 percent of the 500W motor’s power.

The Boar Explorer comes stock with a set of Tektro Auriga hydraulic disk brakes with 180mm rotors front and rear, a solid brake choice from a name-brand manufacturer we know and trust.

In our brake test, where we bring the bike up to 20 mph and stop as hard as we can five times, the Boar Explorer performed well, coming to a stop in an average distance of 16-feet-3-inches. That’s just a hair (two inches) longer than the average braking distance of all the e-bikes we’ve reviewed thus far.

For all intents and purposes, the Boar Explorer’s result is almost dead average — which in our book makes it a solid stopper. During testing, the Boar felt very stable and controlled, even under the hardest of braking conditions. The 4.5 inch fat tires did skid, but the back end did not swing out and the bike tracked straight until coming to a stop.

Four piston hydraulic brakes may have yielded a shorter stopping distance, as the Tektro Aurigas are two piston models, but I think they do the job just fine.

The Boar’s cockpit is nicely put together, with a full color LCD display from Bafang, a thumb throttle (which I always prefer) and an overall clean finish.

Like many of Surface604’s e-bikes, the Boar Explorer is geared towards larger riders between 5-foot-8-inches and 6-foot-6-inches tall. That’s perfect for me at 6-foot-1-inches, but smaller riders should take note of the sizing before ordering.

Handling wise, the Boar explorer definitely feels capable off-road. It feels stable and balanced, and the aptly-named Maxxis Colossus 4.5-inch tires have a massive amount of grip.

As I pointed out before, the Boar Explorer comes stock with a rigid fork. I’d very much argue this was the right call, as it keeps the front end of the bike feeling stable and stiff. Surface604 said they deliberately opted for the rigid fork as the stock option on this bike. It keeps the cost low, and the cheap suspension forks we see on most fat bikes at this price point really only detract from off road performance. They tend to be wallowy, and have little to no fine adjustment for things like rebound, compression and small bump compliance.

There is an option to upgrade the fork on this bike should you want something for a little more aggressive off-road riding. Surface604 offers the Wren inverted fork as an optional upgrade, which is a truly well equipped suspension fork specifically designed to handle the hefty tires and weight of fat bikes.

I love seeing companies design e-bikes that have a very specific purpose. E-bikes have certainly helped with the “one bike to do it all” conundrum, making it easier for one type of bike to accomplish more tasks, but I’m still a firm believer that there is no such thing as one bike that can do everything.

Instead, I prefer e-bikes designed and purpose built to be very, very good at one specific thing.

The Boar Explorer was built with the goal of being very, very good off-road, and I think Surface604 did a great job in hitting that mark.

It’s remarkably light at just 50 lbs, making it maneuverable and even a little more nimble than some others in its class. The torque sensor helps you stay in control of the 500W motor in tighter terrain, giving the bike a powerful yet harnessed feel. And finally I think Surface604 did a great job with this bike’s geometry, clearly designing it with the intention of off-road stability and performance.

I’d also like to give Surface604 kudos for fighting the urge to fit this bike with a cheap suspension fork, which I’m sure many people reading this review are going to have questions about. Fitting this bike with a cheap fork would have only detracted from its off-road capability. Sticking to a rigid design, which inevitably introduces a slightly rougher ride but retains the bike’s stiffness, handling characteristics and long-term durability, was a bold move.

All in all, I’ve been very pleased with how the Surface604 Boar Explorer stood up to our testing. It proved to be a solidly built and uniquely capable off-road electric fat bike.

If you like the Surface604 Boar Explorer, it can be bought on their website and shipped to your door. Or, if you’re near a Surface604 dealer (there are now lots of them) you can go in and test ride a bike and buy in person.

‘Happy Riding, make sure to let us know if you have any questions down in our comments section or if you think we left anything out in this review of the Surface604 Boar Explorer.