Surface 604 Shred vs. Trek Verve+

[arrowchild]

Hi everyone! I was looking into getting an ebike and I've narrowed it down to these two.
I'm mostly looking for a bike for urban commute, maybe some light errands, exploring the neighborhoods around 5-10 miles from home and such. My price range was about $2k for the bike alone, though the Trek is a few hundred above this. I've read and watched the reviews for them, and these two stood out because I prefer to ride in a more upright position, smooth and natural pedal assist, and hydraulic brakes, along with overall well-thought designs.
I liked the Surface 604 Shred over their other models because it doesn't have a welded-on rack, and I really wanted to add the Topeak MTX rack to the bike for quick-release trunk bags/rear baskets.

I have a slightly bad lower back, so I think the upright position is better for this than forward, but I'm not sure. My previous bike-related injuries were both from falling off the side of the bike and scarring my knees -- nothing serious, but I'm concerned about the ebike being a lot heavier than a normal bike (the Trek being lighter). To be fair, one of the bikes I had the injury on had a loose handlebar stem (so the steering had a delayed response) and I hit a curb, and for the second bike I was borrowing a friend's and she was much taller than me, so my ankle caught on the top tube of the frame while dismounting, causing it to fall over on me. So the Trek's step-through model does look pretty appealing to me.

I do have both Trek and Surface 604 dealers near me (10-15 drive), so I think direct service shouldn't be an issue, though I'm not 100% sure both are specifically knowledgable about ebike repair specifically. I do have many other local bike shops (that don't sell the brands but may be able to service), including ebike shops (though I'm not sure if they only service the brands they carry).

The main Pros for the Trek Verve+, for me, is the light weight, step-through option, and advanced pedal assist.
The main Pros for the Surface 604 Shred, for me, are advanced pedal assist, throttle option, and lower price.

Any additional input, including your own experiences with the bikes, are much appreciated!

 

[CodyDog]

Hi everyone! I was looking into getting an ebike and I've narrowed it down to these two.
I'm mostly looking for a bike for urban commute, maybe some light errands, exploring the neighborhoods around 5-10 miles from home and such. My price range was about $2k for the bike alone, though the Trek is a few hundred above this. I've read and watched the reviews for them, and these two stood out because I prefer to ride in a more upright position, smooth and natural pedal assist, and hydraulic brakes, along with overall well-thought designs.
I liked the Surface 604 Shred over their other models because it doesn't have a welded-on rack, and I really wanted to add the Topeak MTX rack to the bike for quick-release trunk bags/rear baskets.

I have a slightly bad lower back, so I think the upright position is better for this than forward, but I'm not sure. My previous bike-related injuries were both from falling off the side of the bike and scarring my knees -- nothing serious, but I'm concerned about the ebike being a lot heavier than a normal bike (the Trek being lighter). To be fair, one of the bikes I had the injury on had a loose handlebar stem (so the steering had a delayed response) and I hit a curb, and for the second bike I was borrowing a friend's and she was much taller than me, so my ankle caught on the top tube of the frame while dismounting, causing it to fall over on me. So the Trek's step-through model does look pretty appealing to me.

I do have both Trek and Surface 604 dealers near me (10-15 drive), so I think direct service shouldn't be an issue, though I'm not 100% sure both are specifically knowledgable about ebike repair specifically. I do have many other local bike shops (that don't sell the brands but may be able to service), including ebike shops (though I'm not sure if they only service the brands they carry).

The main Pros for the Trek Verve+, for me, is the light weight, step-through option, and advanced pedal assist.
The main Pros for the Surface 604 Shred, for me, are advanced pedal assist, throttle option, and lower price.

Any additional input, including your own experiences with the bikes, are much appreciated!

The bikes are very different from one in other (apples and oranges). One is a class I with 250w mid motor and the other is a class III with a 500w hub motor, front suspension and wider tires.

I really like the throttle. To me it's a major difference. I use it to start the bike rolling (especially on inclines) or just ride on throttle when I'm worn out. I don't think you can go wrong with either bike since you have local support.

 

[Deleted member 4210]

Wow, you really have an apples and oranges comparison there between those two ebikes. Other than price point, and your upright riding position, the differences are fairly distinct:

1. Shred has much wider 2.8" x 27.5 tires, that can pretty much go anywhere, vs the Trek which has pavement tires at only 700c x 45C width. (about 1.75")
2. Shred has a hub drive at 500 watts, and 750 watts peak. the trek is 250 watts. Though a mid drive can feel like it has more 'power' than a typical 250 watt motor, you'll never get much above 20 mph. The Shred can do 28 mph.
3. Yep, no mid drive from Bosch has a throttle, and the Shred does.
4. The Shred is a heavier duty frame with rather strong hydraulic brakes, and larger discs.
5. The front light on the Shred is very powerful. Though no tail light, which is easy to add with aftermarket, and even put on your Topeak carry bag on the rear.
6. Shred has 5 level assist. Trek 4 levels.
7. Shred adjustable stem is very heavy duty, and higher end.
8. a massive front suspension on the Shred, vs rigid front forks on the Verve (any bumps then its 'ouch')

They really are two very different bikes though designed for different purposes, so its almost not a fair comparison.

If you are planning mostly pavement riding, the Shred will be ok, maybe not quite as smooth as the Trek IF you are only riding perfectly smooth pavement, however, if you have rough or medium rough roads, risks of metal grates, pebbles, potholes, gravel, thorns, glass, or whatever your local roads throw at you, those 27.5" x 2.8" tires will certainly take a ton of abuse, and probably even prevent a bent rim, or worse being thrown from the bike if you hit a tall object or curb. The Shred at $2099 does come with a larger 14 AH battery, and its also at 48 Volts (672 Watt-hours of storage), whereas the Trek is only 36 volts and 400 watt hours. I'd save the extra $200 you'd spend on the Trek, and apply that to a suspension seat post for an awesomely smooth ride, and get the Shred for an all around multi-purpose bike you wont worry about taking anywhere, whether its pavement, gravel, trails, maybe even a few roads with gully washers when it rains heavily and you least expect it to.

(Out of full disclosure I am a Surface 604 dealer, but do also carry ebikes with Bosch mid drives.)(maybe the Trek dealer up the road from me, can add his two cents.)

 

[arrowchild]

Thanks so much for the information! I do agree that the Trek is a much steeper price for what it offers; I do live on a 2nd floor apartment, and have to carry my bike in every day (there have been many thefts in the neighborhood lately) and there is a >10 lbs difference between the two, but Shred does offer a lot more as a trade-off.

Is there anything worth replacing on the Shred specifically to make it lighter?

 

[CodyDog]

I'm not so sure cannibalizing the bike is a good idea. Unfortunately these bike weight a l ot. The lighter bikes will typically have smaller drive motors, batteries and possibly lighter frame materials.

You could take off the battery when taking it up stairs. That will reduce the weight 8-10 pounds.

The Treks are worth the money so don't thing it is less of a bike, its just not designed to do what the Surface does. As was pointed out, these are two different creatures.

 

[arrowchild]

Wow, I didn't notice that the battery weighed so much. I figured that the Trek wouldn't be able to handle rougher surfaces as well, but I thought it was more of a comfort thing that could be somewhat fixed with a suspension post, I didn't think about the capabilities of the wheels/tires themselves. Some of the pavement around my area is new, but a lot of it has big cracks and warping.
The Trek isn't available in my area until the end of August, so I can try riding the bikes then to get a better feel for them, but I'll keep all this info in mind!

 

[CodyDog]

Its hard buying your first bike. There's a lot of unknowns. The reviews that Court has done on the mane homepage are a big held as well as the forum.

Sounds like you may want a wider tire based on the conditions you post (2.8" to 4"). What's your budget?

 

[arrowchild]

Its hard buying your first bike. There's a lot of unknowns. The reviews that Court has done on the mane homepage are a big held as well as the forum.

Sounds like you may want a wider tire based on the conditions you post (2.8" to 4"). What's your budget?

My budget is about $2k for the bikes themselves, I'm trying to budget $200-300 for locks (because why get an expensive bike if you can't secure it), maybe a few hundred more for accessories (seatpost, rack, bags).

 

[dewayne]

@arrowchild which bike did you get?

 

[arrowchild]

@arrowchild which bike did you get?

Well, the single Surface 604 dealer in my area didn't have the Shred in stock, and I learned that if the dealer ordered it, there was no 1 week return guarantee. For some reason, that doesn't apply to the dealers, only the people buying online independently.

I went to the Trek store and tried the Verve+ and when lifting the bike, realized immediately that I definitely could not lift anything heavier. So I went with the Trek Verve+. Still hard to get up the stairs, it is REALLY heavy. And a HUGE frame. I replaced the quick-release skewers at the shop for security purposes, but it was really a struggle to fit it in the sedan, I ended up having to remove the skewer again to take a wheel off and (barely) fit it in the car. To be fair, my last bike was a folding bike so I'm used to the bike being half the weight and size, but this is big even compared to a normal bike. The tires for the Verve+ are wider than the ones on my folding bike, so I'm not too concerned about the "perfectly smooth pavement" mentioned in this thread, it's not like I'm trying to jump curbs. My lock is on backorder, so I haven't ridden it much yet (like I said, lots of bike thefts in the neighborhood recently), but let me know if you have any other questions!