2025 Surface 604 Colt Mid-Drive Review

With Spring lastly right here once more, I’m glad to be again within the saddle and have been spending practically six weeks with the updated-for-2025 Floor 604 Chilly mid-drive.

Sporting 130 Nm of torque-assisted energy from its Ananda mid-drive motor, the ‘25 Colt instantly rides as very like a sports activities automobile because it does a commuter ebike. One of the best half is that there isn’t a draw back. The truth is, the beefed-up Colt is just a few kilos lighter than its hub-drive outfitted alter ego, and at $2,500 USD ($3,500 CAD), the Colt is priced proper on the cash for the {hardware} it’s outfitted with.

Should you’re searching for a brand new ebike and contemplating the 2025 Floor 604 Colt mid-drive, these are the highest 5 issues you need to learn about it:

• The ‘25 Colt could also be the most effective bang-for-your-buck in its class – With high quality entry-level elements which are a tangible step above Chinese language-sourced generic copies usually shipped on bikes round this value level, the Colt delivers glorious vary, robust efficiency from the motor, and good unassisted rideability in a rider-centric package deal that’s extra bike than electrical bike.

• wBW estimated vary is roughly 50 miles / 80 km  – A giant 20 Ah battery paired with an environment friendly mid-drive motor will definitely get you a great distance, and the mixture is extra environment friendly than a hub drive configuration. Floor 604 claims as a lot as 65 miles, however these estimates assume little PAS engagement and nearly zero throttle.

• You possibly can simply hit 28 mph / 45 kph on throttle alone – Or, should you’re in a hill-climbing gear, you can sort out severe paved inclines with out pedaling. Add a little bit of pedal-power, and there’s nearly nowhere this drivetrain received’t take you.

• Made with a relaxed driving place and obtainable in two body sizes – And should you’re 5’4” to six’2”, you’ll take pleasure in it, too. Folks with decrease again issues will even recognize its upright driving posture, which doesn’t load the neck, shoulders, or decrease again. My L5/S1-herniated self enjoys this driving place.

• The Colt rides like a motorcycle designed by individuals who take pleasure in driving bikes – As paradoxical because it sounds, most “inexpensive” ebikes aren’t usually designed by bike fanatics. The Colt feels and rides like a motorcycle made by individuals who really experience them. The distinction in really feel and efficiency is important in comparison with the everyday D2C ODM ebike model.

Manufacturers like Floor 604 signify an necessary a part of the market: bikes made with high-quality name-brand elements, tailor-made geometry for a particular purpose, and priced between the bargain-basement ODM manufacturers and the costly fanatic manufacturers.

The 2025 Colt mid-drive is a wonderful instance of the kind of bike that North American riders will take pleasure in: a robust mid-drive that may transfer nearly anybody nearly anyplace, paired with a throttle, massive battery, and stable entry-level brand-name elements.

And, critically, your native bike store techs received’t hate you whenever you carry yours in for service. The Colt sports activities correct 27.5” wheels (as a substitute of 26” or 24” that ODM manufacturers like to ship with), and is made with easily-sourced components. This one received’t get torn aside on r/bikemechanics.

Phrases & Pictures: Cameron Martel

eBikes Calgary supplied us with a model new 2025 Floor 604 Colt mid-drive loaner bike. We would not have a monetary relationship with Floor 604 or eBikes Calgary. All evaluations are topic to our review policies. I’m an avid biking fanatic (each “acoustic” and electrical) and have hands-on reviewed more than 30 ebikes since 2021.

2025 Floor 604 Colt Mid-Drive Specs

• MSRP: $2,499 USD / $3,500 CAD
• The place to Purchase: Surface 604 USA (Canada: eBikes Calgary)
• Guarantee: 3 years on body, 1 yr on main components
• Prime Pace (locked to class 2): 20 mph / 32 kph PAS/throttle
• Prime pace (unlocked to class 3): 28 mph / 45 kph PAS, 20 mph / 32 kph throttle
• eBike Class: Class 3 out of the field, lockable to class 2
• Vary: Claimed 80 miles / 130 km (wBW estimated 50 miles / 80 km)
• Bike Weight: 67 bs / 30 kg (together with battery)
• Weight capability: 300 lbs (136 kg)
• Motor: Ananda M100BBTR 500-watt mid-drive
• Torque: 130 Nm
• PAS: Torque and cadence, 5 -levels
• Brakes: Tektro Auriga hydraulic brakes with 180 mm rotors
• Gearing: SRAM X5 10-speed
• Battery: 48V 20 Ah (960 Wh), UL licensed
• Wheels & Tires: 27.5” x 2.4” wheels with Panaracer/Floor 604 tires with puncture safety
• Different: Headlight, powered taillight, flip sign, electrical horn, adjustable stem, entrance and rear fenders, entrance/rear racks

2025 Floor 604 Colt Mid-Drive Aesthetics & Design

Getting a superb image of an all-black ebike in opposition to an all-brown and gray backdrop is tougher than you’d assume. Late March isn’t probably the most photogenic time of yr for central Alberta, however the Colt doesn’t appear to thoughts.

Its low-rise body isn’t fairly a step-thru, however can also be far decrease than a standard step-over body. This makes the Colt extra accessible for individuals with mobility or decrease again points. Nonetheless, if these issues are a big a part of your shopping for choice, you need to strive before you purchase, because the decrease step-over body remains to be not as accessible as a step-thru or low-step body (for that, take into account the Surface 604 V-Rook, the Colt’s step-thru sibling).

Dimension perspective: this rider is 5’8″

Each Floor 604 I’ve ridden has felt extra “like a motorcycle” than the everyday ODM bike-in-a-box, and the Colt is not any exception. I just like the discreet chainguard, central battery mount, and body geometry. I actually just like the suspension with 80 mm of journey and the height-adjustable stem. If this have been my bike, I’d pair it with a suspension seatpost and experience fortunately for a lot of miles.

Most of all, I like that the Colt seems extra like a motorcycle than an e-bike. None of its tubes are outsized, it rides on standard-sized 27.5” wheels and a couple of.4” tires, and it isn’t loaded with motorcycle-esque styling cues that attempt to make it appear like one thing it isn’t. Ditch the racks, and the Colt seems like some other hardtail that doesn’t scream ebike.

Suffice to say that I believe the 2025 Colt seems nice.

What’s the 2025 Floor 604 Colt Mid-Drive Prefer to Experience?

The Colt Mid-Drive’s Strengths

• Pair the fitting gear with the fitting PAS setting, and the Colt accelerates briskly
• You’ve got sufficient energy on faucet to go anyplace with pavement that you just’d need to
• The Tektro Auriga hydraulic brakes with 2-piston calipers cease the bike rapidly
• The Colt feels mild on its ft, nimble, and simple to maneuver
• Pedaling the Colt with out help isn’t rather more troublesome than a daily bike

The place it Might Enhance

• The inventory pedals don’t have a lot chunk to them, so your ft slip a bit throughout aggressive pedaling

Extra Element

I’m very a lot in like with this drivetrain. I do know the Ananda motor isn’t a extra identified title, comparable to Yamaha, Bosch, or Bafang, however my impressions with this motor on a number of ebikes have been good up to now.

The Ananda mid-drive motor makes gobs of torque, so it by no means appears like it’s out of energy or operating out of steam. Pair that energy with a very-solid SRAM X5 10-speed groupset (and an 11-36T cassette), and it’s not precisely a shock that the Colt is fast to speed up and comfortable to climb.

As with all Floor 604 ebikes, the Colt mid-drive makes use of a torque-sensing pedal help configuration. The Ananda motor gives intuitive pedal help, starting from ECO mode (PAS 1) to Increase mode (PAS 5). The show makes use of names (ECO, Tour, Sport, Turbo, Increase) vs. numbers to indicate the PAS stage, which I discover much less intuitive at a look in comparison with numbers.

Cyclists and folks entering into ebiking who need the bike to really feel as pure as doable will benefit from the torque sensor’s configuration. Within the ECO mode, mild pedaling is met with a slight nudge in help, good for sluggish crawls, comparable to navigating bollards on a cycle path. In Sport and Turbo modes, the Colt is able to go, and your pedaling is met with a swift shove ahead.

The general impact is akin to feeling like I think about Superman should when he sits on a motorcycle: you have got tremendous energy everytime you need it, however can select to be calculating and exact in how it’s utilized. It’s an amazing feeling of management and functionality.

The motor briefly cuts out energy whenever you shift gears, stopping pointless put on on the chain. Different high-powered mid-drives I’ve ridden have executed the identical, together with the monstrous 160 Nm Bafang M620 on the Himiway Cobra. It takes a bit to get used to, particularly should you dwell in a hilly space, however when you study to account for the drop in energy, it’s a nothingburger.

Floor 604 has securely mounted the shift sensor on the decrease proper facet of the body, simply behind the crank and motor. It’ll generally lower energy over massive bumps, however not practically as typically as different shift sensor bikes I’ve ridden, together with the beforehand talked about Cobra Professional.

Regardless of a hefty 20 Ah battery and steel entrance and rear racks, the Colt feels nimble and spry when it’s in movement, particularly in comparison with its fat-tire-equipped friends. Should you aren’t somebody seemingly to make use of the potential afforded by fats tires, ditching them in favor of extra sensibly-sized tires pays off dividends when it comes to agility, stopping energy, and common responsiveness. That is doubly so should you wish to pedal vs. let the motor do all of the be just right for you.

You nearly neglect that all the ensemble weighs a hair beneath 70 lbs, which is heavy for a motorcycle and considerably mild for an ebike with this measurement of battery.

The body has minimal wobble or flex, and the brakes cease you in a rush, each qualities that encourage confidence that you may hoon this bike should you needed to —and the Colt needs you to.

With the above qualities in thoughts, you’ll be able to recognize that it’s considerably paradoxical that the Colt comes with lazy swept-back handlebars. Whereas comfy, these bars take away from the management you have got over the bike. It’s simply physics, in any case: by offering you with a relaxed upright driving posture, your middle of gravity has a tangible rearward bias.

That is hardly a grievance, by the best way, because it’s trivial and cheap to alter the handlebars to one thing extra suited to your driving type if the inventory ones aren’t for you. I must also remind you that the Colt was designed to be a day by day commuter, not a tarmac-tearer, so the cozy bars can be seen by most as a characteristic moderately than a bug.

I make a degree of spending as a lot time driving with the motor off as I do with it on. More often than not, ebikes are laborious to experience with out the help of their electrical motors. At 70 lbs, you definitely really feel the load of the Colt in comparison with a lighter “acoustic” bike, however driving the Colt powered off isn’t practically as unhealthy as you’d anticipate.

The driving place is conducive for successfully placing energy by the pedals, so whereas the Colt is heavier than the everyday bike, it doesn’t really feel as if it’s working in opposition to you… which isn’t one thing that the majority ebikes at this value level can say as soon as their batteries are lifeless.

Once more, an instance of how one can inform that Floor 604’s designers experience the bikes they design.

The one factor I believe the Colt may do higher is ship with higher pedals than the inventory WELLGO’s it comes with. Flats that had a bit extra chunk to them would make pedaling the Colt even simpler, however once more, these are a straightforward swap.

2025 Floor 604 Colt Mid-Drive Construct High quality & Parts

A $2,500 ebike coming with a pleasant 10-speed groupset and brand-name elements is already considerably unusual. The very fact is, most new ebikers don’t know sufficient to know what they don’t know, and it’s this viewers that the majority D2C ODM manufacturers are concentrating on with their merchandise.

Floor 604 doesn’t fall into that lure, as a substitute specializing in the fitting geometry and brand-name elements up for the duty. The result is a motorcycle that not solely feels extra put collectively and simpler to experience, but in addition a motorcycle that’s easier to service with components which are domestically obtainable.

In that respect, Floor does a rise up job right here: each element on the bike, together with the battery, might be changed with off the shelf components simply present in North America. Even the battery makes use of a regular mount, which facilitates substitute sooner or later ought to the necessity come up.

The 6 PAWL rear hub, for instance, is a extra sturdy design in comparison with a typical (and cheaper) torsion hub, leading to much less drivetrain slippage and an extended anticipated service life. The wheels spin with ease, and the click of the bearing is kind of satisfying – and in addition not one thing you’ll see (or hear) on a dropshipped ODM bike.

Brakes

Tektro Auriga hydraulic brakes with 180 mm calipers do a high quality job of stopping the Colt. In fact, when bikes are north of 70 lbs I’m fast to remark that larger rotors could be welcome, and whereas I believe that each bike wants larger brakes, the Colt’s inventory setup performs properly.

Each brake levers incorporate motor shutoff switches, killing motor (or throttle) output must you have interaction them. Positioning is sweet, and they’re simply accessible and reachable. The mirror proven within the picture above is an add-on and doesn’t come customary with the Colt, by the best way.

The brakes really feel punchy and have plenty of grip, even after repeated stints making an attempt to induce brake fade. Some brake fade was noticeable after a number of 45 kph to 0 brake assessments, however even then, it was negligible. I really feel fairly assured with this brake setup.

Motor, Drivetrain, & Groupset

The SRAM X5 10-speed groupset is a wonderful complement to the Ananda mid-drive motor and is a stable piece of package. You would swap out the cassette for one thing with extra climbing means should you actually needed to, however I’ve not encountered a (paved) hill that the Colt wouldn’t readily and simply climb. Even on throttle alone, the Colt is comfortable to haul you up that hill.

The X5 system is pretty tight, all issues thought-about, which is necessary on a mid-drive that includes a shift sensor. Else, the chain and derailleur bouncing round would throw the sensor and lower energy in conditions that don’t warrant it. Fortunately, not one thing I’ve skilled throughout my diversified check rides.

I significantly just like the multi-downshift functionality provided by the X5, which reduces how lengthy it takes to drop to the fitting gear when climbing hills. You can even shift with out pedaling – simply have interaction the throttle and shift usually – and the X5 has no qualms about it.

General, I’m more than happy to see the Colt outfitted with a succesful 10-speed groupset that lets the mid-drive showcase its torque.

Suntour XCT30 Suspension fork

The Suntour XCT30 is a coil suspension fork with 80 mm of journey and a fast launch hub. I’m a giant believer in air suspension every time doable, however anticipating a superb brand-name air fork with out bumping up the worth is a tall order. And apart from, the XCT30 performs very properly within the areas the place the Colt is designed to be ridden.

Paired with a suspension publish, the experience is remarkably comfy and nonetheless fairly compliant.

The XCT30 permits for preload adjustment, in addition to full lockout if desired. Left totally open, there’s some suspension rock with aggressive pedaling, however in any other case it’s only a comfy and comparatively clean experience. Dialing in some rebound tightens it up, however I discovered that I used to be comfortable to easily depart the suspension huge open. Certain, it makes pedaling a bit much less environment friendly (particularly up hills), however that’s what the motor is for, proper?

Wheels & Tires

Thank the ebike gods that Floor 604 had the foresight to equip the Colt with correctly sized rims and tires. Many D2C manufacturers ship with 24” or 26” wheels, typically stacked with fats tires, and that’s not a configuration that’s precisely frequent in North America. Changing odd tire sizes is usually costlier than extra standard sizes.

The Panaracer-built tires are particularly designed for Floor 604 and have further puncture resistance, which ought to give riders added confidence on the highway, particularly when making an attempt to attain the claimed 80 miles of vary.

Traction on the highway is nice, however the tires come up missing in filth and gravel. Given the decidedly on-road tread sample, this shouldn’t be a shock, however if you would like a motorcycle that may additionally deal with trails, you’ll need to look into tires with a extra common tread sample. Floor 604 has choices right here should you’re eager, and the Colt would shred most singletracks if outfitted with the fitting tires.

Show & Settings

The show is legible in most conditions, nevertheless it additionally suffers from glare in direct mild. It’s simple to learn, however I would like a show that gives a stable PAS stage quantity moderately than named variants (comparable to ECO or Tour, versus PAS 1, PAS 2, and many others.). That is simple to get used to, however should you’re swapping between bikes, this nomenclature is usually a little unintuitive.

The show can also be lacking some info I’d wish to have included, such because the time of day. And if I’m being choosy, I’d moderately see battery life as a share vs. bars.

Lastly, the show can also be comparatively small. In some respects, this discreet issue helps the Colt not resemble an e-bike, however however, it makes it more difficult to see the battery stage or distance traveled at a look.

So whereas I discover the colour show legible and simple sufficient to learn, I choose the bigger and extra intuitive shows that Floor 604 equips its different bikes with.

Equipment

The entrance and rear racks are customary, but in addition simply detachable. If you wish to load up the Colt with some gear, comparable to a DSLR bag with matching gear, the Colt has bought you coated. Each racks are fabricated from hefty steel and really feel safe, with the rear rack welded to the body and the entrance connected through 4 bolts.

The fenders are a skinny steel (vs. cheap-feeling plastic) and do their job properly. I rode by some contemporary snowmelt and solely bought just a few drops up my again… chalking that up as a win!

The Colt additionally comes with a powered LED headlight and taillight, in addition to a bell. The lights are good and brilliant, with the taillight mounted on the rack to maintain the strains clear.

Opponents

The Colt is without doubt one of the few bikes with its characteristic set at its value level, however there are different choices to think about as properly.

• Biktrix Stunner SO 6 – $2,350 USD ($3,000 CAD) – Has a better wattage mid-drive and a much bigger battery in comparison with the Colt, however an inferior cadence pedal-assist system and solely 50 mm of journey from the suspension fork.
• Trek Dual Sport+ 2 Stagger – $1,500 USD ($1,900 CAD) – Smaller battery, no throttle, and no suspension fork. Lighter and sleeker than the Colt, but in addition slower and fewer succesful.
• Priority Current – $2,500 USD (not obtainable in Canada) – Smaller battery, related motor wattage, with a belt drive and a set fork. Sadly, no throttle. An ideal bike, although.

Is the 2025 Colt Mid-Drive the Finest Commuter Bike Below $2,500? I Assume So.

What prices beneath $2,500, makes 130 Nm of torque, and is made for individuals who like to cycle? That’s proper: the 2025 Floor 604 Colt mid-drive.

Are there higher bikes? For more cash, sure. Usually, rather more cash.

Are you able to acquire related on-paper specs from abroad ODM manufacturers for a lower cost? Sure, however all of them include generic elements and design compromises.

The very fact is that there are only a few bikes that straight evaluate to or compete with the 2025 Colt, and those that exist require you to make concessions when it comes to value, elements, assist, or all three.

The Colt is without doubt one of the greatest bang-for-your-buck bikes at present obtainable available on the market from a model with 10+ years of historical past and a longtime vendor community.

To summarize: the Colt mid-drive is a feature-rich, well-equipped commuter that has tons of energy and glorious driving dynamics. That is the ebike that everybody on Reddit asks for, however fails to appropriately establish. That is the bike that everybody who needs a quick, mid-drive, throttle-equipped ebike that may additionally haul 300 lbs of rider round is virtually begging for. 

Effectively, right here it’s: now get out and revel in it!