A serious e-bike brand, stuck on a platform that wasn't built for them.
Surface 604 is a Canadian electric bike company known for rugged, trail-capable builds — fat-tire cruisers, cargo bikes, and high-torque commuters designed for the terrain and weather Canadians actually deal with. They sell direct-to-consumer and through retail partners, with a loyal following and real product depth across multiple categories and configurations.
Like many growing brands, they'd built their online store on Shopify — the fast, obvious choice early on. But as the product line grew and the business scaled, the limitations became expensive: monthly platform fees, transaction cuts, template constraints, and a backend that belonged to Shopify, not them. Every customisation meant workarounds. Every new feature meant another app subscription. The site looked like a Shopify store because it was one.
Industry
Electric bikes — direct-to-consumer e-commerce, Canada-wide with international reach
Starting point
Shopify store with growing platform costs, limited customisation flexibility, and no ownership of the backend
Project scope
Full custom website build + purpose-built backend system to replace Shopify entirely
Outcome
Zero platform fees, complete code ownership, a site built around the brand — not a template
Replace Shopify — without losing what it was doing right.
Shopify exists because running an e-commerce store is genuinely complex. Inventory, orders, variant management, payment processing, shipping logic, customer accounts, discount codes — it handles a lot. The brief wasn't to throw that away. It was to own it instead of renting it.
The new system had to match the operational reliability Surface 604 depended on, while unlocking everything Shopify wouldn't let them do: a visual identity that was fully theirs, a product browsing experience built around how customers actually shop e-bikes, and a backend they could work in without paying per feature.
And the site itself needed to earn the product. Surface 604's bikes are built for people who take their riding seriously — the website had to show that at first glance, not bury it under generic storefront templates.
- Monthly platform + transaction fees eating into margin
- Template-constrained design — looked like every other Shopify store
- Features locked behind third-party app subscriptions
- Backend owned by Shopify, not Surface 604
- Limited control over checkout and conversion flow
- No platform fees — costs reduced to hosting and infrastructure
- Fully bespoke design — built around the Surface 604 brand
- Every feature built in, nothing bolted on
- Complete code and data ownership
- Checkout and buying flow built exactly as needed
Built from scratch. Built to own.
We designed and built the entire platform — frontend and backend — as a purpose-fit system for Surface 604. That meant no templates, no theme editors, no Shopify liquid. Every screen, every interaction, and every admin tool was built to spec.
- Custom storefront, brand-first — the visual design was built around Surface 604's identity: rugged, confident, performance-forward. No Shopify design language, no compromise on layout or typography.
- Product catalogue built for e-bikes — variant-rich product pages (motor size, battery range, colour, configuration) with a browsing architecture designed around how people actually shop for an e-bike, not how Shopify organises inventory.
- Purpose-built backend system — a full admin panel for inventory management, order processing, product updates, and customer records. Built for the team that actually uses it — no Shopify dashboard, no third-party apps.
- Payment and checkout integration — custom checkout flow with integrated payment processing, built to Surface 604's exact requirements rather than Shopify's standard flow.
- Shipping and logistics logic — Canadian shipping rules, carrier integrations, and delivery options built directly into the platform — not managed through apps.
- Customer accounts and order history — full account system for repeat customers: order tracking, purchase history, and support requests, all within the custom platform.
- SEO and performance foundation — semantic markup, structured data, fast load times, and a URL architecture built for search — not constrained by Shopify's defaults.
A site and system Surface 604 actually owns.
The new platform replaced Shopify entirely. Surface 604 now runs their entire e-commerce operation on infrastructure built for them — at a fraction of the recurring cost of their previous setup. The site reads like a premium outdoor brand, not a storefront template. And the backend gives their team full control without paying for every feature.
Zero platform lock-in
The entire codebase — frontend, backend, and data — belongs to Surface 604. No Shopify, no monthly platform fees, no dependency on a third-party service to keep the store running.
Meaningfully lower costs
Platform subscription fees, transaction percentages, and app subscriptions replaced by a single, predictable hosting cost. The savings compound over time.
A design that matches the brand
Every pixel built to spec. No template constraints, no Shopify visual language. The site looks and feels like Surface 604 — because it was built exclusively for them.
Full backend control
Inventory, orders, products, customers — managed through a custom admin system built around how the Surface 604 team actually works. No third-party apps, no workarounds.
We were paying Shopify every month for a store that still didn't look or work the way we wanted. Now we have exactly what we needed — and it's ours.
— Surface 604The brand in the wild.
Surface 604's content speaks for itself — riders in forests, trikes against bold murals, bikes loaded onto boats, assembly lines overseas showing the scale behind the brand. A visual identity strong enough to carry a social feed without needing captions to explain it.
The shipped scope.
- Custom storefront — homepage, collection pages, product pages, and supporting pages designed and built from scratch.
- Product catalogue system — multi-variant e-bike browsing with filter, sort, and comparison architecture built for how customers shop the category.
- Custom backend & admin panel — full inventory management, order processing, product editing, and customer management built as a purpose-fit system for the Surface 604 team.
- Checkout & payment integration — custom checkout flow with integrated payment processing, built to spec rather than Shopify's standard.
- Shipping & logistics system — Canadian carrier integrations, shipping rules, and delivery options managed natively within the platform.
- Customer account system — registration, login, order history, and tracking — all within the custom platform.
- SEO foundation — schema markup, semantic structure, performance-optimised images, clean URL architecture, and OG / Twitter cards.
- Content management — CMS tooling for the team to update products, promotions, and content without developer involvement.