New water bike company launches on Okanagan Lake

It’s a bike and a boat.

Coldstream residents and founders Matthew and Courtney Schanche, with Facundo Rodriguez recently launched a new company out of Lake Country featuring Brazilian-made water bikes.

For the last three years, Matthew and Courtney have done anything they can on Okanagan waters and decided they wanted to encourage more people to get on the water, Matthew said.

They recently launched their new business Kelowna Water Bikes with four of the unusual banana-looking bikes called chiliboats.

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“We started looking at ways to do that, that was interesting and fun and different than some of things that were out there,” he said. “These ones stood out to use because they’re really fast and they’re stable and safe.”

“It actually allows you to go quite a long distance, it would be essentially the same amount of effort on the water… and we noticed that nobody offers anything like this in the area, Schanche said.

Riders use their feet, similar to bicycle pedals, to move them forward and power a propeller.

As of this summer, they’re currently renting the boats at 11446 Okanagan Centre Rd W but are hoping to expand to Kalamalka Lake and further into Kelowna.

So far it’s been a slower start to the business with the wetter weather, but they said they're open and available for bookings through their website.

“We keep taking them out just as our own fun little activity as it involves some exercise and it’s really fun to get people’s reactions,” he said.

People will often approach them and ask what the boat bikes are.

The cost to rent one for one hour are $40, $75 for two-hour rides, and $140 for four hours and a sun-set ride for an hour and a half costs $75 each.

The brand is popular globally including at Disney resorts, he said.

To find out more and book a rental, visit Kelowna Water Bike’s website.

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