ChrisCH

Yes, very much so. Most industrial products like paint and so on have (or their ingredients) been tested on animals at some point. Which is much more unpleasant than just eating them.

Oil and its derivatives (petrol diesel etc) is plant based.

The EM has traction control on most the new models. https://trialworld.es/tienda-trial/en/productos-trial/2702-electric-motion-escape-2022-traction-control.html

By a strange coincidence we bumped into a friend last night at the (mountain)bike shop. Her son is a good trials rider and is at Inch Perfect this weekend to try the new Factor-E. She thinks they (Inch) might let him have a deal on a bike to showcase it. I have asked for a full report so will post up if we get to know anything.

I think the prices have gone down a little. The cost issue was not helping develop a big market for the electric bikes versus the ICE competition. I am still keen to see what the other brands come out with. Both GasGas and Yamaha have stuff in the pipeline.

It is £9,300 in GBP which is less than the Escape. A new KTM EXC 250 Six Day is £10,550. If I sell my TRS and my Honda CRF I could afford it. (Or the wife's Ducati....)

Available to pre-order today. Not as much as I expected. My piggy bank might get a raid 😁 https://inchperfecttrials.co.uk/products/2025-em-epure-factor-e-1-8kwh

Wow. That sounds like a great facility. The Vertigo would be a nice choice if they are able to do the repairs and services.

This is just marketing. A 300cc trials bike is a high end competition bike.

Which bike is really very personal, but the 300cc bikes are more difficult to learn on as they are very powerful. If that is the only option then you will have to accept you will find it a little more difficult at first. All 4 options are good and whatever you buy will be a good bike, just a bit more difficult to learn than - for example a 125cc. It will be much more important that you have somewhere to ride and someone to help you learn. You can find a lot of good instruction on YouTube but having a good rider to watch you makes a big difference.

300cc is a lot of bike. I am sure you would be OK if you have riden MX, but it does make the learning more difficult. The Gasgas (with an aftermarket low compression head insert fitted after you buy it) would be my choice if you cannot find a smaller engine bike where you are.

X11 is OK for UK. It reads "US and Canada" next to the offroad bit.

I agree 100% with your post. However to the OP I would say you are getting tied up in knots over just a few kilos. A decent modern bike is about 68-70Kg and the Mechatechno is 60Kg and (I think) the lightest option of all. Unless the bike falls on top of you you will not really notice much difference. If you have a bad back it will be technique and skill that will have the biggest effect, not the weight of the bike. Most people, for example, when they first start try to pull up the bars to lift the front wheel and that can stress the back muscles. Once you learn to let the engine and clutch do the work it is no stress at all. Try to get a ride on a good 250 and I think you will be pleasantly surprised. But yes a 125 is a good bike if you can pick up a good one. Much easier to find a 250 that has had an easy life. If you can afford it and buy new the Mechatechno (10 grand) is an amazing thing, my missus has an electric (EM) and they are really, really good. If money were no object that (Mechatecno) would be my choice.

Based on smell rather than an accurate survey I don't know of anyone using castor in anything other than a few old bikes like BSA. Our last trial was 80 riders and not a whiff of castor exhaust fumes. I can't think of any reason to use rubbish old technology other than nostalgia for the distinctive smell.

One of the reasons modern cars are going this way is more computing built into the system. It is not a saving on the cost of physical hardware, but making a system where the mechanic and repair shop have to buy in the software to do the repair. Without the software you cannot "tell" the vehicle it has been repaired so it isn't. This means the vehicle owner must use a repair/service outlet that has the software and you can licence the software only to dealers in your brand of vehicle. BMW are pretty much at that point already. It is very refreshing that in trials both Vertigo and EM offer the engine mapping software to the owner and end user. In the pedal cycle world the lack of compatability between motors/versions and batteries is a real problem forcing 'scrappage' of working machines that cannot be upgraded. It is all driven - as you rightly say - by the profit motive and a total disregard for the environmental cost.