ChrisCH

Missus' 2021 epure race. I fitted a new chain and set it up like every other bike I have ever done - one finger gap between the spring adjuster and the swinging arm. Now it has a squeak - like a dry brake squeak which seems to come from the output sprocket at the motor end. We have both ridden it for a while but it is still there. Brake is fine and has not been touched, not had the back wheel out. No play in wheel bearings or gearbox output shaft as far as I can detect. I have backed the tension off a bit and the noise has gone. Squeak was in time with wheel rotations so it is somewhere or somehow related to that. My guess is a wheel bearing, but there is no play at all, sound seems to come front of chain (but I know sounds like to play tricks on you). Any one have a thought? I will change the wheel bearings as my next move but grateful for any input.

I put this in Beta as it mostly covers that brand but some feedback on other brands included. Its YT but audio only. Really interesting point about the 250cc standard versus factory models. Well worth 20 minutes of your day to listen to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ3Cq76bWzA Interview with Ray Peters - Beta Team Manager and Trials Coach (USA)

On my MTB wheel building course we were taught to lube the thread to assemble the wheel. The explanation was that a dry thread might require different force between individual spokes to achieve the same tightness. I have no idea if that is correct or sensible - just what the person taught me. The tutor was a professional wheel builder and had worked for some of the top teams. Thinking about the issue raised by this topic it occurs to me that trials (and other spoked MC) wheels generally do not need any attention. Neither do modern machine-built MTB wheels. When I started mountain biking it was common for a shop that built a wheel to tell you to bring it back in a couple of weeks to readjust. (My course tutor said this is because the idiot that built it had not got it right at the first attempt). The wheel I built never needed adjusting and the hub broke eventually. You do not see adverts for hand-built wheels any more. I think the hypothesis that the manual has the wrong torque settings might be a good one.

Looks like the new motor/battery on the other bikes is the plan. The latest offering here on the MY2025 epure race looks like the same motor but no gears. Oddly this bike is not on the manufacturer's website. https://inchperfecttrials.co.uk/products/2025-em-epure-race-2-5kwh

Dherby are a big trials shop (https://www.dherbeymoto.com/marchand/magasin.php) with lots of bikes and kit. We used to own a place in Montpellier and broke the journey down by an overnight in Grenoble when we could just to go buy something we didn't really need. Grenoble is lovely (if a bit busy) and the drive through the mountains west to Montpellier was also very nice (big nut orchards there too). We sold up recently in Montpellier as the Taxe Fonc and Hab got to nearly two grand and it was just too much, especially as we had not been able to get back during the lockdown. I'm looking Normandy area now as there is (cheaper) land there. Never been to Matchams though I drive past it often. Our trials club do a once a year event at Rogershill near Dorchester. We are based in Horton. Thanks for the feedback on the importing. I will have to work out the cost/benefit but I think the missus will require the Ducati to follow her at any cost. From what I have read you need insurance to ride in trials competitions and so the bike has to have a Carte Gris. We might bring the Electric Motion as a toy for our own land but it would be nice to ride it at the local club. (ACL Breal are near-ish to our target area)

Thanks for that. We plan to set out a trials practice area if we can buy something with a bit of land. I have read on other forums there is a lot of hassle bringing a bike in. The problem seems to be you need a Controle Technique but as bikes are exempt no one can test a bike. I think they are talking about introducing the CT for motorbikes so maybe ironically it will make it easier. Otherwise we will sell the bikes here and buy again when we get there. Neither of our trials bikes are registered so no Carte Gris either. The missus will shoot people if she can't import her Ducati. Have you been to Dherby? Worth a visit if you are that way. I wish we had a big shop like that in the south of England.

Salut. Welcome to the forum. We looked at Moto88 a year or so back but it is closed in the winter (we were visiting at xmas). I don't know much about the Sherco - if you want quiet get an Electric Motion. Dherby have a few in stock but they are not cheap. I hope to retire to France next year if Mme Le Pen lets me in.

US Dollar prices for the States on their W3 now: https://www.electricmotion-usa.com/2025-models Plus the spec in Imperial measures.

Many many years ago I did a wheelbuilding course for MTB wheels. The guy who taught me said he had investigated motorbike wheels but they never needed rebuilding and there was no money to be made. Since then virtually all cycle wheels are now machine built and are so good off the production line they need no attention. My spoke keys are untouched for the last decade. A quick internet search suggest that there is an issue with KTM wheels but that is about it. (I have two friends with KTM enduro bikes but never heard any feedback). The MTB course taught to "tune" the spokes by ear and the tighter the better. No torque settings were ever mentioned. (I had to google the torque wrench - never seen one). The big issue with cycle wheels was alloy nipples which broke as they were not strong enough. Traditional brass nipples were trouble free. As part of the course you built a wheel - bring your own components and make a wheel for yourself. I built a back wheel for the missus Orange and the build outlasted the hub (Hope). I do remember the instruction "the tighter the better". I would - based on my experience - therefore not worry about spokes being "too tight".

Test ride if you are in the north of England. https://experience.inchperfecttrials.co.uk/em-festival-7th-july/

True. Highly misleading if that is the case. The size thing is a big odd as well as they still use 2.75 and 4.00 as widths when radial are more often metric. The Michelins use both sizes one for the trial comp and the other for X-Lite. One day, maybe, in the far distant future I might be nearly good enough to notice the difference 😁

Bias is the more common type for tubed applications. Since trials is tubed at the front this is going to be the likely format of the casings. Since very few of the manufacturers' web sites and so on really make much of the bias/radial issue I would think there really isn't much in it. For road bikes and high speed applications it is more important. There is a lot of debate on the other forums where they cover the wider dirt bike applications, but nothing very informative. IRC list both as radial https://ircmoto.com/products/trial-winner-tr-011

Sondre Haga making progress with the factory model now. Some of it in action (sorry it is in Spanish)

Most off road bike tyres are bias belted and the eBay listing for this brand/model shows it as a bias belted (the Dunlop site shows nothing - it is pretty useless). You can run bias front, radial rear but not the other way round. I couldn't see a good enoigh picture either so maybe is the answer on the kiss of death stamp.

I fitted Galfer pads to the missus' Evo (having read on here how good they are). I did not notice any improvement. I fitted a Galfer disc and the brakes worked (unusual for a Beta 😁) I also replaced the M/C with a Braktec (as per the factory bike). The bike was improved by a huge amount and once the pads bedded in it was as good as my TRS. Sadly the missus wanted an EM so the Evo got sold off for the E-Pure. I have wondered if the Galfer pads are really all they are cracked up to be? My TRS took a while to bed in and the brakes at first were not as good as the old 2017 I traded in for it (new one is '23). Couple of mates had a go on the new bike and also commented that the brakes were not as good as they expected. Now it locks up with little effort on a single finger pull. I assume they are the OE pads. Like you I am uncofortable with the 'heat them up and boil them' idea....