Gassing On The Trail
Story and Photos by Trevor Hunter
In our first days on GasGas’ 2025 EC450F, we spent nearly a hundred miles riding in the trees on flowing singletrack, some two-track mountain roads, and even some hard enduro trail mixed in, in a typical dual-sport/enduro environment. There weren’t any major changes from 2024 to 2025 as it still has the “window-less” frame, XPLOR fork, and other notables that were changed when converting to the new platform in 2024.
The engine on this EC450F in stock trim isn’t going to knock your socks off. There isn’t a whole lot of excitement and there isn’t a standout trait that really sticks out positively. Yet, there isn’t some glaring weakness either. Yes, it puts out a soft power, but it still puts out a healthy amount of power and in doing so, it puts it to the rear wheel effectively. We were able to make it up some hefty hill climbs, no problem with this bike that other higher horsepower bikes couldn’t make it up or struggled to do so. It has power and it uses it well, it just isn’t going to excite you all that much in stock trim. Of course, as we always like to say, the “boring” power will make you a better rider as you’ll be more in control and not fighting the bike when you get out of wack.
The slow revving, mellow hitting power is focused on the bottom-mid range, with very little being done on the top end other than making some extra noise. The torquey power will chug along and not wear you out as the speeds decrease and the technicality increases. We had several riders jump onboard the bike and the theme was the same – it isn’t the most thrilling bike to ride, but it sure is easy and that can be damn fun.
The suspension feels very firm for an enduro bike. We never got out of slower fourth gear terrain or got to ride in anything remotely rough, but the firmer feeling suspension kept the bike feeling lively and maneuverable on the trail. Oftentimes an enduro bike will be ultra soft and wallowy, but our short time on this bike so far is anything but.
The bike has a good balance to it front and rear and it took the rocks and roots with ease, though we wouldn’t mind getting a little more comfort out of it. Still, there is a lot of performance in this stock setup and while many like to trash the XPLOR fork (yes, the GasGas EC bike’s still come with the XPLOR fork setup), we suggest giving them a fair shot before opening your wallet.
This bike feels like a unit at standstill, but once you’re moving on the trail, it masks its weight nicely for the most part. The less peppy engine and engine braking make it less playful than if it had some more snap and bark to it, but it’s agile enough to be a competent bike in the trees with a little effort behind it.
There were a lot of complaints about the 2023-2024 SX and XC frames being too rigid, and while we experienced that on a 450 XC-F and a little bit on a 350 XC-F, it hasn’t been as much of an issue on this EC that still uses the “rigid” frame. There are some different setup points with this chassis, including the engine mounts, but we haven’t felt a lot of negative feedback initially.
We’re going to continue to put some more trail riding miles in on this thing before we plan to turn this into more of a race build. Why do that you ask? Looking specifically at vet riders and even less experienced racers, the softer natured platform of the EC/XC-W/FE line of bikes can be an advantage over the fire breathing XC-F’s off the showroom floor. The engine is easier to manage, the chassis is softer and more forgiving, and it comes with a wide-ratio transmission and lighting capabilities. There are a lot of positives to a machine like this and with your ego aside, it could be the better starting platform for an off-road race bike. Only time will tell, but we plan on finding that out.
