It's going to depend on color and size.

 

Obviously, weight will depend on color and size, but has anybody actually weighed their frame?

 

I really like this bike, it ticks all the boxes on my search (geometry, components…), but when I first saw it in flesh at the LBS I felt a bit dissapointed. Don't get me wrong, this bike is really sexy, but the frame tubes are very thin.
Specially the chainstays are very, very thin. I know most of you guys are concerned about the weight of the bike, but being 6'2" and 220 lbs I'm a bit worried about the reliabilty of such a thin frame.
For those of you of my size, have you had any problem with the frame? Does it feel too flexible? Should I be worried?

This bike would replace a Niner EMD that has worked fine for me.

Thanks!
Regards from Spain.

 

I really like this bike, it ticks all the boxes on my search (geometry, components&#8230, but when I first saw it in flesh at the LBS I felt a bit dissapointed. Don't get me wrong, this bike is really sexy, but the frame tubes are very thin.
Specially the chainstays are very, very thin. I know most of you guys are concerned about the weight of the bike, but being 6'2" and 220 lbs I'm a bit worried about the reliabilty of such a thin frame.
For those of you of my size, have you had any problem with the frame? Does it feel too flexible? Should I be worried?

This bike would replace a Niner EMD that has worked fine for me.

Thanks!
Regards from Spain.

6'4" and 215-220 lbs here. Have an XL of course.

I am very confident in the frames structural abilities. The only time I feel a little bit of flex is in the rear, under not-normal XC type riding. I can push it pretty hard at times.
I would have no concerns using this as my main XC race bike...since it is.

 

My plan for converting to a 2x system hit a snag. Specialized say the bottle boss mounted front mech hanger isn't available aftermarket. Forgive me if this is a stupid question but does anyone see any reason why a 'normal' front mech wont work?

Or is anyone converting the comp to a 1x that has no need for the hanger?!

 

This from Specialized UK

"From the information we have the Chisel is not made to use a band on style front derailleur, the tubes are optimised for weight and cannot take the clamping force of a derailleur. If one needs to be fitted this can only be done using the specific mount from the bottle cage mounts and the rear of the seat tube. If you wanted more range and were changing components then using SRAM eagle 12 speed would enable a wider range of gear than most 2x10 set ups. I have also reached out to the USA for you to see when we may see the official front derailleur mount for you."

Wish I'd asked that question before i bought her but she is pretty!

 

My Epic has Di2 2x11 and it has the bolt up system too, common on lighterr materials like carbon and super light alloys.

 

I have not put the 120 on my Chisel. I did so on my last Stumpjumper and found it quite ok but only after I slammed a short x degree (don't remember precisely) stem to get my front end under control, that is back down to the original distance between the wheel and the bars. I did notice that if my weight was too far forward doing continuous roots sections I tended to do what I called the rocking chair motion, something I'd never noticed with the lesser 90 fork. But I adjusted my riding position for that quickly and didn't notice it but once in a while after that. One last thing, the reason I slammed the stem was that I was doing the 2013 Warrior Creek Six hour endurance race using the 120 with the original stem; I came around a turn I've done many times and whammo...slipped out on the front wheel and down I was on the ground. My guess was that I was not weighted enough on the front given the higher bars resulting from the 120mm fork, thus I put a stem on slammed/upside down and got the bars back down to their original height. Anyway that's my experience. On the Chisel today with the 100 fork along with the longer wheelbase--- seems ideal to me.

 

I have the hanger you are looking for. Let me know if you still need one

 

I managed to get the front mech hanger. As was said earlier it's the same as used on the Epic.

Specialized Part Number: S171900001
Description: "DER MY17 EPIC HT FRONT DER MOUNT"

 

I'm surprised you've had so many close calls on your Chisel on the trails. In many ways, I've found that my Chisel handles better than my FS bike especially in high speed and sweeping corners. My FS is a little better in the super tight turns. Stability wise, aside from comfort, they are very similar.

I'm wondering if maybe there are substantial differences in geometry and setup between your two bikes. Both my bikes are XC bikes so they have similar geometries aside from the fact that one has a rear shock. They both run similar, fast rolling XC tires at about the same width. In fact, it takes me almost no adjustment period to hop from one bike to the other. But if I was riding a slack long travel bike with wide tires, I can imagine it would take a bit of a transition period.

 

I'm surprised you've had so many close calls on your Chisel on the trails. In many ways, I've found that my Chisel handles better than my FS bike especially in high speed and sweeping corners. My FS is a little better in the super tight turns. Stability wise, aside from comfort, they are very similar.

I'm wondering if maybe there are substantial differences in geometry and setup between your two bikes. Both my bikes are XC bikes so they have similar geometries aside from the fact that one has a rear shock. They both run similar, fast rolling XC tires at about the same width. In fact, it takes me almost no adjustment period to hop from one bike to the other. But if I was riding a slack long travel bike with wide tires, I can imagine it would take a bit of a transition period.

It was part being used to fatter slacker tires. The Trek Fuel EX8 has tubeless. It was mostly a lack of skill on weight shifting. Something I delved into after crashes and learned on. I took those skills to the FS. Any bike can toss you a bit over a branch or loose rock but it seems that in wet condition my Bontrager 3 tires do much better than the Fast Track 2.1/2.3 but I've also learned how to control the bike under me better to anticipate and control slippage.

Still, when on the Chisel in such a course I am wary. On the Trek I abandon caution cause it can handle just about anything and roll with it. IOW, the FS and slack seems to make up for newbie mistakes, whereas the Chisel punishes you so that you learn how to avoid them (like you should)

I'm glad I went through this, no worse for the wear, and love both bikes for different reasons. I have the stock COMP.

 

I've got nieces and nephews who get my hand-me-down's and I service their bikes. So I have the Chisel, full suspension 29 SJ's, and hardtail 29 SJ's. The surprise is how much difference the Chisel handles in rocks roots vs. the hardtail 29 SJ's.

One of the things I've stated before is why I ride the hardtail Chisel. I am now 63 and I'm pretty fit and can still do 22 pull-ups for instance. But I have of course standard cartilage loss in the knees so I can not play much tennis/Pickleball as I want and I can't run period. The road for me is silly dangerous. So for the last 12 years I ride as my primary exercise with walking as cross-training. The Chisel gets me off the seat, therefore keeps my lower back strong, my legs get the 2 different motions of sit/stand, and I can get that relief feeling I used to get running - that of pushing my cardio hard. I feel hard and tough (LOL at myself typing this) from riding. Most of all I simply do not feel this way sitting on my full suspension 29 SJ's because I basically feel like I'm in a gym in a spin class.

 

So for someone who's not racing, but is at least experienced (and pretty hard on his bikes), is the groupo on the Expert that much better than the Comp that I should sacrifice color preference for setup? I don't really need to shave weight off, and being mostly city riding I would rather go faster than the alternatives (and that gloss charcoal is my favorite color on ANY vehicle, which sadly does carry some weight for me...).

 

City riding your going to need more speed so get the 2 by bike

The 1x chainring is too small

 

Agree with 04 F2000SL.

 

Is the Chisel frameset available in Europe through Specialized stores or it's US only? Google shows availability only in US stores and finding a decent alloy Boost frame suitable for racing is kind of difficult [emoji3]

Sent from my SGP611 using Tapatalk

 

Not sure but I’m sure someone here would but you one and send it over!

 

Picked up my Chisel last thursday at the LBS!

After some fiddling with saddle height / shoes and setting up my suspension i was able to ride my local close by trail.

The trail is 8-9 km long and features almost only single tracks, with some nice use of small hills / bumps.

I have never enjoyed any mountainbike this much on this trail. It feels responsive and handles really well in corners and climbing the steep sections i have to deal with!

Other than that, it was also comfortable and a lot of fun to ride it!

*edit* spelling

 

Hey guys I'm really thinking to get me the Chisel expert woman...that purple color is awesome! What's the difference anyway beside the saddle? I was looking at the Specifications and they are the same . The only difference I noticed is on the fork that is wmman tuned? What does it mean?
I'm planning to get a small which has 90 mm fork. Thanks

 

I called specialized about it, as I plan to build my wife and I matching chisels, and they do custom tune the fork down for the geometry to be equal across the board but the extra 10mm (0.39") isn't going to change your geometry a ton. The forums about longer fork travel will tell you something along the lines of ~more confident downhill and faster speeds, but your higher off the ground and your bikes longer~ I digress. The rest of the tuning can fairly much be changed through adding and subtracting air from the fork. The specialized sight literally has a disclaimer saying something to the tune of the woman's bike may be better for some men and vise versa.

 

Thanks for your advice.
I actually emailed Specialized ( their customer service is excellent and very Quick to respond by the way! Kudos for that!) And I was told Pretty much the same. I also told them my weight 130 lb and the fork ( woman tuned) would be great according to them.
Definitely I will have to change that 28 teeth front chainring with a 32! Lol

 

Cali Fade Chisel

New Chisel build:

 

20.09lbs!!

New Chisel build:

View attachment 1178574

View attachment 1178575

Congrats on another awesome build in this forum. I know you have the eagle XX1 drivetrain and ROVAL Control SL wheelset along with the Rickshocks SID fork but would you mind indulging us with a write up of all your parts, what dropper post and seat you etc. you chose. It is amazing people are building sub 21 pound aluminum bikes. I also want to build a chisel with your choice of wheels and drivetrain. Please and thank you.

 

Anyone tried either-

27.5 Wheels with plus tyres 2.8 or even 3.0?

Converting the 2 by comp to a 1 by?

 

Look back a few pages, I posted a pic of mine with 27.5x2.8s on it. Depending on the actual tire, rim width, etc. 2.8s may fit with a little room to spare (in the rear). 3.0s will not fit in the rear. And, of course depending on your fork 2.8 or 3.0 may fit.

 

Recommendations with sizing

Hi!

I need your advice and help!

I'm looking for a nice aluminum MTB since I bike a lot with my daughter in a Thule Chariot trailer and the Chisel currently has all my attention
At the moment I'm using my Focus CX with the trailer but want to swap to an MTB. I also think that the Chisel will be a great bike for trailriding when I don't have the trailer with me.

My LBS doesn't have the Chisel in stock but can order, so I need to decide on size...
I'm 180cm (approx 5ft 11in) and I'm not equipped with the longest legs.

I currently ride a Cannondale Scalpel Si Carbon 2 Eagle 2017 size M which I find great (will sell this one though since it's not used that much because I don't want to hang the trailer to a carbon bike). My last Specialized was an Epic Expert Carbon 29 2014, also size M.

So, people whom ride a M or L, how tall are you?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

Hi!

I need your advice and help!

I'm looking for a nice aluminum MTB since I bike a lot with my daughter in a Thule Chariot trailer and the Chisel currently has all my attention
At the moment I'm using my Focus CX with the trailer but want to swap to an MTB. I also think that the Chisel will be a great bike for trailriding when I don't have the trailer with me.

My LBS doesn't have the Chisel in stock but can order, so I need to decide on size...
I'm 180cm (approx 5ft 11in) and I'm not equipped with the longest legs.

I currently ride a Cannondale Scalpel Si Carbon 2 Eagle 2017 size M which I find great (will sell this one though since it's not used that much because I don't want to hang the trailer to a carbon bike). My last Specialized was an Epic Expert Carbon 29 2014, also size M.

So, people whom ride a M or L, how tall are you?

Thanks in advance for your help!

I'm a short-legged 6'2 (187cm) and I bought the large after test-riding both the L and XL. Both would work for me but I felt noticeably more like I could whip around the size L. Also beware that the chisels come out the gate with longer-than-expected stems (more in line with traditional xc geo and not with the "modern" geometry that this and most other new hardtails are adopting, which pairs with a shorter stem, usually 70-80mm on a size L). That worked great for me and my long torso.

Assuming you're built like me, my instinct says that you'll feel best on a medium. If the LBS has other medium Hardtails in stock, perhaps you can compare their geometry (especially top tube length and head tube angle) and get a close-enough comparison. Additionally, since you have ridden other size M specialized bikes recently, if you like the fit of those bikes, then the medium is likely the way to go.

 

I am 183cm and ride a L. Trouser inseam is 34 inches.

 

plus options

"Look back a few pages, I posted a pic of mine with 27.5x2.8s on it. Depending on the actual tire, rim width, etc. 2.8s may fit with a little room to spare (in the rear). 3.0s will not fit in the rear. And, of course depending on your fork 2.8 or 3.0 may fit."

A belated thanks for posting those, by the way.

I'm going to pick up a new Niner RDO carbon fork in the coming months for my chisel expert, and I'm debating between (1) a setup of 29x2.6 rear and 29x2.8 or 3.0 in the front (which clears that carbon fork); or (2) 27x2.8 in rear and 27.5x2.8 or 3.0 front.

Given those options, which would you pick, knowing that this will mostly be for bikepacking and riding across a very sandy national forest? (I definitely value your opinion thanks to all of your other thoughtful posts!). The biggest upside for going with the 27.5 setup, I think, is the ability to run it with my reba. Thanks!

 

Quick question for anybody who can answer it. Does the frameset include the headset? If not, is it a standard IS42/IS52? I have a medium on order with my shop for delivery some time in February, but nobody had the answers handy when I was placing my order.

 

Mine came with a headset

 

Fastest responding will be to call specialized rider care they are super helpful!

 

Mine came with a headset

Just FYI for anybody else that had the question, Specialized confirmed that US framesets include the headset and crown race in the box.