If you're not a fan of the color then maybe you can look into getting a frame wrap with a colored tint?

A bunch of us are running the Sid fork. It's had a few issues here and there, but the new one might have fixed these issues. It all depends on how much you want to spend.

 

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I haven't found a clear answer on this... do the stock wheels on the Specialized Chisel come with tubeless tape already installed? If so, is it worth using or is it better to re-tape them regardless?

 

They have a rim tape that claims to be tubeless ready, but I can tell you from experience that you should retape the wheels if you go tubeless. I ran a season tubless with the stock wheel setup, and sealant got past the rim strip and corroded the nipples onto the spokes. It is worth $25 to buy some good tape and properly tape the wheels if you want to run them tubeless.

 

Mine came with specs rim strip. Might work fine for a while, depending in your tire and if sets without problems. I too think you are better off installing rim tape.

 

Had to put Stans tape on my stock wheels so I don't think it does. And the rims are a ***** to mount up tubeless unlike the stans flow which just blew up like I was using tubes.

 

Following up on earlier post with photos now included. The colour has definitely grown on me. I am down to 11.25kg (24.8lb) before swapping out the fork. I am looking at the SID SL Select or Ultimate Race Day. I may as well make it a super build, but can't see how the £150/$200 difference in price is worth the same saving in grams.

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Following up on earlier post with photos now included. The colour has definitely grown on me. I am down to 11.25kg (24.8lb) before swapping out the fork. I am looking at the SID SL Select or Ultimate Race Day. I may as well make it a super build, but can't see how the £150/$200 difference in price is worth the same saving in grams.

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11.25kg is impressive. What things from your list have you done to the bike at this point? I thought the Chisel HT was more like 12.25kg stock.

 

11.25kg is impressive. What things from your list have you done to the bike at this point? I thought the Chisel HT was more like 12.25kg stock.

11.25kg is impressive. What things from your list have you done to the bike at this point? I thought the Chisel HT was more like 12.25kg stock.

It was closer to 13kg stock. Biggest single impact was the rear wheel - moved to tubeless, changed to Silt Alloy XC hoops, swapped out cassette from SX to NX. That was 800grams saved.

Otherwise the only other savings would be the cranks switch from SX to GX. Seatpost and handlebar swapped out for carbon. New saddle. These are all more incremental, but obviously add up.

I don’t have an accurate weight for the Judy Silver fork, but some research suggests I’ll lose an extra kilo from moving to Sid SL Select. More for Ultimate.

 

Did you only change the rear wheel? I'm impressed. I think the stock wheels are considerably heavy, meaning a wheel upgrade would go a long way in shedding weight. The SRAM group set is pretty heavy despite the cassette change.

 

The Chisel frame is fairly light, so you can build it up to be 11.25kg without too much issue. I think I'm at about that weight, and I even have a dropper post. There's some pretty fun builds that people have put together. If you have some time maybe flip through the earlier posts in this thread.

Perhaps the biggest "downfall" of the Chisel is that it's only offered with lower end components. I'm a little surprised that Specialized doesn't offer at least a GX build for sale. Maybe they're worried about it cannibalizing sales from Epic HT or something.

 

From my research, the stock wheels are heavy. This is by no means accurate, but I did a rough calculation of the weight savings I'd have if I were to take a base model Chisel and go XT or XTR 12 speed for the group set and put a basic SID fork on it, including pedals and tubes. The theoretical number I arrived at is somewhere between 11.4 and 11.8kg. That's good but honestly not amazing for the money. I would definitely ditch the stock wheels and maybe lose at least .5 kg if replacing with a good aluminum set.

 

If you are going for lightweight the thing to do with the chisel is buying the frameset and building it up. Don’t mess around with chasing weight by changing stock components as its harder to sell the takeoffs than you think. With well thought out parts it can get to 20lbs flat with no dropper and much lower if setup as a ss and/or with a rigid fork.

 

Think my reserve 28s felt slightly less comfy compared to stock. But the pirelli xc rc 2.4 I'm using now feel more comfy/softer and less buzzy than the previous barzos I had.

 

I've been very happy with my Chisel w/ Roval carbon wheels.

CONTROL 29 CARBON 6B XD 1000185720

Elevating Weekend Hot Laps to World Cup XC StatusFrom weekend hot laps to World Cup XC finals, the Control Carbon combines the low weight and strength f...

www.specialized.com

This past summer I swapped in some aluminum wheels from another bike. They're a bit heavier, and the bike felt a tiny bit more sluggish. I don't remember a huge difference in ride quality, but I only rode them once or twice.

 

There are a few tarmac trails near me - Chisel's stock T5's tyres seem to be ok on the asphalt but I'm considering Smart Sams for better rolling but in 2.1 - similar weight as the original 2.35.

Smart Sams in 2.35 are 150g heavier - not sure if this would be noticeable?

Would I lose much air volume going from 2.35 to 2.1? I know the diameter would be reduced by ~12mm, so there's the gearing ratio to consider too...

Would Smart Sams be much better on the tarmac than originals?

Would you go with 2.1 or 2.35 Smart Sams? Or for what it is - keep the stock tyres on?

 

... I'm considering Smart Sams for better rolling but in 2.1 - similar weight as the original 2.35.

Not sure about 29" Schwalbe but in the past I tried Schwalbe tires on a 26er and felt they ran a bit narrow. I know your intention is to go narrow on the tires to begin with, but just know it's possible they may be narrower than you anticipate. If you're set on the Schwalbe it might be a good idea to buy both widths and compare. By the way, just how are the Specialized tires on pavement? For what I'm reading about weight, grip, and durability they look hard to beat at their price for XC riding.

 

If anyone is looking for a dropper for their chisel I have a 125mm PNC Loam dropper that I'm not longer using on my chisel. I'll sell for a good price to someone on MTBR. If you interested send me a PM.

 

Has anyone here tried both the Cannondale Scalpel HT Carbon 4 and the Chisel? I know one is carbon and the other is aluminum, but I can't help but notice the value associated with the former. For 2,300 USD you get what is claimed by reviewers to be a very comfortable carbon frame - with a XT/Deore 12 speed build and a Rockshox SID SL. I think buying that fork alone for a SRAM SX based Chisel would be about $700. I'm still trying to make an informed decision before I spend my budget.

 

Based on geometry it wouldn’t be my choice, yet I can see it is very nicely specced. While I have not ridden one of those, it shares geometry with one or two I consider nice bikes, but I like the geometry of Specialized mtbs better. Personal preferences.

 

Santa left me a set of new Race Face Next SL carbon wheels, for my Chisel. Other then swapping to XT Di2, this is really the only upgrade I have felt like doing to the bike, got it down to 25.7 lbs, which is a nice weight. I'm sure if I lightened up the tires (currently Nobby Nics) and swapped to carbon things like bar, seatpost and crank, I could get the weight down further, but likely will not. Test ride tomorrow once I master getting a tubeless tire inflated, LOL. EDIT: boy do I suck at installing tubeless. I think this is my 3rd or 4th time installing new and I always get one tire inflated no issue, sometimes with a floor pump, have issues with 2nd tire using a compressor and Presta head. My problem is getting one side seated on the ledge and against the rim wall. I need to watch some more YT’s. Finally got both tires with sealant and inflated, but what a PITA

 

My experience with stans and reserve rims is that they inflate from the get go with a floor pump easy, no more difficult than a tube. But once my mucoff tape had issues and it wouldn't hold air and I went back to stans. So it could be thing with the rims rather than with you.

 

You can also try removing the valve core and blowing air straight in that way. Once you hear both sides pop into place stop inflating. Then double check that the bead is set, then add sealant, and then put the valve core back in and inflate.

At some point in this 120 page discussion I learned that the stock wheelset is pretty heavy. Upgrading the wheelset is probably the best way to improve the bike's performance.

 

Yes, tried the trick with removing valve core to initially seat. Worked, but then the bead unseated itself and would not inflate. I was using an air compressor and Presta valve adapter. I finally resorted to using a tire lever to reach under the bead and get it to sit closer to the rim wall, then blew air back in and got it to seat. I’m not good at it mostly as I really only deflate the tires in occasion, usually to add sealant.

On test ride, wheels felt good. Certainly lighter, easier to get up to speed. Not a huge weight improvement. I weighed the OEM wheels with no tires/cassette or rotors at 1920 grams. The Race Face wheels are 1573, so 350 grams or so, or 3/4 pound. Enough to feel the difference'. They do feel literally stiffer when cornering at speed.

 

Does anyone know if the 2022 and 2023 frames would accept a 36/38 tooth sprocket standard is SRAM X1000 Eagle, DUB, 32T. For this SRAM crank what offset needed 3 or 6mm for 36/38T sprocket?


I will answer my self with 34T sprocket there is still a bit space so for sure 36T will fit.

 

My base 2022 Chisel came with SX and PowerSpline, which I'm keen to replace with DUB and NX cranks.
Hoping to confirm the below DUB code and configuration? TIA

 

Maybe this help, my chisel comp came with dub crank and with one spacer on the right side(drivetrain) just i don't know if it's 4.5mm.

 

Picked up this left over 21 Chisel base model about 3 weeks ago. So far I've swap over to Fox 32 SC Performance, 180 front, 160 rear rotors, SLX cassette, tubeless tires (Teravail) and carbon seat post. Things I still have to install are SLX brakes, XT shifter and SLX derailleur.

 

Just picked up a used size small ‘23 Chisel comp for my daughter’s new xc race bike. Thinking of swapping the fork for a fox stepcast, but….

Can anyone tell me how the stock Judy gold performs, as an xc race fork? Worth running for a bit? Again this is a small rider, and the bikes primary use will be racing. Pedal efficiency matters because some of her NICA courses are not very techy, runs trhough fields and double track.

Can anyone tell me how the bike rides with a 100mm fork with a 51 offset rather than 44? Asking because there are some good deals on 51mm forks right now but unsure if that would negatively impact handling and wondering someone on here may have tried it.

thx

 

The 51 offset will feel slightly quicker to steer, so a little less stable, but I mean very slightly. I wouldn't call it negative since my son in now riding my old 51 fork on his Chisel and the switch hasn't slowed him down at all.

 

I just ordered the chisel frameset straight form specialized, brushed liquid metal color.

Does the frameset come with a headset?

Looking to build a gnarly gravel/light trail machine, similar to dylan johnsson's race gravel build. Key difference being that I plan to use a H-bar for my handlebar with shimano xt groupset, xt 2 pot brakes, 180mm xt rotors, elitewheels carbon wheels with conti race king tyres 29x2,2", sid sl 100 fork and 150mm one up dropper.

Pre calculated weight should be around 9,3kg including garmin rally xc pedals. With rigid carbon fork and seatpost should be around 8,4kg.

 

I dont know if the chisel frame ships with a headset, but I recently bought a specialized status frame and it did. Not only that, but it came with 2 top caps…a zero stack ans a riser, and a bunch of headset spacers too.

 

My Chisel Fire (bought early 2022) did come with a headset. But the shop I bought it from had plans to build it as a complete bike (they already had some parts on it and took it off) so Im not 100% sure.

 

Hi everyone,

Im new at this forum, want to show my Chisel Fire LTD, which I bought almost two years ago.

Current speclist:
-Specialized Chisel Fire LTD XL frame
-Sid SL Ultimate 100mm
-DT Swiss XR1700 wheels with 2,35" Maxxis Ikon tires
-Shimano M8000 groupset with 10-42 XG-1150 cassette
-Rotor Rex 1 crank with NoQ 34t chainring
-Ritchey WCS carbon bar, carbon flexlogic seatpost and aluminium stem.
-Look Xtrack carbon pedals
-Pro Turnix 142mm saddle

Current weight 10,4kg (22,92 pounds). This weekend I'm upgrading to carbon wheels (30mm inner width) with Maxxis Aspen 2,4 WT tires and XTR M9100 (XT Cassette). Hoping to get around 9,8-9,9 kg (21,6 pounds)

 

Now weighs 9,88kg (21,78 pounds).

A local bike mechanic build me a set of carbon wheels (he uses his own brand '5th element'). Nice wheels, just a smidge over 1300gr for the set. Unfortunalety I had only 1 Aspen 2.4 WT laying around, but I managed to find an Aspen 2,25 tire in the garage. So the weight will go up a bit when I put on another 2.4 WT. Maybe I'll switch to S-Works Renegade/Fasttrak, because I dont want this bike to weigh over 10kg. But maybe I should loose 5kg of me first if I'm being so critical about the bike's weight😅.