Specialized Chisel FS: Is this Epic shaped, alloy framed bike the ultimate XC bargain?

Specialized's new Epic has been winning World Cups all year, but what if your budget is 2k not 10k? The new Chisel blends Epic inspired geometry and suspension with a superb SmartWeld alloy frame and then decks it out in Specialized, SRAM and RockShox kit. Does that create the ultimate XC bargain? Find out live from behind the bars on my moors and forests first ride.
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[@jonpoon3896]

With full suspension getting more popular with bikepacking these days, this is a great option

[@GuyKesTV]

I totally agree

[@johndef5075]

I just built a nos 2017 S Works epic frame up with xt 12 speed including 4 pot brakes and a Fox 32 Stepcast. With alloy wheels and cockpit its 25.2 lbs. including pedals in size xl. It absolutely rips. Setting p.r.'s almost every ride. I spent $2800 total.

[@frits8986]

I think this what the MTB world needs more of. Good alloy frames with decent components to start with, that leave room for upgrading in the future. The little extra weight really does not matter all that much. For the money, I’d take this one and a decent alloy Enduro bike over one overpriced carbon bike all day every day.

[@peterhayden3037]

I've already ordered my lovely seafoam Chisel FS Deore. It will arrive on Wednesday. Can't wait 😬

[@Macarachi]

This review has me excited. Legit trails and a legit review! Keen on the release of this bike. Appreciate the video!

[@GuyKesTV]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it

[@alex_n8863]

Being the owner of the hard tail, I'm jealous! 😍

[@JeremyLawrence-imajez]

Don't be. Since I got my Chisel, I've barely ridden my Epic Evo.

[@foodgeektv]

bought a chisel, upgraded it to an XT drive train and brakes. I'm having a hard time justifying the expense of upgrading. Its a great bike.

[@alex_n8863]

@@foodgeektv mines perfect for the sort of riding I do 90% of the time. I bought a 140mm trail bike for occasional bike park and days in the peaks last year, if I'd have known this was in the pipeline, I'd have waited... 😔

[@escamunicha4276]

The trails that the guy in this video is riding doesnt even need a full suspension. Hard tails are more fun for easy trails. At 14.5 kg, it doesn't come close to its hard tail counter part.

[@JeremyLawrence-imajez]

@@escamunicha4276 and yet someone else in comments thought it was a brutal trail that would rattle their older bones. Heck I could say you were a wimp and you don't need a hard tail because I've ridden similar trails on my CX with 33mm tyres. It'd be fun on any of my bikes though, including the full sus.

[@Jacob99174]

Really great review

[@hananas2]

This is really the first time in a long while that I've been excited about a new bike release! I think this is finally going to be a proper upgrade for my super playful old stumpjumper! Been looking for a bike that you can really play around with, doesn't cost a million and pedals well.

[@robertsonfamilyfarm9126]

It’s about time specialized , I hope to see some junior athletes racing on them , awesome

[@GuyKesTV]

Yeah, ideal NICA bike

[@ferencvarju651]

On one hand I’m glad we are getting a DSW full sus bike, and this in the Comp spec looks like a really killer deal. On the other hand, I really hope we don’t have to say goodbye to the chisel HT as that bike is by far the most ridden one in my stable, and my absolute favourite bike of all time.

[@lowest_common_denominator]

Nice ride through the Amazon😁

[@JoesBikesUK]

keep on keepin on dude ;-)

[@GuyKesTV]

You too folks 🤘🏻

[@stuartwilkes4434]

Brilliant review although I'll have to put one on the back burner as I've just bought a Crux!!

[@GuyKesTV]

That’s not a bad reason to sit tight TBF

[@icantgivecredit871]

No waaaay! A FS Chisel? I never thought I'd see this. I can already tell this is gonna be a hot seller. I also love that they brought back a Shimano option. For the same price, going with Deore over SRAM SX is a no-brainer.

[@GuyKesTV]

Totally agree

[@davidchristie2121]

My next hardtail purchase.

[@ericgelders]

Bought a brand-new Chisel HT last month, bc most FS bikes were out of budget for me 😭! The best part of the Chisel you can't see, it's the ride IMHO - so if they introduced this a few months earlier, this would have been in SERIOUS consideration🥲.

[@BurningHorizons]

Spesh in Hgate had one in when i visited yesterday. Lovely bike. 👌😎

[@GuyKesTV]

Did they! Should have been keeping that hidden ‘til today!

[@BurningHorizons]

@@GuyKesTV Yes! I thought it was a bit weird that I hadn't heard any news about it. Asked about the discounted Chisel HT frame set and the sales guy took me straight to the new Chisel FS.

[@guitarlessonsnow3431]

Looks great, but considering the 470mm reach I wish the stack was a bit taller.

[@jonathanellis1842]

You could buy the fame set (when it is released?) Put some of that fancy TRP carbon 12 speed group set on it and some carbon wheels - Light 120mm fork (blue or orange, your choice), now that would be an interesting bike.

[@GuyKesTV]

Are you looking in my head?

[@Zzyyxx22]

I want one of these and one of the new DSW crux.

[@GuyKesTV]

That’d be a fine pairing

[@IIISentorIII]

You *had* to break the seatpost, didn't you....😅😁

[@GuyKesTV]

🤣 cable pulled through as I got it out of the van and I didn’t have the time or tools to fix it 😭

[@jamesgrabowski6871]

The woods shouldn't be that muddy in June. The bike looked surprisingly good on the Timble enduro stage.

[@GuyKesTV]

We were shocked. Proper sloppy and the moors were soaked. Could have done with a bit more grip on the rocks but the geo actually suits slower, twitchier descending

[@jamesgrabowski6871]

@@GuyKesTV I rarely ride up there but the dog loves it as it's quiet and smells of deer. It's a shame the Fewston mtb trails never got any publicity and have had only had minimal maintenance. It and Timble could have added a nice xc loop to Stainburn to complement it.

[@GuyKesTV]

@@jamesgrabowski6871 yeah, they could be a really good resource. Yorkshire Water seemed really keen on connecting up as much as possible when we were doing the initial consulting. Next news they built the trail with a footpath contractor (which is why the berm placement, shaping and flow are so weird/slow). Theres never been any follow up marketing or maintenance though.

[@djc226]

Timble Woods 👍🏼

[@GuyKesTV]

Yep, it was filthy like winter though. Real shock TBH as I thought it might be at least somewhere near dry by now.

[@rzxpopopm3396]

Was debating between a Chisel ht or splurging for a carbon full sus. This looks perfect.

[@GuyKesTV]

Haha, sounds like they looked in your head!

[@JeremyLawrence-imajez]

Well to muddy waters a bit further, I accidentally ended up with a blinged out Chisel after watching Guy's video about his custom build. My lovely carbon Epic Evo has barely been ridden since. 😁

[@johnnnewmex]

I would have liked to see a little better wheel spec on the top model.

[@jankaskyevitchjellbet7293]

Thanks! I can't see any reason to buy gravel. Unless you're competing in gravel

[@Tom-mb7cf]

Would be great to know how this rides with bikepacking gear

[@rottieshepcalibre9156]

I imagine very well with the right amount of air pressure in shocks. This bike looks close to perfect for it

[@MaQuGo119]

Where is this place? is it normal it has no trees?

[@fair2middling]

was the dropper working on your ride? looks like bare cable at the lever

[@GuyKesTV]

Very good spot! The cable pulled out of the cradle bolt as I pulled it out of the van and disappeared up the outer as frayed end 😱 I didn’t have time to repair it before shooting so had to pull the post out and compress or extend the post manually between climb and descent segments 😫

[@chris1234594]

Multi day bikepacking would you choose this or Boardman MHT 8.9? Is double the price and rear shock worth the money?

[@GuyKesTV]

It depends entirely whether you feel you need full suspension. MHT is a great bike for the money and a hardtail leaves space for a frame bag. If you can afford the Chisel FS though it’ll be a smoother ride for sure

[@bpisan]

Spec has been dropping the ball on reviving the Camber name lately

[@mattclinkard5208]

So is the Chisel hardtail no more? That would be gutting.

[@ivanleyong4025]

😮😮😮😢

[@YanDoroshenko]

There's one posh dork disk.

[@GuyKesTV]

🤣

[@robinbreeds9217]

Do you think they will always be selling the Sram GX kit that you can then put on this to upgrade or will the GX AXS take over ?

[@GuyKesTV]

I can’t see them getting rid of cable GX soon. But a GX AXS build on this bike would work great

[@saddleweary2777]

I was wondering the same thing because I got some good deals on two GX group sets. But the reason may be because I bought some expensive wheels from them and then they told me about the GX deals. If you are thinking about GX, now might be the time to buy. I would sure dig deeper into it and find out. I love mine but after putting them on myself, I don't like the way the crank with dub is engineered. Look up spacing videos or trouble shooting with the cranks before you buy.

[@robinbreeds9217]

@@saddleweary2777 Yeah they up graded the Sram stuff in 3 years and Shimano in the past a Groupset would be out for like 8 years or something the 10 speed and then 11 speed had that sort of time span, but i am confused if this Sram is going to still be made, is it only NX from now on or some GX as well ? i still see some of it on a Brand new bike like this with new NX Eagle Groupset, the GX analog stuff was the first 12 speed stuff i got back in start of 2020 so i take it that shops will still be getting it in, i cant be arsed going full AXS electric for the sake of it as i do not have that kinda of money right now and i want to ware out the parts i have.

[@robinbreeds9217]

@@saddleweary2777 What i did was put XX1 on my Rocky Mountain Vertex i up graded it as that XX1 was reduced i sourced that from various places with up to 50 percent off, so i took the GX stuff off that bike, now it is a Summer time XC bike and now lighter, and then i have afew used GX cassettes that still have a bit of life in them. I had a Rocky Mountain Pipeline C70 27.5+ 2019, i then made that a 29er and that had SRAM Stylo 7k 12 speed crank i put a new dub bottom bracket in that bike, i never had used Sram drive chain before, i have had Avid brakes on my Kona 2X2 deluxe in 2011. Is it that Sram Stylo 7k crank you do not like ? I dont mind it as i always use to be Shimano. when the Shimano 11 speed came out i got some 10 speed cranks reduced from Chain Reaction at the time as i had built a Ritchey Timber Wolf hard tail. You see i did go from 10 speed to then 12 speed, i could not be bothered with 11 speed i could see what was going to happen, but then Sram started to up date in a few years its all a bit of a fad in some ways just to make you speed more money.

[@saddleweary2777]

@@robinbreeds9217 It's a tough guess, they are having a lot of trouble with electric on the tour divide race right now I hear so that may put off a take over for a while. I wouldn't buy one unless I raced crit but as far as mtn biking I just can't see the advantage, I was caught in a thunderstorm with a buddy running AXS and I thought he was going to destroy his bike trying to get it in his car because he didn't want it to get wet. I'm old fashioned anyway and hate fixing things that aren't broken and I think they are enough folks like that, that will demand cables to keep it around but you know the industry, they will push consumers into what makes them the most money. Some laws require making replacement parts for ten years but I don't know if that applies to group sets, like that d shaped seat post giant came out with, I hear they must reproduce it for ten years.

[@taunir713]

And now the stumpjumper

[@GuyKesTV]

Nearly but not yet so don’t be greedy 😂

[@razorree]

It's a bit funny, selling aluminium bike for 3k, when just a few weeks ago you could buy new carbon Specialized Enduro for ~3k lol

[@MarmiteFerret]

Is there actually anything bad about this bike? I mean £2.7k for deore and slx is a bit shit... But only 800g heavier frame than the 10k is pretty amazing

[@lindonandlisa8114]

look like all the bike you really need I have a 10.000 bike but if I'm Honest I'm a 2.000 rider 😂

[@davidross8233]

That trail would kill me. I’d have flu-like symptoms for a week after riding it.

[@GuyKesTV]

Pollen or mud?

[@davidross8233]

@@GuyKesTV the rocks. These old bones can’t handle that much chatter

[@Monkey_slapping_keys]

I have the non comp chisel HT, the RS silver fork is rubbish, and weights an incredible amount, swapped for a fox step cast which i excellent and light. The power spline bb and sx arms again weight a ridiculous amount and mine failed after a couple of hundred miles, replaced with gx dub for now. The wheels are poor and the spokes unwind themselves and start breaking far more readily than any other wheel set I've used and I've now lost the paint on one of the chain stays from this issue. The headset bearing is garbage and fails fairly easily with poor sealing and the SX derailleur just about passes at its job, just. The sram level brakes have actually been pretty good, no complaints from a base level set of stoppers. Nice frame, hot garbage on the base model parts so I'd be sceptical of the base spec bikes from spesh in the future. This looks interesting for when I get rid.

[@ivanleyong4025]

15 kg?

[@GuyKesTV]

14.47kg for a large without pedals

[@G00glieS]

What kind of dog is that?

[@gweflj]

Good grief that trail looks awful Guy.

[@GuyKesTV]

Can’t lie it was a shock now filthy it was

[@tinshield]

Was thinking the same 😅

[@dixienormis3614]

Take a breather and then talk so we can understand you

[@GuyKesTV]

You sound like my wife 🤣

[@AlanPina-nn5sz]

No.

[@GuyKesTV]

You’re totally right. Unfortunately the fact you replied means the click bait title worked too. But we all know getting something a season old from a rider / racer with more money than sense is the way to score the ultimate XC bargain right?