This is the sort of riding I love....a bit old school and have a laugh with ya mates! Cool to see all the different bikes too...the best bunch ride! Impressive on that Chisel Guy!
I ended up buying this frame and building it up as a lightwight xc machine for southeast michigan trails and i couldnt be happier. 2025 fox 32 sc, hunt race xc wheels, vittoria barzo/mezcal 29x2.35, oneup dropper v3, enve m5 carbon bars, magura mt trail sport brakes, and microshift advent x with sword 11-38 cassette and 32T oval. Weighs just under 24lbs and absolutely rips. Crazy smooth rear end, responds to power well, playful character, just an absolute gem. I dont think ill ever sell this bike! Thanks for the review!!
@@flybyguy1450 that sounds a really sick build. Loving that you went with the smaller cassette too, such a smart way to save weight. And yes, don’t ever sell it. My mate bought this frame from Specialized after I’d had it on long term review for a couple of years and I’m jealous every time I see him riding it!
Awesome video, the new chisel is legit. I have one and it has suprised the heck out of me. Mine has more of a burly wheel and tire setup right now. But I have had thought with the right wheel and tire combo it could rule 90% of riding road/gravel/mtb.
I love my allow hardtail as a gravel bike. Shedding a few pounds would be nice for steep climbs but with 50mm tires it cruises on flats and it way more comfortable than any drop bar bike I've ever ridden.
I've put 2 inch wide WTB Venture tyres on my Chameleon 7 with fox 34 and dropper and all and man that's all it needs to be an awesome gravel bike lol. Way more comfortable than anything dropbar and rigid and I'm a wheel upgrade away from having basically the perfect gravel bike (as long as you don't mind plodding along around 25kph)
Great to see you playing with your mates! Re ignites the ongoing debate I have with friends, is the lightweight hardtail (with the right gearing) actually the comfier and faster bike than gravel on most rides? With something like the Aero clip on from Ride Farr for the road sections, who needs a gravel bike!
I've found similar results. Most of my bikes are XC mountain bikes, SS, HT and FS (short travel), plus I have (1) gravel bike. The mountain are just as fast, even on groomed trails / gravel, BUT in the end require more effort. That said, as soon as things get lumpy, bigger tires + suspension takes over.
Very few people in the UK have access to the kind of long gravel road seen in parts of the US & other countries. What we do have is miles of bridleways & byways that are more suit to a hardtail than a gravel bike. Modern XC racing is amazing & great to watch but the old school XC riding & racing could make a comeback on the back of gravels popularity but lack of gravel roads in the UK. Most UK gravel roads ate forest tracks, so in terms of gravel racing on gravel bikes I think gravel crits could be the best fit for the UK.
That’s a really good point, but I also like the big loop ‘gravel’ races where you bring whatever bike you want. Not least because I think that’s where people will realise that a hardtail MTB is actually a lot smarter choice to ride 🤷♂️
I had a Trek Checkpoint SL6 gravel bike and with pedals it weighed 9.1 Kg. It was slightly faster than my upgraded Merida Big Nine 7000 XC bike that weighed 9.2 Kg, and it was only faster when the gravel was smooth. As soon as the conditions got more challenging, the XC bike was faster. I sold the Checkpoint and the Merida and built a custom, flat bar, rigid fork gravel bike on an inexpensive, carbon, MTB frame with expensive, light-weight bits from Darimo, Berk, eThirteen, Garbaruk, XPedo M-Force 8, SRAM AXS, ++. This new gravel bike weighs just 7.2 Kg with pedals and 48mm Rene Herse slicks. The bike is fast on the road, gravel and non-techie single track. I just rode the bike in the Dirty 130 (Kms) gravel event (Wagga Wagga, NSW) and the bike was comfortable and performed flawlessly.
Great video! The one thing that has kept me from buying a gravel bike is my old hardtail with a 42-32-22 triple and 11-34 cassette. The big chainring is great for riding hard pack trails and multi-use paths. Would I personally be significantly faster on a dedicated gravel bike? I don't know, but I'm inclined to think there wouldn't be that much of a difference. I'd love to see this bike or a carbon XC hardtail with a 2x drivetrain, and 40-45 tires.
Gravelbikes should be better at accelerating and maintaining that speed. But me peraonally, i can ride faster on bumpy gravel roads even with my trekking bike, wich has a simple, cheap suspension fork. No pro or anything like that. Just a casual.
Love the concept of the bike. Looks great fun. Everyone should build a there own bike up to their own spec at least once. Guy have you thought of trying drop bars on the bike?
Yep, I’ve even got the perfect colour matched bar tape ready. just need to work out how to get flat mount brakes to play nice. TBH though I’d be adding another 150g of bar & stem weight over the Syncros all in one.
@@GuyKesTV Lael Wilcox has been riding an Epic hardtail with drops in some endurance events in order to reduce hand issues. She mentioned that it's also lighter than her Diverge, despite having 100mm of suspension forks over the Diverge's head shock thang.
Hi if you follow the links at the end of the video or just search the channel there's a sequence of build videos going through all the components used.
If you were using a 1X on that did you have the more generous gear ratio of the Shimano group for a 10-51 and get a bit higher with a 32T chain ring? If you were I'd say you did a good job of staying ahead most of the way and then staying on his ass before the transition to single trackdirt.
Great video, are you likely to change out the front ring as you looked like you geared out a few times, or very high cadence at least. Love the idea as a gravel bike but everything seems to be 1 by, gravel bikes and mountain bikes.
@@jonpoon3896 would definitely give it a higher top end speed for road sprints but I'm going some to spin out 32 x 10 and it gives me more climbing help as I'm running a 10 - 36T cassette on the back. 36 with a 10-42 or 10-50/52T would be an excellent gravel set up though
Hi Virginia, Ben is riding a Santa Cruz Highball Carbon race hardtail. I’m actually running a 10-36 road cassette - and SRAM Red AXS rear mech most of the time with a 34 tooth chainring. I use a GX rear mech and 10-52 block for bike packing.
Sorry thought I'd linked it from the first one as I didn't want to stick it public in case Forestry got upset but I hadn't linked it until now 🤦🏼♂️ 3 is linked off 2 th-cam.com/video/aWV3wGf-06A/w-d-xo.html
It’s currently running at 9.1kg without pedals. Need to get a carbon crank and carbon post on there to drop it into the 8s just because that’ll be funny.
@@davidcasbe2857 yep. TBH though it’s not the weight that’s the big deal, it’s the ride quality. I’d have the Chisel over any carbon or Ti hardtail I’ve ridden and I’ve ridden most of the top ones.
Yep like @monkeyslappingkeys says just fit the headset, stem, amount of spacers you normally have etc plus at least a 5mm of extra spacers too just as ‘insurance’. Mark the steerer to where it’s flush with the stem, then pull everything apart and cut the steerer about 2.5mm below the mark so you’ve got room for the underside of the headset top cap. If it feels too tall just switch some spacers from under the stem to on top until you’re happy with height. Then do the final cut to the top of the stem minus 2.5mm as before 👍🏻
on your specialized you roll in 32 teeth or 34 ?… I have a carbon cube mtb and to tell you the truth I don't like carbon So I ordered the specialized chisel I hope I won't regret it
Hi Matt, I stayed with a 32 as I normally just run a 10-36 block on the back but a 34T would give me more speed for sure. The first time I tested a Chisel for the magazines it was up against a Cube carbon and the Cube felt really dead and slow compared to the Chisel. Hopefully you find the same
This is the sort of riding I love....a bit old school and have a laugh with ya mates! Cool to see all the different bikes too...the best bunch ride! Impressive on that Chisel Guy!
I ended up buying this frame and building it up as a lightwight xc machine for southeast michigan trails and i couldnt be happier. 2025 fox 32 sc, hunt race xc wheels, vittoria barzo/mezcal 29x2.35, oneup dropper v3, enve m5 carbon bars, magura mt trail sport brakes, and microshift advent x with sword 11-38 cassette and 32T oval. Weighs just under 24lbs and absolutely rips. Crazy smooth rear end, responds to power well, playful character, just an absolute gem. I dont think ill ever sell this bike! Thanks for the review!!
@@flybyguy1450 that sounds a really sick build. Loving that you went with the smaller cassette too, such a smart way to save weight. And yes, don’t ever sell it. My mate bought this frame from Specialized after I’d had it on long term review for a couple of years and I’m jealous every time I see him riding it!
Hope fun was that! Thank you. 👍😎
Next - Downhill, how capable :D
Awesome video, the new chisel is legit. I have one and it has suprised the heck out of me. Mine has more of a burly wheel and tire setup right now. But I have had thought with the right wheel and tire combo it could rule 90% of riding road/gravel/mtb.
You don't even have to go mad with carbon. The Hunt XC wheels for under £400 have really impressed me over the past year of hammering them.
@@GuyKesTV those'll be the first upgrade I make to mine! Then a SID...
I love my allow hardtail as a gravel bike. Shedding a few pounds would be nice for steep climbs but with 50mm tires it cruises on flats and it way more comfortable than any drop bar bike I've ever ridden.
I've put 2 inch wide WTB Venture tyres on my Chameleon 7 with fox 34 and dropper and all and man that's all it needs to be an awesome gravel bike lol. Way more comfortable than anything dropbar and rigid and I'm a wheel upgrade away from having basically the perfect gravel bike (as long as you don't mind plodding along around 25kph)
Great vid Guy, I've been leaning towards an alloy lightweight h/t for everything recently, covers all bases I've found 👍🏻😎
Great to see you playing with your mates!
Re ignites the ongoing debate I have with friends, is the lightweight hardtail (with the right gearing) actually the comfier and faster bike than gravel on most rides? With something like the Aero clip on from Ride Farr for the road sections, who needs a gravel bike!
Nice challenge 👍 Happy to see this..
Do you have a complete spec list of the bike? I want to build a Chisel from the frame up and I'm looking for inspiration. Your Handlebars look clean.
I've found similar results. Most of my bikes are XC mountain bikes, SS, HT and FS (short travel), plus I have (1) gravel bike. The mountain are just as fast, even on groomed trails / gravel, BUT in the end require more effort. That said, as soon as things get lumpy, bigger tires + suspension takes over.
Very few people in the UK have access to the kind of long gravel road seen in parts of the US & other countries. What we do have is miles of bridleways & byways that are more suit to a hardtail than a gravel bike. Modern XC racing is amazing & great to watch but the old school XC riding & racing could make a comeback on the back of gravels popularity but lack of gravel roads in the UK. Most UK gravel roads ate forest tracks, so in terms of gravel racing on gravel bikes I think gravel crits could be the best fit for the UK.
That’s a really good point, but I also like the big loop ‘gravel’ races where you bring whatever bike you want. Not least because I think that’s where people will realise that a hardtail MTB is actually a lot smarter choice to ride 🤷♂️
I had a Trek Checkpoint SL6 gravel bike and with pedals it weighed 9.1 Kg. It was slightly faster than my upgraded Merida Big Nine 7000 XC bike that weighed 9.2 Kg, and it was only faster when the gravel was smooth. As soon as the conditions got more challenging, the XC bike was faster. I sold the Checkpoint and the Merida and built a custom, flat bar, rigid fork gravel bike on an inexpensive, carbon, MTB frame with expensive, light-weight bits from Darimo, Berk, eThirteen, Garbaruk, XPedo M-Force 8, SRAM AXS, ++. This new gravel bike weighs just 7.2 Kg with pedals and 48mm Rene Herse slicks. The bike is fast on the road, gravel and non-techie single track. I just rode the bike in the Dirty 130 (Kms) gravel event (Wagga Wagga, NSW) and the bike was comfortable and performed flawlessly.
How about adding clip-on aero bars for some of those flatter pavement section??
I’ve just got some super neat mini mid bar extensions from SQ Labs that I’m going to fit ASAP
Hermosa bicicleta .saludos desde 🇺🇾 uruguay
Great video! The one thing that has kept me from buying a gravel bike is my old hardtail with a 42-32-22 triple and 11-34 cassette. The big chainring is great for riding hard pack trails and multi-use paths. Would I personally be significantly faster on a dedicated gravel bike? I don't know, but I'm inclined to think there wouldn't be that much of a difference. I'd love to see this bike or a carbon XC hardtail with a 2x drivetrain, and 40-45 tires.
Gravelbikes should be better at accelerating and maintaining that speed.
But me peraonally, i can ride faster on bumpy gravel roads even with my trekking bike, wich has a simple, cheap suspension fork. No pro or anything like that. Just a casual.
Did you buy a gravel bike now? I'm planning to buy a gravel bike but I already have an xc bike. Thanks !
Those bars look interesting 🤔
Love the concept of the bike. Looks great fun. Everyone should build a there own bike up to their own spec at least once. Guy have you thought of trying drop bars on the bike?
Yep, I’ve even got the perfect colour matched bar tape ready. just need to work out how to get flat mount brakes to play nice. TBH though I’d be adding another 150g of bar & stem weight over the Syncros all in one.
@@GuyKesTV Lael Wilcox has been riding an Epic hardtail with drops in some endurance events in order to reduce hand issues. She mentioned that it's also lighter than her Diverge, despite having 100mm of suspension forks over the Diverge's head shock thang.
Do you think the chisel is intended for whom and particularly for what type of terrain, is it made for mountainous areas?
It's mainly a speed bike but it loves an adventure in the mountains too
Nice vid Mr K, how about
an Ard Rock stage?
Crank it xc race at Lee Quarry?
Cx Race?
Or a lap of Dalby World Cup course?
Can you post list of the parts you used? Thx
Hi if you follow the links at the end of the video or just search the channel there's a sequence of build videos going through all the components used.
Be interested to see how a rigid fork alters the bike. As someone has already mentioned a drop bar to. A proper wide bar like the Ritchey venture max.
I like the look of Surly's new drop bars. Been thinking about trying them on my Chisel!
@@alex_n8863 just had a similar conversation with a mate.
Yep got some of the PNW Coast 550/620 to use, but they might be going on the next project bike as that’s going to be proper mental
Is there a big difference between your chisel and the epic hardtail mid range model ?
If you were using a 1X on that did you have the more generous gear ratio of the Shimano group for a 10-51 and get a bit higher with a 32T chain ring? If you were I'd say you did a good job of staying ahead most of the way and then staying on his ass before the transition to single trackdirt.
Great video, are you likely to change out the front ring as you looked like you geared out a few times, or very high cadence at least.
Love the idea as a gravel bike but everything seems to be 1 by, gravel bikes and mountain bikes.
Yeah, I'm thinking a bigger ring is the way to go too! There's a lot of high speed knee action going on!
What size chainring?
32 at the moment but you could squeeze a 34 in
@@GuyKesTV Specialized website said 36 I think. Just curious if a bigger chainring would make it “more gravel”
@@jonpoon3896 would definitely give it a higher top end speed for road sprints but I'm going some to spin out 32 x 10 and it gives me more climbing help as I'm running a 10 - 36T cassette on the back. 36 with a 10-42 or 10-50/52T would be an excellent gravel set up though
how are the hope XCRs?
BTW what was you other mate on that was a flat handle bike?
Hi Virginia, Ben is riding a Santa Cruz Highball Carbon race hardtail. I’m actually running a 10-36 road cassette -
and SRAM Red AXS rear mech most of the time with a 34 tooth chainring. I use a GX rear mech and 10-52 block for bike packing.
I know the L was out of stock (I'm in a similar situation now), would you pick a M or XL frame for xc use ? I'm similar size to you
Nice looking frame Guy. What was the route near Harrogate you did?
If you search for the 'Kestrel' MTB/gravel route it was basically that.
Hi Guy, is there a stainburn guide p2? I really enjoyed the first one 🤙🤘
Sorry thought I'd linked it from the first one as I didn't want to stick it public in case Forestry got upset but I hadn't linked it until now 🤦🏼♂️ 3 is linked off 2 th-cam.com/video/aWV3wGf-06A/w-d-xo.html
@@GuyKesTV Brilliant thanks!!
@@GuyKesTV Sorry to bother you again 😅 i couldn't find part 3
@@GuyKesTV i've found it now, silly me!!
@@J_Harker I've just realised that the end links don't play if the video is unlisted 🙄th-cam.com/video/9tnlLQ3INZI/w-d-xo.html
Nice video! Final weight??’n
It’s currently running at 9.1kg without pedals. Need to get a carbon crank and carbon post on there to drop it into the 8s just because that’ll be funny.
@@GuyKesTV wow and XL frame? This frame is absolutely amazing. Wow Specialized quality!
@@davidcasbe2857 yep. TBH though it’s not the weight that’s the big deal, it’s the ride quality. I’d have the Chisel over any carbon or Ti hardtail I’ve ridden and I’ve ridden most of the top ones.
@@GuyKesTV thanks for you answer! Good job with this chisel and enjoy! You’ve a new subscriber ;)
@@davidcasbe2857 thanks, enjoy your riding 👊🏻
What is the weight of the whole bike?
Currently at 9.2kg but I’m going to fit carbon cranks and seatpost shortly to get it under 9.
Hey mate, I'm building up my ltd air frame. I've got everything done but cutting the fork. How low/high did you cut it?
You gotta suss that yourself, cut it after you found where you are comfortable.
Yep like @monkeyslappingkeys says just fit the headset, stem, amount of spacers you normally have etc plus at least a 5mm of extra spacers too just as ‘insurance’. Mark the steerer to where it’s flush with the stem, then pull everything apart and cut the steerer about 2.5mm below the mark so you’ve got room for the underside of the headset top cap. If it feels too tall just switch some spacers from under the stem to on top until you’re happy with height. Then do the final cut to the top of the stem minus 2.5mm as before 👍🏻
South downs way smash?
I love it when roadies get dropped by a Xc / Mtb on the road😁
que talla es ese cuadro?
XL
What bike computer are u using?
Karoo Hammerhead for this ride. Review coming soon.
Give me that frame! Do you sell it?
I have a question Who is this chisel mountain bike made for? and what kind of terrain? Thank you
Chisel or diverge evo w flat bar, which one is faster ?
Chisel vs fort bill
I asked for that didn’t I. Maybe going up 🤣
@@GuyKesTV it would definitely be entertaining to watch. Just make sure all you fillings are in tight before the decent
It looks pretty bumpy
on your specialized you roll in 32 teeth or 34 ?… I have a carbon cube mtb and to tell you the truth I don't like carbon So I ordered the specialized chisel I hope I won't regret it
Hi Matt, I stayed with a 32 as I normally just run a 10-36 block on the back but a 34T would give me more speed for sure. The first time I tested a Chisel for the magazines it was up against a Cube carbon and the Cube felt really dead and slow compared to the Chisel. Hopefully you find the same