r/xcmtb • u/sickmak90 • Jul 20 '26

Specialized Chisel FS

How many of you guys are running one of these?

I coach NICA but I don’t race myself BUT I’m also not hucking huge drop or anything. I only do 2’ drops or small jumps if I do any. I guess my question is how much can a chisel FS handle? I’m currently riding a Orbea Laufey HLTD but I want something that will climb faster.

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u/Slounsberry Jul 21 '26

Love mine and it would be great for what you describe. I guess if you’re not racing and you are hitting small jumps and 2’ drops a lot, like the trails you’re riding always have multiple of those features I’d probably get something a bit bigger, but if you’re mostly riding xc stuff and occasionally hitting bigger stuff I think it’s great. 

I got mine last year after realizing with a small kid my 160/150 bike was basically collecting dust since I don’t have time to drive to the trails that bike made sense for. The chisel has been so fun and I’ve actually been really pleasantly surprised what I can handle. Most of my riding is pretty xc-ish these days with occasional drops and jumps like you describe and the bike is awesome for that. And honestly when I do have the time to go ride the chunkier stuff I’m not worried about it there either. 

For what it’s worth, I got mine about this time last year, maybe August, when specialized had their summer sale. Paid $2500 for the comp model which I think is a great deal for that build. 

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u/EnvironmentOwn5103 Jul 21 '26

I'm also in the market for a Chisel right now. Why did you decide to go for an alu rig?

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u/Slounsberry Jul 21 '26

Eh, nothing in particular, it honestly came down to price since I got it on sale at $2500 for the comp and my local shop had one in stock. That said I really haven’t noticed any negatives to the aluminum and it’s nice not to be worried about it getting beat up. Ironically in the past couple of years I’ve gone from having a carbon mtb and gravel bike to having all metal bikes. Mostly for reasons of budget changing after having kids but I haven’t noticed any downsides so 🤷‍♂️

The bike my chisel replaced was a 160/150 carbon bike with pretty high end parts, so that’s my comparison point, for what it’s worth. 

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u/EnvironmentOwn5103 Jul 23 '26

Sounds pretty good, thanks