Forum menu
Hello All,
Had my heart set of an epic 8, but went down to the LBS today and they had a chisel which I bounced around on, and I have to say it is an exceptionally priced bike for the money.
I want this bike as an all round mountain bike - but mainly for long cross country style rides, down country or whatever we are calling it. They didn't have an evo in stock... but the 130mm fork quite appeals to me in some ways.
Has anyone ridden both these bikes...which did you go for and why?
Not sure if it gets a ban for saying but there is a good "Chisel FS Thread" on MTBR.
I have a buddy that picked up a Chisel Evo and has since reduced the forks down to 120mm and swapped the tyres for a better XC ride. I picked up the Chisel and have been thoroughly impressed with how it rides and even handles some of the stuff I'd use the 170mm bike on, albeit its slower on real rough stuff.
I was in a similar position, was going to get a Epic 8, instead I got the Chisel Comp and the Roval carbon wheels for a little less and the bike is ace, light and agile but handles the downs really well, even lighter then some mates bikes who have XC hardtails!
Its really made me consider trading in the 170mm bike for something in the 150/140 range!
Not sure if any help but I bought the frame and built it with a 130mm Fox 34. Swap between lighter xc wheels and trail wheelset depending on what i use it for.
My wheels are 1800g ish and with the XT groupset, XC tyres (racing ray, thunder burt) its 12.7kg on my luggage scale. Not intending to go too weight weenie on it, since i'm not that light myself and won't be racing.
Great bike, should have got an XC full sus ages ago. Its as fast as my old hardtail but more comfortable and capable on the steep stuff even with those tyres.
I'm just looking at bikepacking bags now wondering what i can fit on there.
I also went through this debate & needed up with a Chisel comp.
I wanted the lighter weight build to replace my gravel bike, but it is still more than capable as a trail bike. You just need to be prepared for things to get a bit hectic on the DH, but not unmanageable.
The build is perfect for the job out of the shop. The only thing I changed from day 1 was a longer dropper (interchangeable with my other bike) & some Level TL brakes because they were very cheap. They're more than adequate for fast rolling tyres & I'd buy the same tyres it came with again
Down the track, I'll get some lighter wheels & AXS shifting.
I remember watching a video when the Evo came out from Guy Kesteven and he reckoned the regular model was better in a lot of ways for regular riding. It might be worth a watch on his Youtube as they were surprisingly different in his eyes (although he obviously analyses everything to the n'th degree!).
I'd probably get a regular Comp and upgrade/extend the fork travel afterwards if I felt it needed it FWIW.