Specialized Chisel FS - Any feedback yet?

MT520 & MT420 4 pot callipers can use resin and sintered pads.

MT410 & MT500 are resin pad only. Shimano resin only callipers use a wider pad than the callipers that use sintered pads, these are paired with rotors with a wider braking surface. Shimano do not make any sintered pad compatible rotors with the wider braking surface.

MT520 & MT420 4 pot callipers can use resin and sintered pads.

MT410 & MT500 are resin pad only. Shimano resin only callipers use a wider pad than the callipers that use sintered pads, these are paired with rotors with a wider braking surface. Shimano do not make any sintered pad compatible rotors with the wider braking surface.

hmmm, I'll have to go check my bike, I'm 90% sure it's a MT420 front and MT410 rear.

And I'm running RT86 rotors.

I'm now torn between condemning Shimano for creating an incompatibility minefield and saying it'll be fine as long as the rotor arms don't wear.

For the full warranty voiding build, I've seen OEM Magura MT5 calipers and hoses for £50 each, and  BL-M8100 levers for £60/pair.  Shigura brakes for less than I've seen a pair of either brands complete offerings! The only reason I'm not jumping on that is I bought 4 full sets of front/rear kevlar pads which will probably do me for a few years at least!  Same for the Guides on my other bike.

Shimano Calliper Pad Rotor Compatibility

I didn't know about narrow and wide pads and bought narrow pad rotor but I had a wide pad calliper. I've probably ridden about 500 miles and can see that pad is wearing unevenly and the rotor is wearing on the spider as well as the braking surface. I know I should change the rotor to the correct one.

Had a good look over the fluro yellow version the other day and they are very nice bit's of kit. Went for something different in the end but reckon I'd have been happy with the Chisel. Front end is a ton heavier than the Epic 8 though so shows how much weight you can save in forks and wheels.

Posted by: cerrado-tu-ruido

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MT410 & MT500 are resin pad only. Shimano resin only callipers use a wider pad than the callipers that use sintered pads, these are paired with rotors with a wider braking surface. Shimano do not make any sintered pad compatible rotors with the wider braking surface.

Thanks - so I'm not going mad. Disappointing that many retailers are copying and pasting product descriptions (not sure what the source is) which is misleading.

So the new question is:
Are BR-M6100 calipers compatible with the 410 levers? If yes, it should be a cheap and easy way to get into the 'narrow' ecosystem (more rotor and pad options).
🤞

Posted by: Oms

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Are BR-M6100 calipers compatible with the 410 levers? If yes, it should be a cheap and easy way to get into the 'narrow' ecosystem (more rotor and pad options).

Yes, same fitting at the calliper. It's SLX and above that have the banjo fitting. 

Posted by: cerrado-tu-ruido

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Yes, same fitting at the calliper. It's SLX and above that have the banjo fitting.

Thanks - got the calipers on order, as well as a 'narrow' type disc for the rear (I was forced into a 180mm front disc when I upgraded to SID forks). Hopefully I get away with the same hoses - stock hoses with the 410 series brakes have a wider internal diameter (more expansion under pressure)... but I am light. 🤞

Posted by: Edmund Billing

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Had a good look over the fluro yellow version the other day and they are very nice bit's of kit. Went for something different in the end but reckon I'd have been happy with the Chisel. Front end is a ton heavier than the Epic 8 though so shows how much weight you can save in forks and wheels.

Yeah - swapping from the Recon to a SID Ultimate saved 1kg on my front end... I imagine a few other goodies could take even more weight off.

I'm not trying to set and PBs or win races, but it's easier to lift the bike in/out of the car after swapping forks and drivetrain. I'm getting on fine with the other bits and pieces (apart from the brakes when it's wet/muddy), but I expect I'll want a few more shiny bits as time goes on. 

Hmmm

Looking at the spec for my Vitus I'm now not even convinced it came with the 'correct' rotors. MT400 rear caliper but the spec sheet says RT-66 rotors (I cant remember what was actually on it, the spec is a bit of a COVID special, a Trail/ Enduro bike with trekking (long levers) brakes!)

Might need to do some tinkering. Annoyingly I have a full set of almost unused M785 brakes in the spares box, which would be an upgrade to the levers and the 'correct' caliper, but they have the wrong ispec clamp.  And I'm not sure I CBA buying new hoses, and a wolftooth adapter for such a minor improvement. I've got massive hands so squeezing the levers harder has never seemed like a hardship when it comes to cheap brakes! 

Just a little update:
-I fitted M6100 calipers (with sintered pads), straight swap with the M410 calipers. Quite happy with the set - thanks cerrado-tu-ruido.

-Turns out the rear M410 caliper was leaking - appears to be where the two halves join together, though I'm not sure (brake hose wasn't exactly torqued from factory, which I realised upon removing it).

-Something to note: I think there are two versions of the SM-RT64 Centre Lock rotors? 'Deore' comes with an internally splined lock ring (for QR type wheels?); 'SLX' has the externally splined lock ring? Regardless, it's all sorted.

-Bars for my S size bike were 770mm (as I measured them) - trimmed them to 740 after experimenting with holding the bars in different positions.

Getting there slowly but surely. 👍

Finally got my C2W voucher at the end of Feb.  Bike arrived last week.  Ridden it a couple of times.  Seems like a good all round bike which is what I wanted.

Fitted my Hunt XC wheels yesterday.  Hasn't shaved off my weight.  Its 14.56 kg which is just under 32lbs.  Thats a size Large.  Other than forks I don't think it will be easy to save much weight.  Ideally I'd like it to be under 30lbs but the Recon forks feel quite nice.  However I do plan to fit some SIDs when I find some

i went for a first ride on the Chisel a week or so ago. Bike performed well. feels fast.

I started with the Comp model in medium, then changed the following parts from stock:

XT 2 pot brakes
Sram XX Transmission groupset
Zipp 1zero HiTop wheelset.

I have also fitted a 180mm OneUp V3 seatpost as the original post was just over the minimum insertion depth. 125mm drop didnt leave much left in the frame!

I have weighed it and it came in at exactly 28lbs. (possibly a few grams more now, as that was with the 125mm dropper)

Not much more weight to be saved without changing small components like stem and bars. But it should be a good mix of durability and speed. And its 10lbs lighter than my Raaw Madonna, so will feel like a rocket regardless 🙂

First proper ride out on mine yesterday, have made a couple of changes from stock already, swapped in some 10mm rise bars (cut to 760mm) and slammed the stem. Fitted the ESI extra chunky grips from the spares box (standard ones were too thin for my liking) and swapped the front brake for a Guide ultimate with a 200mm rotor, I have the matching rear brake for when I can be bothered to deal with the internal cabling. I've also fitted the GX AXS mech and shifter from my other bike, they're easy enough to switch so I'm not racing to buy a second set.

I'm really impressed with how this bike handles, had a couple of sketchy moments where the front tyre (Racing ray) wanted to wash out but once I dialled in to just how hard I could push it. The Rekon is surprisingly good, rear shock feels good to me too, although I think mine may be faulty, the lockout/compression switch seems to make no difference to how it rides.

The dropper remote feels overly stiff to me though, not sure if it's the lever or if there's a tight kink inside the frame, going to try the PNW lever I have fitted to my other bike to see if that makes a difference before pulling the cable and rerouting it.

Was my first time riding MTB clipped in for at least 6 years, nearly had a couple of forget to unclip moments, thankfully riding solo so no one around to witness my clumsy oafishness!

Posted by: momo

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First proper ride out on mine yesterday, have made a couple of changes from stock already, swapped in some 10mm rise bars (cut to 760mm) and slammed the stem. Fitted the ESI extra chunky grips from the spares box (standard ones were too thin for my liking) and swapped the front brake for a Guide ultimate with a 200mm rotor, I have the matching rear brake for when I can be bothered to deal with the internal cabling. I've also fitted the GX AXS mech and shifter from my other bike, they're easy enough to switch so I'm not racing to buy a second set.

I'm really impressed with how this bike handles, had a couple of sketchy moments where the front tyre (Racing ray) wanted to wash out but once I dialled in to just how hard I could push it. The Rekon is surprisingly good, rear shock feels good to me too, although I think mine may be faulty, the lockout/compression switch seems to make no difference to how it rides.

The dropper remote feels overly stiff to me though, not sure if it's the lever or if there's a tight kink inside the frame, going to try the PNW lever I have fitted to my other bike to see if that makes a difference before pulling the cable and rerouting it.

Was my first time riding MTB clipped in for at least 6 years, nearly had a couple of forget to unclip moments, thankfully riding solo so no one around to witness my clumsy oafishness!

Good to get out on a shiny new bike - even better after a hiatus. I had 13 years off MTB riding - missed out on a lot of fun (and cleaning!).

The X-Fusion "lockout" on my bike firms up the rear (a little) for pedalling... it's not a lockout really. To avoid the faff of using the lockout (rightly or wrongly), I've set my sag in the seated position - else I find it too soft even when descending out of the saddle (bottomed out once or twice). 

I really think I could do with a volume spacer though, but parts are like hen's teeth here in the UK -  little to no support. Also, the air can service has quite a short interval IIRC - 25 hours? 🤷‍♂️

The dropper remote works very well on mine - it's easier to use than my gear lever. Maybe check the routing, etc.

Bike's done 400 miles so far (200 this year after the rebuild). Nothing's broken or worn out apart from the headset at 200 miles. 👍

Two more outings last week and one so far this week, matching rear brake has been fitted now with a 180mm rotor. After so many years riding overbuilt trail bikes I’m falling head over heels for this bike, the handling is brilliant and it just wants to go fast all the time.

I definitely want to get some shorter cranks, most likely 170mm, a fair few pedal strikes on anything vaguely rooty last week.

Looking great. 👌

Posted by: momo

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a fair few pedal strikes on anything vaguely rooty last week.

Same here, did that once or twice at FOD on Saturday (but the flip chip is in the default 'low' position).

I have 165 cranks on the road & gravel bikes... will probably get some for the MTB too at some point. 

Got a little carried away over the weekend, spotted some lightly used Fox 34 performance elite with the grip 2 damper - 130mm travel, same spec as fitted to the chisel evo, going cheap on eBay. Fitted them yesterday, didn’t think about them not fitting with the front wheel though, so I’ve had to swap the wheels between my bikes for now.

Also have a pair of used 170mm XTR cranks on the way. Currently weighing in at 14.04kg with my fairly chunky wheels fitted.

Posted by: momo

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Fitted them yesterday, didn’t think about them not fitting with the front wheel though, so I’ve had to swap the wheels between my bikes for now.

Very posh. What stopped the stock front wheel being fitted (was it the brakes?).

Keen to know what a 130mm fork offers over a 120 in real life. Is it really just 10mm, or is there more to it (ie such forks are tuned for different riding).

34s should in theory be stiffer and probably lighter. The oem wheel maybe did not fit as it may come with torque caps.

As nixie said, stock front wheel came with torque caps to suit the rock shox forks.