Epic or Chisel, carbon or alloy

I ride an Epic evo and have for years, ironically a lot on SDW, did KAW and more rides of an epic and non epic way.

I did notice a difference in comfort going from alloy ht to carbon ht, but in truth noticed a bigger difference going to carbon wheels (sorry to add another option).

The epic evo is s great bike for a longer (and shorter) ride on mixed stuff. Happy up and down.

I did London to Brighton offroad this weekend and a lot of that is road and was very happywith my choice.

For my 2 pence I'd buy on comfort, if you're comfortable you will ride more 🙂

James

I'd go with a short travel 29er full sus for long rides - the comfort factor is helpful.

That said, you don't need to stick with specialized if you want to save some cash. Something like a canyon neuron or vitus mithique would provide what you need at a lower price (albeit with a weight penalty)

nearly every full sus at this end of the market will have a rear shock you can lock out, so don't have much of a penatly compared to a hardtail on road

Thanks both, so perhaps I should be looking at a lightweight full sus XC bike?
The alloy bikes in this category look a bit heavy, so maybe the Evo is the way to go, or a Canyon Lux?

weight is a "nice" thing to have less of, but honestly makes naff all difference to the actual ride quality of a bike or the amount of energy required to pedal it somewhere - the key thing is sytem weight (you + bag + bike) of which saving a couple of kg on a bike is pretty minor.

I'd not personally be going carbon, as the price:weight saving ratio is way above what I consider worthwhile. Others think differently. taking the Bird frames as an example, carbon saves pretty much bang on 1kg, its not particularly hard to save most of that weight in other parts of a bike.

i have a Chisel Comp and very much enjoy it (its the opposite end of the spectrum compared to my FS enduro bike).

When looking i also considered the Epic HT. After a fair amount of research it appeared the Chisel got rave reviews, the Epic HT barely lukewarm. So i went with the Chisel.

I got mine with a hefty discount, so felt like a good bike for the money. Had i paid full RRP i wouldve been a bit disappointed with the spec. But then thats the way these days!

A friend has a SC Blur, which replaced a Epic HT. He loves the blur!

As well as weight , the other thing carbon brings to the table on a hardtail is comfort in my experience, compared to Al

Having ridden an alloy HT for years for xc and light trail, i got a Vitus Rapide FS this year and love it for the extra long-ride comfort....its been really encouraging me to have a go again on long distance routes. Just did the SDW in a day again couple of weeks ago and have been doing sections of KAW this year too. So much prefer having the rear suspension so rougher sections can be pedalled through seated in comfort and downhills can be taken faster. It also has a bar mounted lockout for front/rear suspension which i have found myself using more than i thought and not just on road sections. Whether it drags on road is i consider more a tyre choice thing but the recon race it came with have been very competent tyres despite their minimal tread

a second hand Rockhopper Expert. Love this bike

then keep it, if you can afford to, and get a short travel FS.

Ok, may not be realistic and other solutions exist but here’s my thinking:

Full sus and hardtail are just different things. I can think of a thousand reasons why you’d enjoy a short travel FS given your riding mix. Speaking as a SDW riding epic EVO owner who’s getting on a bit and loves how the fs helps me go further, faster, in comfort and fun. But I still value my hardtail. Often take it out in preference for road rides or quick snappy spins in the local woods. Even though it’s an ancient 26” wheeled thing!

v7fmp
Free Member
i have a Chisel Comp and very much enjoy it (its the opposite end of the spectrum compared to my FS enduro bike).

When looking i also considered the Epic HT. After a fair amount of research it appeared the Chisel got rave reviews, the Epic HT barely lukewarm. So i went with the Chisel.

Same experience as v7fmp, a lot of reviews of the carbon Epic was it was harsher than the alloy.

I'm with Goldfish, ride an epic evo on the SDW and it's perfect. It's pretty easy going on the roads too w some fast rolling rubber on the back like a fasttrak. Different to Goldfish,  personally i don't see the need for a hardtail too.

Couple of recent threads on here recently about buying evos and everyone pretty enamoured with the new bikes

I want a chisel so bad but the UK specs aren't great. However at £1000 for a complete bike, it's only £100 more than just the frame. If I had the money, I'd buy the chisel and upgrade the fork and fit a dropper post.

I've a short travel, lightweight full sus (Cannondale Scalpel SE) and it is very good for both all day comfort (have done multiple 100 mile off road rides on it) and KOM smashing on Strava. It is however not as engaging as a cx or racy xc hardtail.

Well, inspired by this thread and another recent one on the Chisel, I've just put a deposit on one!

Same situation as the OP for me. I started off MTBing back in the mid/late 90's, did a load of XC then endurance/24hr racing, did OK. Then moved far more to road then CX/gravel.

I do still have a mountain bike (an ancient and obsolete Cove Stiffee) which I only ever use very occasionally but I'd quite like to get back into it. Not that I really know much about it now, the tech and everything has moved on so much since I last did it.

Went into a Specialized Concept Store near work, the bike was on the shop floor at £2300 so I pointed out the price online and they promptly matched it, no quibbles at all. I'm still a touch undecided - do I really want it, will I get back into it? - but I've put a refundable deposit down and I'm going back at the weekend...

Different to Goldfish, personally i don’t see the need for a hardtail too.

I didn’t say need. It’s just n+1 innit.

Hope to bump into you one day around the downs!

do I really want it, will I get back into it?

Go on. I’m also recently back into MTB, but from a no biking at all period (kids/lazy). I proved to myself I wanted to buy a new bike by getting out on my old bike, and I enjoyed it! Haven’t looked back on the big purchase of a new bike all summer, been out 2 or 3 times a week ever since (apart from when those pesky kids gave me a cold)

I've just come from a carbon hardtail to an Epic Evo carbon for marathon racing

I would have just got the Epic - but there is no weight different in the bikes and the increase in travel makes it a little bit more future proof and easier on my aging back.

I have maxxis recon race and icon tyres and it rolls so well.
My only issue at the moment is the rockshox select Plus fork is quite a firm ride. It is great when ploughing through rougher stuff, but the small chatter of a rough gravel road goes right through it to my hands.
I'm still in the process of setting it up and tinkering though.

Thanks all, now watching the 'which bargain short travel FS' threads

– do I really want it, will I get back into it?

If you've still got it in the spring @crazylegs I'll go for a ride with you 🙂

Not that I really know much about it now, the tech and everything has moved on so much since I last did it.

All the local stuff is just as it always was, give or take a bit more trail erosion, you just roll over things more easily. Of course you can always get a full-face and a load of body armour and head for the bike park with your Chisel 🙂

Give us a shout once you're up and rolling and I'll induct you into the hibernating whatsapp group. Or just shout and come for a roll some time.

Thanks all, now watching the ‘which bargain short travel FS’ threads

Save yourself the faff, just buy the epic evo😜

Save yourself the faff, just buy the epic evo

50% off in the Specialized Concept Store when I was picking up my Chisel Comp yesterday. There was a guy in there buying one!

So yes, I have a new MTB! Only had a very short spin around the block on it so far, just getting the position and set-up sorted - a position which by the way is alien to all my previous MTBs. I've ridden a couple of hire bikes every once in a while with 1x, 29", dropper etc so it's not completely new to me but it'll take a bit of getting used to. Previous bikes, and certainly back in my MTB racing days were all 26" wheels, triple chainsets, long stems and bars that were about 40cm narrower than these.... 🤯

Happy enough with riding it tubed for the moment but I'll get some Air Liners and get them set up tubeless soon.