Specialized Chisel FS

[Justin Fox]

FFS another bike? I need to get an N+1 tattoo ASAP, but seriously, building bikes and new bike day makes me happy; I get to research the shit out of parts, flex my creativity, problem solve, shoot and document the build process and best of all I get to ride and tune the build to gain more experience too.

Before buying the Amflow e-MTB I was looking at a Specialized Stumpjumper (I’ve looked into them ever since to be honest), but at some stage I came across the Specialized Chisel, found one on sale that was available in a light grey colour which I liked that was listed as “in stock” at a local bike shop. I called the shop to ask if I could pick it up that day but they put me on hold for ages only to tell me they’d call me back ASAP.

That ASAP never came that day. I called them the next day only to have them tell me that sorry, but they couldn’t find one in stock (grrr!), so very soon after that I bought the Amflow.

I’ve been on again off again about owning a short travel dual suspension MTB for a while now. There seems to be a few niche bikes which tickle my fancy, that being a short travel bike that’s designed to be most of all fun to ride as opposed to built for outright speed. The latest Santa Cruz Tallboy is even marketed as “the downhiller’s XC bike”. Marketing talk which I feel is aimed directly at me.

Whilst a friend is trying to get me an insider quote on a Tallboy frameset I’ve been looking deeper into a Chisel. Why? Well it’s an aluminium frame instead of carbon and because I expect to play harder on a playful bike I also expect to drop it more (I’m fine with carbon for road bikes, but I suffer from carbon paranoia when it comes to mountain biking). The Chisel is also very light (in typical Spesh marketing they’re claiming that it’s the lightest aluminium dual suspension frame in the world) and it’s affordable. Above all it has that underdog vibe that I get off on.

The Chisel is basically an aluminium Specialized Epic and like the older Epic 8, they offer it in an EVO model too with a longer 130mm fork. Spesh state that the max fork for the Chisel is 130mm, which on the Epic being a carbon frame I’d abide by, but I weigh 60kg’s so I’d be more than willing to overfork an aluminium Chisel with the FOX 36 SL fork currently on my Norco Torrent hardtail (which is up for sale).

I was thinking I could put everything I’ve got on my Torrent onto a Chisel frameset. The 140mm fork, carbon cranks, carbon rims, etc. The build would come out to about 11kg’s (which is wild as the Torrent’s final weight is 12.56kg’s). Not batshit crazy light like the S-Works Epic 9 LTD which weighs in at an impressive 8.5kg’s claimed weight, but a weight I know I’d appreciate out on the trails.

The Chisel frameset sells for $3,200 AUD RRP but I spotted a size medium for sale interstate at BAM Cycles for $2,760 shipped. I let it marinate in the cart for 2 days but thought I’d search Facebook Marketplace for a Chisel and I found a new complete custom build for $3,300.

Couple of things though, it was a size small and it was interstate. I thought I’d reach out anyways as we had a shared friend who I met when I used to work at MC Cyclery many many many years ago. We talked about a frame only option, but in the end I made an offer for the whole bike as is with shipping and she accepted. Aw shit, here we go again!

So in the end I got a complete bike for the price of a new frameset. Pretty happy with that as I get to ride the bike first and mod it as I go. I’m not at all worried about it being a size small as I really miss my size small Giant Reign (and my 15″ GT Avalanche is a hoot to ride!). I appreciate the stability that I get from my medium sized Amflow and Starling Murmur, but I think sizing down for a bike made specifically to be poppy, agile, playful and fun makes sense and will feel like home.

PS: Turns out the lady I bought the bike from works for Specialized HQ in Melbourne. Quite embarrassing as I did pay out Spesh in our earlier chats for being overpriced on their framesets a few times when negotiating price on the bike!

She’s built it out with 27.5″ Roval Traverse SL Fattie carbon rims with huge 2.8 front and 2.6 rear tyres. Pretty rad as I skipped the whole 27.5″ craze and went straight to 29″ from 26″.

The plan from here, in no particular order, is to get the fit dialled in, weenie it a little, ride it as is to experience what a full 27.5″ setup feels like. I want to get my lightweight 29″ carbon DT Swiss wheelset on it too with some fast rolling XC tyres (and if I don’t like that I can always go back to the 27.5″ setup, or mullet?!).

 

[Justin Fox]

Too right the lady was not lying as TNT tracking confirmed the box was picked up from Specialized PTY LTD in Melbourne. The boys from Specialized did an awesome job of packing the bike in that they made it very easy for me to rip all the protection from the frame and components.

First thing I swapped out was the short 40mm stem for an 80mm Kalloy UNO stem I had in the parts bin. Reach is now actually longer than my Amflow (which I feel most dialled in on fit wise). I’ve got a lot of stems with different angles and lengths and these bars have been cut down to 700mm, so I’ll take my time to get the fit right.

Ergonomically I like these short levers. They’re very similar to the Magura MT7’s which I like, but these feel very squishy. Really happy with the clean look of only 2 clamps on the bars too as the shifter and dropper lever mount to the brake levers.

Fat 2.8 tyre up front.

Roval Traverse SL Fattie 27.5″ carbon wheelset.

My carbon cranks went right on without need to replace the DUB BB.

NX shifter, GX mech. I don’t mind the NX shifter, it’s the lightest out of all the mechanical 12-Speed SRAM shifters and feels so clicky and direct in comparison to the Shimano XT shifter on my Starling. Shame not to take advantage of UDH though.

Bike came with a super heavy and short 100mm TranzX Dropper. The strange thing is the end of the cable is on the lever side. I’ll most probably look into a longer and lighter dropper later on.

Original weight was 13.5kg's, as pictured with lighter stem, saddle, cranks, pedals and grips it's at 13.1kg's.

SPECS:

2025 Specialized Chisel Size S

Fork: Rockshox SID Ultimate RLC with 120mm (1501g)
Shock: RockShox Deluxe Select+ 190x40mm (340g)
Wheelset: Roval Traverse SL Fattie, DT240 internals, 54T (1550g)
Tyres: 27.5 2.8 Butcher Grid Trail T7 (1100g) / 2.6 Purgatory Grid (970g)
Crankset: SRAM XX1 Eagle Carbon 170mm (358g)
Chainring: Race Face 30T (63g)
Pedals: HT Components ME03 Alloy (263g)
BB: SRAM DUB (76g)
Derailleur: SRAM GX Eagle (290g)
Shifter: NX Eagle shifter (112g)
Cassette: PG-1230 Eagle 11-50 (615g)
Chain: GX chain (244g)
Brakes: SRAM G2 RS (260g/280g)
Brake Rotors: SRAM Centreline 180mm/160mm (141g/114g)
Seatpost: TranzX Dropper 100mm 30.9mm (580g)
Saddle: WTB Volt Carbon (161g)
Handlebar: Crank Brothers Cobalt 3 700mm (270g)
Grips: SRP (17g)
Stem: Kalloy UNO 80mm (90g)
Spacers: Carbon 10mm (2g)
Top Cap + Bolt (9g)

WEIGHT: 13.18kg
Original Weight: 13.51kg

So many directions I could take it. Putting on my light 29" DT Swiss carbon wheelset would make for a much lighter and faster bike. Some other calculations:

• CONTI Dubnital Rapid Trail 27.5 x 2.40 (-688g)
• OneUp dropper post 120mm (-255g)
• ZTTO SLR Gen3 10-50T (-326g)

These mods alone would get the weight down to 11.9kg's which would make it even lighter than my hardtail which would be pretty rad! Really want more time on the Starling as the last ride out on it was awesome, but first shakedown ride on this pink piggy today at Loftus, will report back later this arvo with some findings.

 

[Justin Fox]

Cliff Trail @ Loftus.

Shakedown ride was so fun! The bike is nothing at all like the Starling or the Amflow (this is a good thing) and it's everything I was hoping it would be and with a few tweaks I think it'll be the perfect replacement for my hardtail.

It actually fits in my Honda Jazz without taking the front wheel off, though that'll change if I put a wider bar on (which I think I might do as 700 just feels too narrow). The bike feels rapid and super efficient in comparison to the Starling and the Torrent Hardtail. I thought these tyres would feel slow, but nope, the bike accelerates and pedals amazingly well. It definitely climbs better than it descends and looking at my Strava data post ride I was slower on all descents but scored 4 PR's on the climbs back out of Cliff Trail.

Got some pedal strikes. Determined to keep the 27.5" wheels now so might have to look into shorter cranks. Saddle angle wasn't right and saddle height was just shy of being right too. The 100mm dropper post is super annoying as it doesn't go down enough which made it awkward when bailing out on tech climbs. Grips are shite, will replace ASAP. I had way too much air pressure in both the fork and the shock, but even so it was heaps of fun and confirmed for me that the hardtail has to go. I bed the brakes in down Temptation Creek and they're not as bad as the Tektro brakes on my hardtail, but they're nowhere near as good as the Hope's on the Starling or the MT7's on my Amflow.

 

[Justin Fox]

2nd outing today, same exact loop but with a 29" wheelset with faster rolling and narrower (2.35) tyres instead of 27.5" with fat 2.8/2.6 tyres.

OK so now my head is fried and hoping that some of you who know better might be able to chime in with your opinions.

Rolling Resistance - I thought slower grippier and more aggressive tyres made a huge difference to rolling resistance, but I put some Forekasters on the Starling (which are known for being faster rolling than an Assegai) and the Starling just felt sluggish to me on my first outing. One my second outing with the Starling I was with a mate who was on an old 26" bike. We swapped bikes a few times. His old bike felt like a race car. The Starling felt like a powerful luxury car. No doubt about it, the Starling rolled faster but it didn't feel faster.

27.5" vs 29" - For the record I've never gotten along with 29" wheels. I've always felt like they make a bike feel like a tank. I gave up on them years ago and stuck with 26" up until late last year when I bought my 1st new MTB since my 2008 Giant Reign. Since then I've had an Amflow (settled on mullet and I love it), 2 x Norco Torrent Hardtails (tried both in mullet and 29" front and back) and the Starling Murmur (29" front and back).

Today I felt that sluggish feeling again on the Chisel with a 29" wheelset. It wasn't the tyres, it's the wheel size. I failed to get up a pinchy tech climb that I easily got up yesterday on the 27.5" setup because I lost momentum and I didn't have enough power to crank it up. I think there's something in this. IE: I don't make enough power to get the most out of a 29" setup. I feel that as soon as I slow down the bike asks me for more power to get the wheels moving and each pedal stroke just feels more laboured than when I am on the 27.5" setup. Fire trails are where I like to recover. On the 27.5" setup I can just spin (I'm a spinner more than a grinder), but on the 29" setup I feel like I need to get it up to a certain speed in order to spin.

Frame Size - One thing for sure is that I'm really happy to have sized down to a small frame from a medium. The 27.5" felt really playful yesterday but way less playful on the 29" setup today. The bike felt more like any other bike to me today with the bigger wheels. Yes I could bomb down the rocky descents more comfortably with the 29" wheels, but the bigger wheels just make the whole bike feel bigger.

Strava - looking at the data from yesterday's ride and today's ride my average speed was 1.6km/hr faster on the 29" vs the 27.5" setup but I was still faster on the tech climbs with the 27.5" setup, but overall I got a PR for Cliff Trail so I was faster on the Chisel with 29" wheels than the Starling or the Torrent hardtails. So no doubt about it the 29" setup is faster but I also feel way more wrecked after today's ride than yesterday's ride.

OK that's my brain dump. My brain is fried and I'm quite confused. I don't race. I make little power and I just want this bike to be super fun so I'm going to stick with the 27.5" setup. The smaller wheels lower the BB by a huge 18mm. I can put the flip chip in the high position to get 5mm back. I'm already running HT pedals which have a super low stack height. The massive 2.8/2.6 Specialized tyres measure 5mm taller than the 2.35 Hans Dampfs but I'd low this 5mm if I went for some fast rolling XC tyres (not that I need them as the bike just feels so fast on these fat tyres but I am curious). If I was to get some 160mm cranks I'd actually have more clearance than the stock 29" setup but the only 160mm crankset as light as my 170 SRAM XX1 Eagle Carbon cranks are the Race Face Era SL's which are damn expensive. That said, as a weight weenie it hurts me to say this, but maybe I'm starting to believe that weight doesn't really matter as the bike just felt so much more fun on the smaller wheels (heavier setup by 200g).

 

[wkkie]

If you're a racer, stick with the 29. If you want good feeling playfulness, stick with the 27. Like you said, the weight doesn't matter, what matters is what you prefer.

 

[Cardy George]

What wkkie said.

But also, I reckon you're falling victim to gear ratio. Bigger wheels equals a longer roll out, which is the same as a higher ratio. Try a couple teeth smaller chainring.

Or just leave the 27s on it and enjoy the party!

 

[Justin Fox]

I reckon you're falling victim to gear ratio. Bigger wheels equals a longer roll out, which is the same as a higher ratio. Try a couple teeth smaller chainring.

I hadn't thought about that! The bike came with a 32T, but I switched it out for a 30T. I think in general, with the 27.5" I found it natural and easy to find a gear I was happy to spin at on the boring bits and it rolled really well. On the 29" if I chose a spinny gear I wasn't moving, but if I dropped into a gear or 2 heavier and pedalled harder it started to move. It's almost like the 29" eggs me on to pedal harder to go faster on the bits I don't want to pedal harder on if that makes sense?

I think I think too much. 27.5" wheelset is now back on. My calculations suggest a 150mm dropper will not fit this frame so a 125mm OneUp seatpost is on order. Would love to not have to spend $$$ on a shorter crankset so will just flip the chip and see how I go. Still curious about faster rolling XC tyres but will save that for later.

 

[Cardy George]

Still curious about faster rolling XC tyres but will save that for later.

I've been everywhere on Pirelli Scorpion XC H and am rarely let down. Might be worth a try.

 

[beeb]

I'd agree with ride the wheels you find more fun. Fun will be there with you for hours on the trails, but shaving a second off your Strava best? Eh, it's probably just a GPS fluctuation anyway.

Another potential factor at play though - how do you normally feel if you ride back to back days? Bit stiffer/more tired on day two?

 

[Chriso_29er]

I think height, weight and riding style come into it a bit. There is no doubt a 29er rolls over stuff better but I think a smaller rider will have a better time on a 27.5. At 176cm I ride 29er hardtail for xc speed, but both trail and enduro bike are 27.5. I think tyres make more of a difference than wheel size.

 

[Justin Fox]

Another potential factor at play though - how do you normally feel if you ride back to back days? Bit stiffer/more tired on day two?

It's a short loop so I felt as good as yesterday, but I'm only getting out on the trails twice a week right now partly due to them being quite a drive away, but you're right, also due to feeling like I get a better workout on the MTB than my road bikes. Was riding on average 4-5 days a week for the past 2 years on the road bike though.

 

[Justin Fox]

I’ve got my Fox 36 SL on now (easy swap thanks to split crown race on both forks). The orange is OTT (too much IMHO), the steerer tube is WAY too long too (will not cut until I’m sure) but the 36 is only 143g heavier than the SID which is surprising.

I've been geeking out on geometry. As someone who failed at math so bad in school that I opted out of math as an elective altogether in year 12 I sometimes surprise myself.

The 27.5″ wheelset has obviously completely altered the Chisel’s geometry (not that I really care as the bike feels great to ride!), but curiosity and the savage -18mm bottom bracket height on the smaller wheels got the better of me so I thought I'd try to correct it.

With the 140mm Fox 36 SL fork from my Torrent hardtail replacing the 120mm SID the geometry is looking much more like a standard non EVO Chisel. The BB height is still lower, but I gain 5mm more height from putting the flip chip in the high position and also a few mm from the super fat tyres.

Keen to get out and test this setup some time this week!

 

[hpatches]

Mullet it with some 165 cranks IMO. I’m enjoying this thread - keen to build up one of these in large once I can find a frameset that doesn’t cost more than a complete

 

[Justin Fox]

Mullet it with some 165 cranks IMO. I’m enjoying this thread - keen to build up one of these in large once I can find a frameset that doesn’t cost more than a complete

I love a mullet! Definitely looking into 160mm cranks. Just can't justify the $850 asking price for the Race Face Era SL's but I'm starting to not give a shit about weight anyways so could get some 160mm SRAM S200 cranks for $170.

I thought the Starling Murmur would be the bike I played around with the most, but with the Murmur you have to spend up to buy a whole complete new rear triangle in order to go mullet, or long travel Enduro. But so far (and it's early days), playing with this Chisel has been heaps of fun! Part of me wants to put a 2.8 tyre on the back too so it'll be a true 27.5 Plus build. Maybe something like a Maxxis Rekon+ (or even a 2.8 Rekon+ front and back).

 

[HindleJ]

I rate the Rekon, I haven't tried a + but have a 2.6 rekon front and 2.4 rekon race rear for my megatower on a spare wheelset, for urban and trail rides and for the you yangs it does really well.

 

[Justin Fox]

I rate the Rekon, I haven't tried a + but have a 2.6 rekon front and 2.4 rekon race rear for my megatower on a spare wheelset, for urban and trail rides and for the you yangs it does really well.

That's awesome to hear. I've read decent reviews and it's cheaper for the 27+ tyres too (though limited to double casing or EXO+ only versions). I've stupidly ordered some 27.5" Conti Dubnitals in 2.4, but feel the 2.8 Rekons would be a better fit for sure. Sigh...

OK just got back home from today's ride. Same exact loop as my previous two rides, but this time with the 27.5" wheels front and back but with the 140mm Fox 36 fork and wider 760mm bars. I felt like I bonked halfway through the ride, but I'm 100% sold on the wider bars and smaller wheels for this bike. Just accelerates faster out of the corners and in between techy bits. So much more fun, feels more efficient on the boring fire road bits too. I love it!

Strava says my average speed was only 0.1km/hr slower than the 29" setup, but the 29" setup is faster on the entire Cliff Trail segment by 39 seconds. That said I got 5 more PR's today, of note a PR on the Kirrawee Burning Legs Climb (a huge 1min 14sec faster than the previous PR with the 27.5" wheels and SID fork) and Kirrawee Track Climb Out segments.

This is how much travel I used on the 140mm fork. The difference between the 29" wheels with the SID vs. the 27.5" wheels with the Fox 36 was much bigger than the difference between the 140mm Fox 36 with 27.5" wheels and 120mm SID with the 27.5" wheels . No doubt about it the full front and back 29" setup with the SID (even with 20mm less travel) let me bomb through the rock gardens more confidently than the 27.5" setup.

Happy that this massive chimney didn't take my teeth out today too. I'd still like to play with different bars and stems so I'm hesitant to cut it down just yet and if I'm being blunt... I just can't handle the orange (these things bother me more than most!). PS: Super keen to get more of these little cable tidy clips that Specialized make. They're super minimalist. I want more of them for my other bikes! EDIT - Scratch that, they're available on the Spesh US web site, but not on the AU web store

 

[Justin Fox]

Heyyyyy buddy!

Saddle at the right height now thanks to a new OneUp 120 dropper post. OneUp EDC is on the bike now too. So good to have hydration and tools on the bike so I can ride with nothing on my back but a T-Shirt.

I couldn't live with the orange (seriously), so I took the 140 Fox 36 off and put the 120 SID's back on. I also put the the 700mm bars back on and also stole the Jackson Goldstone OneUp grips off my Amflow. I love these grips, they remind me of my fave grip from back in the day, the ODI Ruffians, but there's a big bulge in the centre for your palm and they're made of a crazy soft tactile rubber.

I also got a 120 OneUp dropper post and dropper lever on there now. Had to take the BB out to route the cable, but it was nice to see how Spesh routes the cable up and out of the way of the BB. I can only torque the seatpost clamp to 3nm before the post starts to hang, weirds as it's not an issue on my other bikes with seatposts torqued to 5nm. Kinda wish I could get a 150 dropper on there (maybe I could?), but happy with the huge weight savings of 241g over the TransX dropper on there previously (and also so good to have the saddle at the right height now).

I've been a bit cheeky and installed the grips 5mm out from the bars on each side (in essence now running 710mm bars). Feels pretty good to me. The whole setup felt better to me today than the high rise and wide bars with the 140mm fork. Yes I had pedal strikes, but they weren't major and I think some shorter cranks would solve this. The 80mm stem might be a touch too long, might give 70mm a try.

Strava: I got 4 more PR's today, all on climbs. For the entire Cliffs Trail segment I was 15 seconds faster on this 27.5'" setup with the 120mm fork vs the 140mm Fox fork, but 4 seconds slower than the 29" setup. On the Kirrawee Burning Legs Climb segment I was 32 seconds faster on this setup vs. the 140mm Fox setup and 1 minute and 6 seconds faster than the 29" setup. On the Proposed Hwy Climb segment I was 29 seconds faster and on The Way Back segment I was 45 seconds faster. Just numbers, but The Way Back segment is the boring fire road bit back to the car, and I just felt so much fresher on that today. Gearing is just perfect, bike feels like it takes no effort at all.

All in all, really happy with the bike! Weight is currently at 12.8kg's. Definitely curious to see if a 28T front chainring would make a difference with the 29" setup, but maybe later as I've got some light and fast rolling 27.5" Conti Dubnitals on order which I'll probably at least try out (the grip with the fat plus sized Butcher is so damn good though I'm hesitant to give them up). Clown bike, so I've also got shorter 155 cranks on order to replace the 170mm cranks on the bike atm, and a super light ZTTO cassette to replace the heavy 615g SRAM Eagle cassette.

 

[beeb]

...I've got some light and fast rolling 27.5" Conti Dubnitals on order which I'll probably at least try out (the grip with the fat plus sized Butcher is so damn good though I'm hesitant to give them up)...

Just my opinion, but try it with a fast-rolling tyre on the back and a grippier tyre up front (Yes, I know you'd have to matchy-matchy the tyre brands after a test-run... ).

Setups like this keep the front-end cornering and braking grip, but and in the responsive rear-wheel feeling and 90% of the reduced rolling resistance. Only downside I've found is the front-end confidence can lead you (well, me) into situations where I over-commit in situations thinking I'm going to get more rear-braking grip than I actually can in reality and go slip-sliding down things. Sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's a little "uncontrolled".

 

[Justin Fox]

Just my opinion, but try it with a fast-rolling tyre on the back and a grippier tyre up front (Yes, I know you'd have to matchy-matchy the tyre brands after a test-run... ).

Setups like this keep the front-end cornering and braking grip, but and in the responsive rear-wheel feeling and 90% of the reduced rolling resistance. Only downside I've found is the front-end confidence can lead you (well, me) into situations where I over-commit in situations thinking I'm going to get more rear-braking grip than I actually can in reality and go slip-sliding down things. Sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's a little "uncontrolled".

Ah you know me too well beeb haha!

100% I've always run very skinny and basically bald rear tyres on my old Giant Reign as I really like to slide bikes into sharper corners. The Assegai front and thinner dissector rear on the Amflow works great too, but I've found that with the Amflow and the Torrent I've had to really be conscious to put weight on the front tyre otherwise I'd wash out. Not so with this bike though as I'm so much more over the front with the lower bars/shorter stack and probably geometry related as well.

I actually have a Trinotal coming for the front, and the Dubnital will go on the rear. Part of me thinks I might get away with an XC tyre on this bike so long as I stick with the lower front end and avoid high rise bars.

 

[birddog69]

View attachment 425303
Heyyyyy buddy!

View attachment 425304
Saddle at the right height now thanks to a new OneUp 120 dropper post. OneUp EDC is on the bike now too. So good to have hydration and tools on the bike so I can ride with nothing on my back but a T-Shirt.

View attachment 425305

I couldn't live with the orange (seriously), so I took the 140 Fox 36 off and put the 120 SID's back on. I also put the the 700mm bars back on and also stole the Jackson Goldstone OneUp grips off my Amflow. I love these grips, they remind me of my fave grip from back in the day, the ODI Ruffians, but there's a big bulge in the centre for your palm and they're made of a crazy soft tactile rubber.

I also got a 120 OneUp dropper post and dropper lever on there now. Had to take the BB out to route the cable, but it was nice to see how Spesh routes the cable up and out of the way of the BB. I can only torque the seatpost clamp to 3nm before the post starts to hang, weirds as it's not an issue on my other bikes with seatposts torqued to 5nm. Kinda wish I could get a 150 dropper on there (maybe I could?), but happy with the huge weight savings of 241g over the TransX dropper on there previously (and also so good to have the saddle at the right height now).

I've been a bit cheeky and installed the grips 5mm out from the bars on each side (in essence now running 710mm bars). Feels pretty good to me. The whole setup felt better to me today than the high rise and wide bars with the 140mm fork. Yes I had pedal strikes, but they weren't major and I think some shorter cranks would solve this. The 80mm stem might be a touch too long, might give 70mm a try.

Strava: I got 4 more PR's today, all on climbs. For the entire Cliffs Trail segment I was 15 seconds faster on this 27.5'" setup with the 120mm fork vs the 140mm Fox fork, but 4 seconds slower than the 29" setup. On the Kirrawee Burning Legs Climb segment I was 32 seconds faster on this setup vs. the 140mm Fox setup and 1 minute and 6 seconds faster than the 29" setup. On the Proposed Hwy Climb segment I was 29 seconds faster and on The Way Back segment I was 45 seconds faster. Just numbers, but The Way Back segment is the boring fire road bit back to the car, and I just felt so much fresher on that today. Gearing is just perfect, bike feels like it takes no effort at all.

All in all, really happy with the bike! Weight is currently at 12.8kg's. Definitely curious to see if a 28T front chainring would make a difference with the 29" setup, but maybe later as I've got some light and fast rolling 27.5" Conti Dubnitals on order which I'll probably at least try out (the grip with the fat plus sized Butcher is so damn good though I'm hesitant to give them up). Clown bike, so I've also got shorter 155 cranks on order to replace the 170mm cranks on the bike atm, and a super light ZTTO cassette to replace the heavy 615g SRAM Eagle cassette.

...and I used to think I tinkered too much.